Video: drama, disqualification and furious racing in Louis Vuitton Finals

A capsize pre-race, disqualification and fast and furious racing, characterises ‘super Sunday’ – Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Finals with INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

With both teams vying to be the Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, Sunday 29 September saw drama on and off the course, top end conditions and the most aggressive racing seen so far.

Before racing even commenced, Alinghi Red Bull Racing were out on training exercise and capsized close to the race course. The boat was on its side for a long time and when they finally managed to right it there was plenty of water inside the hull. Then came even further for the sparring pair as the breeze sat above the upper limit preventing the racing from getting underway.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing capsize near race track. Image courtesy of Ian Roman/America’s Cup

That’s when Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli broke some of its main sail batons while limbering up. Rather than play its coveted delay card, to give the team 15 minutes grace, the team knew changing the sail would be at least 30-minutes and so took a chance that the race would continue being delayed and set about changing the main sail.

But in a stroke of very bad luck the breeze dipped below the designated limit and the race got underway without them. In fact, Luna Rossa were disqualified for having had outside assistance from their support boat.

Matt Sheahan, Planetsail, reports that when the second race began, it was a cracker with some of the most aggressive pre-starts we’ve seen in these conditions as the pair locked horns and pressed the protest buttons.

Louis Vuitton Cup, Final Race Day 3. Image courtesy of Ian Roman/America’s Cup

In the end, the Italians had the upper hand – just – at the start and and Luna Rossa did a superb job of protecting their position all the way around. It was close racing and the British came storming back on the last lap of the course but it was not quite enough and they finished Just four seconds behind Luna Rossa.

This leaves the teams locked at 2-2 as they compete to challenge the kiwis in the America’s Cup.

Reflecting on the racing so far and the climb up the development curve, Leigh McMillan, Inneos Britannia flight controller/trimmer, says that his team had potentially the most to do to since launch to pit themselves against the other teams but that this upward trajectory has given the team a lot of confidence. It’s a case of slowly improving to put themselves in a competitive position where IB is “now competitive enough to win races you know for sure”.

Jimmy Spithill, starboard helmsman for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, says: “It was an awesome race, just a full-on street fight and we love that sort of stuff, it was a lot of fun. It’s just great for the team to be under that sort of pressure that sort of stress and load, because you need to be able to go through that as a team. Once again, the guys just didn’t falter, just kept their heads up and executed, but also full credit to INEOS Britannia. They just kept coming, but ultimately that’s a good one for the team to take away.”

Sir Ben Ainslie after the race. Image courtesy of Ian Roman/America’s Cup

For Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS Britannia team principal Ben Ainslie, it’s all to play for: “It was great racing in the top end of the wind state and we were full red lining these yachts, including reaching our record speed in the practise laps. That second race was a classic and a proper dust up in the pre-start. The umpire decision could have gone either way, we thought it should have been ours but they thought differently but that’s yacht racing – and the one thing about yacht racing is that the umpires are always right. It’s two points-a-piece now but we’re up for a fight. We’re pleased with how we’ve been performing as a team and certainly think we can go all the way.” 

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