Women's America's Cup: Sky high Swedes top invited teams group as Sail Team BCN qualifies for semi-finals

There was plenty on the line and much to play for amongst the Invited Teams, representing yacht clubs from around the world, with a four-way battle for the podium and automatic qualification for Friday’s Semi-Finals to meet the top three America’s Cup teams at stake.

To get there required real skill with the westerly breeze going from 19 knots puffs to dead calm – and even saw the abandonment and re-running of the seventh race. It was a pure sailing challenge and the world’s finest women’s sailors rose to the challenge.

Swedish Challenge powered by Artemis Technologies started the day in fourth place overall after an out-of-sorts opening four races on Sunday, despite having been tipped for success before the tournament.

Today they proved that pre-regatta time in the boat matters, scoring four race wins from four races, showing consistency, excellent racecraft and near-perfect manoeuvres across the range of conditions. Sweden moved from fourth to first in the standings after a dominant second race win and simply extended away to win at a canter.

Speaking afterwards Vilma Bobeck, starboard helm of the Swedish Challenge came ashore with a sense of relief after a stunning performance, saying: “I think we just put everything together out there today and finally got to show what we’ve been training for all summer and what we’re actually capable of doing this week. We still have a few things to go over that we can improve on further but we’re just looking forward to the semis now.”

Talking about the conditions, Bobeck reflected on what the key differences were for the Swedish team, saying: “It was really tricky out there, shifty and gusty. It was a massive range of both wind and shifts so it really kept us on our toes. Having our heads out of the boat was for sure a winning move and it suited us very well as both me and Julia (Gross) are from a small lake up in Stockholm where it’s just like this, so it felt almost like sailing at home!”

Behind the sensational Swedish, the battle for the remaining two podium places was intense. Overnight leaders JAJO Team DutchSail steadily improved through the session and confirmed their runners-up spot and place in the Semi-Finals with consistent results, leaving a battle raging behind them between Sail Team BCN and Team Andoo Australia.

For the Australians, though, it was the toughest of days. From the outset they appeared out of sorts with the boat and struggled to shift gears – one moment outstanding, the next off the pace. Sail Team BCN were also struggling for consistency, but the local team kept cool under pressure and scored the results when it mattered.Going into the final race, a three-point buffer for the Spanish meant nothing was certain, especially given the proven talent onboard the Australian boat, but a match-race to the finish on the final leg ensued and Sail Team BCN sailed brilliantly to prevail and secure themselves the final podium place.

Today’s schedule was originally for eight races across the two groupings but following damage to the Concord Pacific Racing boat after a nosedive before the second race that required outside assistance, the Race Committee has shifted this afternoon’s scheduled Group A – America’s Cup Teams – racing to Thursday October 10.

Shoreside at the Port Olímpic, home to the Puig Women’s America’s Cup teams, the atmosphere was, once again, lively and colourful. We saw some outstanding racing today, full of spills and thrills, with speeds at times above 40 knots and some impressive racecraft from the elite women sailors.

The cream is rising and the America’s Cup Teams of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup will no doubt be taking a hard look at the talent coming through from the Invited Teams group. The upcoming Semi-Finals will be tight – who joins Sweden, Netherlands and Spain is what we will find out on Thursday October 10 as the Puig Women’s America’s Cup continues to deliver, fascinate and delight.

Text and images courtesy of the America’s Cup.