The challenger series for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup began at the end of August. After three years of waiting and speculating, which gradually intensified as the teams set their feet in Barcelona and revealed, one by one, their third generation AC75s, the real racing was finally on. The first few weeks of racing proved that fans, spectators and other stakeholders were in for a real treat.
Cards flipped
The first round-robin of the challengers’ series, which also included the Emirates Team New Zealand (their matches didn’t count towards the final score), took place just a few days after the preliminary regatta. The French team, Orient Express Racing, started fiercely and, against everyone’s expectations, beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing and stole an important first point from them. The Swiss then lost to all other teams as well, ending the first week of the competition at the very bottom of the leaderboard.
Whoever was expecting that New York Yacht Club’s American Magic would defeat Ineos Britannia without much effort, and there were many, were fooling themselves. In very light wind, the Americans dropped off the foils just before the start, crossing far behind the British team. However, they sailed exceptionally well and caught up at the finish but ran out of racetrack to lose a point.
Ineos Britannia secured another point against Emirates Team New Zealand. At the end of the first day of competition the crane lifting the Kiwi boat malfunctioned, dropping Taihoro. Fortunately, the shore team had already placed a cradle under the boat, preventing it falling to the ground and sustaining irreparable damage. The team worked tirelessly to put the boat back on the water, with Emirates Team New Zealand only missing one day of racing and losing a point to the British team.
After their forced day off, the Kiwis returned to racing even stronger, defeating all the teams to finish the first round-robin at the top of the leaderboard tied on points with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Ineos Britannia was third, followed by American Magic and Orient Express Racing, with Alinghi Red Bull Racing in last place.
Flukey conditions
The second round-robins started with rather adverse weather and only two races were completed on the first day. When an unexpected storm developed and lightning struck the water near Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli mid-race, further racing was cancelled for the day.
The return of sunshine was accompanied by light winds. The Alinghi Red Bull Racing team started this round much better, first with a win over the French and then over the Americans.
American Magic proved to be the most vulnerable in the light conditions. The team won the first race against Ineos Britannia after the Brits made a mistake, and then lost to the Swiss. The rest of the week didn’t go as planned for the Americans either. They won the match against the French, securing a spot in the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, but after the boat returned to the dock, co-helmsman Paul Goodison fell into the cockpit while lowering the mainsail, breaking five ribs, putting him out of action for the foreseeable future.
Goodison, a Brit, was replaced by Olympic medallist and multiple world champion Lucas Calabrese. Terry Hutchinson, skipper and president of sailing operations of the American team, insisted that Calabrese was well-prepared and that the change wouldn’t affect the team’s performance. However, unexpected changes at this stage of the competition are most certainly not welcome.
In the final races of the second round-robins, the British performed best of all. On Saturday, they first easily defeated the Swiss and then beat the dominant Italians. At first, many attributed their success to the stronger winds that prevailed on the penultimate day of the races in that round, but the Brits – with Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher at the helms – also excelled the following day in very light winds. First, they easily defeated the French, and in the final race beat the Italians once again.
The weather, wind strength, and particularly the sea state, seem to be playing crucial roles in this year’s battle for the America’s Cup. As Ainslie confirmed in an interview for Sail-World, these conditions can contribute hugely to the results. They would have been front of mind for all the teams from the moment Barcelona was announced as the venue for the 37th America’s Cup. “Everyone was doing their weather studies, and we knew that it was going to be a tough place to design for, because you get a range of conditions: flat water, strong winds, light winds, a big sea state – you get it all and that is a real challenge to design for,” said Ainslie.
Expect the unexpected
On the final day of the round-robins, the unthinkable happened. There were a few different possible scenarios, and the least expected of them prevailed. In the unlikely event that the French team would win against Ineos Britannia, they would have the same number of points as the Swiss, providing that the latter lost against the Italians. That would mean these two teams facing off in the final race for elimination – a situation Alinghi Red Bull Racing had neither imagined nor wanted.
But as expected Orient Express Racing lost against the British and so waved the fans and spectators goodbye. However Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli had some issues with one of its hydrofoils, which caused the team to surrender the race against the Swiss, losing an important point.
This brought a second unexpected scenario into play, in which the Italians and the Brits were sitting on top of the leaderboard, both with seven wins and three losses. This required a sail-off between them for first place on the leaderboard, won by Ineos Britannia.
The standings after two completed round-robins mattered as they heavily affected the rest of the competition for the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The winning team had an opportunity to pick its opponent in the semi-finals and Ineos Britannia chose Alinghi Red Bull Racing. This left Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to face off against American Magic.
Epic battles
The initial weekend of the semi-finals concluded somewhat surprisingly. After four races, Ineos Britannia was leading 4:0 against Alinghi Red Bull Racing, as was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli against American Magic. If the rather poor sailing by the Swiss was predicted, everyone was shocked by the Italians tenaciousness in outperforming the Americans. The races between them were spectacular encompassing everything the America’s Cup is about: great pre-start battles, plenty of lead changes and the smallest of mistakes being heavily punished. The Italians appeared very polished and sleek while American Magic still seemed a bit rough around the edges.
On Monday, the sailing conditions were marginal with the wind blowing 6-8 knots. The first race was won by the Swiss, but only after both teams had ended up off the foils sailing in displacement mode on a shortened course. The Swiss really needed this point as the first team to win five races was going to advance into the final round of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The wind strengthened slightly for the race between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and American Magic. The Americans, with a hand around their necks, came out swinging. Lucas Calabrese, racing an AC75 for only his third day, proved a fantastic foil to co-helmsman Tom Slingsby. They sailed a near perfect race, forcing the Italians into making errors and copping penalties. The Americans crossed the line first to survive another day.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli had no reason to be nervous, though, since they were still only one win away from the final round of the competition. Nevertheless, Slingsby reminded fellow Australian Jimmy Spithill at Luna Rossa’s helm of his own words from 2013: “Imagine if these guys lost from here!”.
All four teams met on the racecourse again two days later. In light winds and a high sea state, Alinghi Red Bull Racing managed to steal another point from Ineos Britannia but were comfortably beaten in the second race of the day between the two teams. It was the end of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup for the Swiss.
The battle between the Americans and the Italians arguably delivered some of the best racing in the modern history of the America’s Cup. In difficult conditions, American Magic managed to clinch two more points and narrow the gap to 4:3 in the first to five wins. In the first race, both teams struggled to stay on their foils. Slingsby and Calabrese tactically outsmarted Spithill and Francesco Bruni and forced the Italians to once again fall off the foils rounding the final top mark. Luna Rossa sailed out of the boundary trying to get back foiling and collected a penalty, so all American Magic had to do was sail to the finish line.
In the second race of the day, with both teams fighting to survive, we witnessed a few lead changes. Halfway through, as Luna Rossa took the lead and were just about to cross in front of the American boat, their AC75 suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Luna Rossa’s mainsail traveller had ripped out, meaning a long night ahead for the Italian shore team. The Americans were thus able to push the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final into another, final day.
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team had had less than 24 hours to repair what could have been a significant structural issue. Their shore team looked like zombies in the morning but managed to get the Italian boat back into racing condition. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli appeared at the start of the eighth race like nothing had happened. Slightly behind American Magic after the start, they sailed superbly with no mistakes to win at the finish. They beat the Americans 5:3 and rightfully claimed their spot alongside Ineos Brittannia in the Louis Vuitton Cup final.
Sailing skills to decide
On the first day of the final battles for the Louis Vuitton Cup, we saw wind speeds close to the upper limit of 21 knots. As the two races got underway, both AC75s entertained the crowds with some superb sailing. Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli both started strongly and were evenly matched in both races. In the first race of the day the Italians got a slight edge over the British boat, and thanks to errorless sailing kept the lead all the way through to the finish line. The cards were reversed in the second race of the day, when Ineos Britannia took the lead early on and kept Luna Rossa behind all the way through to the end. Both boats exhibited very similar boat speeds and many agreed that this America’s Cup is finally a competition of the sailing skills.
At the start of the next day’s racing, the wind was again blowing over 21 knots. The third race of the day was repeatedly postponed, until the wind test was finally passed, and racing got a green light. Unfortunately, Luna Rossa had broken battens in the mainsail, which forced a mainsail change just before the race was about to start. As they had shore crew on board their AC75 three minutes prior to racing, the umpires disqualified them and awarded the race to Ineos, which now led 2:1 in best to seven wins series.
The next race was far more exciting for the fans and spectators – and for the teams as well. In the heated pre-start battle featuring many strong words heard and protest buttons pressed, the Italians started with a slight edge. They took the lead, and with phenomenal sailing, kept the British behind from start to finish. Ineos Britannia fought fiercely and nearly caught up to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at the end of the eighth leg, crossing the finish line barely four seconds behind the winner. After three days, both teams were on two points.
Brits triumph
Over the next few days, the competition remained neck-and-neck, and after four days of racing, both teams had secured four wins.
If wind conditions were light at the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, they built nicely for the finals. In these stronger winds, Ineos Britannia appeared to have a slight advantage. On the fifth day of the final series, the British team managed to keep Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at bay, securing two crucial points. They sealed their victory with one more win in the first race of day six, marking a historic moment.
Ineos Britannia had decisively defeated Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to claim the Louis Vuitton Cup, earning a place in the upcoming America’s Cup. This victory is especially significant, as it comes exactly 60 years since the British last competed in the prestigious event, a moment cherished by British sailing enthusiasts.
However, Ineos Britannia faces a formidable challenge ahead. To bring the coveted Auld Mug back to the Royal Yacht Squadron and to the shores of the UK, they must first conquer Emirates Team New Zealand. The America’s Cup begins on 12 October, with the first team to secure nine wins raising the iconic trophy.
Words by Lana Mihelčič on the water in Barcelona