Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals Day 1
by Mark Jardine 14 Sep 2024 15:42 BST
14 September 2024
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic on Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals Day 1 - 14th September 2024 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
Sunshine, 20-degree temperatures, and a 7-12 knot breeze greeted the four challengers on day one of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Will the Italian team have recovered from their qualifying series sail-off loss? Will American Magic stand-in helmsman Lucas Calabrese gel with Tom Slingsby after they lost Paul Goodison to injury? Will Alinghi have found the upgrades to take on qualifying series winner INEOS Britannia?
In the Semi Finals the first to reach five points goes through, so it is possible that one or two teams could be out of the America's Cup as soon as 18th September.
Broadcast
It was good to see the cyclors cams added, so we can appreciate the extraordinary efforts these crewmembers put in, and wow does the recumbent cyclor position look uncomfortable.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic
After a 15-minute delay called by American Magic to fix an issue with a port cyclor system, the first semi-final race was under way.
With pin-end bias, American Magic positioned themselves above Luna Rossa, forcing the Italian team to tack off early, then tacking themselves to the right-hand side of the course.
After tacking on the Italians at the right boundary, the Americans chose to let Luna Rossa go when they tacked again, and on re-engagement had extended their lead to 150 metres.
Luna Rossa made a gain on the right but had to sit in American Magic's dirty air into the windward gate, only trailing by 3 seconds and choosing a different buoy to round.
American Magic was ahead at the first cross and gained significantly on the second cross on a big left wind shift, extending their lead to 20 seconds at the first leeward gate.
On the second upwind leg American Magic continued to keep as much cover as possible on Luna Rossa, but the Italians were still quick and reduced the gap to 16 seconds at the second windward gate.
American Magic briefly touched down after their rounding, bringing Luna Rossa right back into the game. At the second leeward gate the gap was just 4 seconds, with the Italians instantly tacking away.
Tom Slingsby sounded worried when he said, "We've got to pick some shifts up here, they're pretty fast."
He was right, with the Italians bearing down on the next cross to make American Magic's duck on port difficult - a classic match racing move - to consolidate the change of lead. At the final windward mark Luna Rossa led by 22 seconds.
American Magic closed the gap, but it wasn't enough, and Luna Rossa took the first win of the Semi Finals by 7 seconds.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing vs. INEOS Britannia
Alinghi chose to circle in the pre-start with INEOS Britannia setting up low and early. Alinghi had the early advantage, coming in from high with pace with both boats slightly late for the start.
While Alinghi tacked on the British team, they failed to cover their wind, which allowed INEOS Britannia to hang in with the Swiss boat on the upwind leg, rounding the first windward gate 11 seconds behind, choosing the other buoy to Alinghi.
At the first cross INEOS Britannia caught Alinghi port-starboard and took the lead, extending to 28 seconds by the first leeward gate.
From then on, the British team pulled away. 42 seconds at the second windward gate, and a touchdown for the Swiss team during a gybe pushed the lead up to 1 minute 12 seconds at the second leeward gate.
British coach Robbie Wilson said, "On the first beat the Swiss had the better of us, that's for sure, but we had a real nice shift downwind."
INEOS Britannia didn't put a foot wrong on the final lap to win by a massive 2 minutes and 5 seconds.
"Every day we're out here we're learning more about the performance of this boat and how to set it up." said Ben Ainslie after the race.
New York Yacht Club American Magic vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
In the pre-start Luna Rossa briefly lost control of the rudder crossing American Magic's line but recovered to start mid-line with the US team near the pin end.
Luna Rossa was forced to tack away early as American Magic climbed, and on the next tack the Americans tacked on top of the Italians. When Luna Rossa tacked away, American Magic continued to the boundary, making the windward gate in one tack and rounded 10 seconds in the lead, choosing different buoys.
In just 7 to 8 knots of winds, the teams tried to link up the shifts and puffs to navigate their way downwind, with American Magic rounding ahead, but then disaster for the Americans as they touched down as they headed up, handing Luna Rossa a slim lead.
At the first cross American Magic ducked, with Luna Rossa again bearing down on them, but the Americans re-took the lead on the second cross with the Italians ducking them.
Luna Rossa found a nice shift on the right to take the lead again and lead by 20 seconds at the second windward gate, with both boats taking the same buoy. American Magic found some better shifts downwind to close the gap at the second leeward gate to 14 seconds.
The Italians kept a very close eye on the Americans on the final upwind leg, with many holes in the wind, and rounded the final windward gate just 13 seconds ahead.
The final downwind leg turned into a gybing battle, pushing the cyclors to the limit, with Luna Rossa just hanging on to take their second win by 18 seconds.
INEOS Britannia vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing
With the breeze dropping, Alinghi fell off the foils before entering the box, earning themselves a boundary penalty and failed entry penalty, wallowing in the water but getting back on the foils with a minute to go before the start.
INEOS started on starboard with Alinghi having to duck them on port, as well as having to lose 150 metres to wash off their penalties.
The damage was done in the pre-start, and INEOS Britannia led with deltas of 1:18, 1:22, 1:20, 1:34, 1:39 at the gate, taking their second win of the day by 1 minute 37 seconds.