Thursday Review
After yesterday’s cancellation of racing due to inclement weather, the Louis Vuitton Cup schedule got right back on track with five races completed in a shifting 6-10 knot thermal southerly breeze that challenged the sailors. The big story of the day was Alinghi Red Bull Racing – a team that at their own admission has had a ‘reset' – scoring their second win of the regatta to now move off the bottom-step in the rankings with the very real prospect of a safe passage through to the semi-final stage.
In their race today against NYYC American Magic, the Swiss were sublime. Capitalising on some uncharacteristic manoeuvre execution errors, and a penalty in the pre-start awarded against the Americans, Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed a super-clean race, showing pace and bravery to never be headed after the start. Such was the confidence in their speed, the Swiss were able to use every ounce of their tactical and wind-spotting nous to dominate, in a textbook match-race.
Arnaud Psarofaghis came ashore looking relieved and utterly focussed on the upcoming races to close out this stage of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Talking about the day, a smiling Arnaud said: “I think today was the combination of everything that we know to do and have learnt. It was really tricky conditions, and to be honest just before the start it was marginal. We were not on the right jib and then just before the start a new line of pressure came down and we actually got caught with the boat kind of jumping out of the water in a massive puff. We managed to get it back and start on time and then from there we got a bit lucky with American Magic getting a penalty at the entry. The wind was really shifting and strange and the guys did a fantastic job onboard just putting us in the right spot in the breeze. The boys on the bikes were amazing, we could have tacked 20 more times, so it was pretty good. We really managed the race and it's good to get that point on the board and we still want to go for more wins.”
Asked what’s changed in the team, Arnaud commented on the building confidence, saying; “There’s a feeling that we can just sail the boat and put it where we need to. I think we just need to be confident in what we do and just go for it, and we saw today, anyone can win a race.”
A very different set of emotions emanated from the NYYC American Magic camp with Paul Goodison clearly not happy with the performance on the water, despite the narrow win against INEOS Britannia, saying: “It literally feels like I've done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. I feel like we had the seven bells knocked out of us, but the good news is that we got another point on the board and we got plenty of lessons that we can take from today to move forward. But it’s been a frustrating day, we weren’t manoeuvring as well as we normally do, and the worst bit is that we couldn't quite put our finger on how to fix it. We stayed out a little bit afterwards and collected some more data and it's going to be a long night sifting through that to try and figure out what was different today. We just have to take those lessons and move forward.”
Elsewhere, there were professional performances from Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with the Kiwis scoring an impressive win over INEOS Britannia and a not-all-their-own way win against Orient Express Racing Team –despite a considerable winning margin in the end. For Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli it was a swift and accurate dispatch of Orient Express Racing Team, in the Italian’s only race of the day, with the French finishing just over a minute behind.
Francesco Bruni, port side helm of Luna Rossa, very much kept his game-face on, saying: "It was very tricky. The French are not slow, especially in the lighter winds, and it was not a surprise. We try to be to very critical of our performances. We want to get better and better and we know that in the America's Cup this phase is the most important one to how fast you are and to grow, so it's a never-ending story for us. We keep looking at all the mistakes we did, because we did some mistakes today, and we don't want to do the same mistake twice.”
After two run-away wins today by large deltas, Emirates Team New Zealand enjoyed a comfortable day on the water. For Nathan Outteridge, port helm on ‘Taihoro’ it’s about looking to the end of this second Round Robin in the Louis Vuitton Cup and the team stepping away from competition until the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match in October, as he explained: “A few races to go here and then we're back into a bit of a development round with some bits and pieces coming online, so for us it's all about getting on top of our racecraft, our starting and making sure we’re racing the boat really well. We've got the weekend to finish off now, then into a development phase for a few more weeks and watching to see how the Challenger racing goes. We saw today some fantastic races among the other teams, and I think Alinghi Red Bull Racing did a great job against American Magic when the opportunity presented there, so it shows that any of the teams can win if they get a good start and get going.”
For INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record it was a tough day out after losing a very close battle with NYYC American Magic that effectively came down to the last gybe on the course, and a heavy defeat to Emirates Team New Zealand who were ruthless in their execution.
Sir Ben Ainslie put a brave but realistic face on the performances today saying: “It's hard to come off the water after getting two losses – nobody likes that. But, at the same time, we have to take the positives from these races and for sure we're getting closer to some other teams in performance in these light airs and in certain areas where we've been struggling a little bit. Certainly, coming back against the Americans was strong for us and we are kicking ourselves about that finish where it was a hard call on which side to defend and then making a tough job of that last gybe into the finish. We will go and look and analyse all of that and there will no doubt be some good learnings, but for me it feels like we are, in general, progressing the right way.”
Down at the bottom of the table on points, Orient Express Racing Team are facing an ever-increasing uphill battle for survival but Quentin Delapierre, the enigmatic skipper of the team is eyeing the weekend’s racing and the matches against INEOS Britannia and NYYC American Magic as key, saying: “Nothing is done yet, there are plenty of things to do on Saturday and Sunday. There’s a lot of things that we have to fix to be in a winning mindset on Saturday but if Alinghi Red Bull Racing is able to beat American Magic then we are able to do that. I just want to be in a strong mindset on Saturday to be able to beat American Magic and equalise, after that on Sunday against the British, everything would be possible.”
After completing the scheduled five races today, the Louis Vuitton Cup will pause on Friday ahead of an exciting crescendo to conclude the second Round Robin over the weekend. There are another five races on the card for Saturday and a scheduled three races on Sunday as Barcelona welcomes the world to this ‘jewel in the sun.’
The forecast looks good for both days and for sure, the free-to-enter Race Village and Fanzones will be buzzing with an electric atmosphere, whilst on the water it's a pure battle for survival as one team goes home on Sunday with their Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup dream over. The hardest competition in international sports to win is a cruel sporting cauldon.