“I genuinely think Race 8 today was the fastest sailing race ever,” INEOS Britannia cyclor David ‘Freddie’ Carr tells Yachting World after Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup final.

“I think you would struggle to find a sailing race that is faster than that. It was unbelievable. Not only just the top end speeds, but the average speeds, the wind angles, the VMGs. I cannot think of a race in my, or in anyone’s lifetime, that would be faster than that from two exceptional sailing teams operating at the top of their game.”

In today’s Garbi conditions of 18-21 knots with flat water, the INEOS Britannia AC75 hit a blistering top speed of 55.6 knots.

INEOS Britannia at full speed in Garbi conditions in Barcelona during the Louis Vuitton Cup finals. Ian Roman / America’s Cup

These conditions were not what everyone was expecting at this stage of the America’s Cup cycle.

“It’s been really funny. It’s that classic case right now, of ‘it’s never normally like this here’, as you always get when you go to yachting events. 

“I mean, if you’d told the design teams that four out of the first five days of the LV final would be sailed in over 16 knots, they’d have told you you’re mad. 

“The fact is we’ve done four days bouncing off the top of the wind limit and one day bouncing off the bottom of the wind limit.”

Tomorrow, Day 6 of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals (Wednesday 2 October), is expected to see a different forecast. 

“There’s two fighting weather scenarios coming our way. But in broad brushstrokes, it’s between 9 and 14 knots. And a little bit more sea state, maybe like a 0.8 of a metre, where the last few days has been probably half of that. So the waves will come into play tomorrow, where they haven’t really in the last two or three days sailing.”

Freddie Carr during cyclor changeover on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Change of tempo?

That could change things in this super tightly fought, evenly matched series which sees INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli pinned on four points apiece in the first-to-seven contest.

“We haven’t actually sailed in this 9-14 knots that historically is the traditional wind strength for this time of year. So that will be interesting to see how the boats go against each other in what we would imagine most America’s Cup boats are designed for, that wind range. 

“So it will be a telling day,” says Carr looking ahead to the Louis Vuitton Cup final Day 6.

“The traditional wind speed at this time of year in Barcelona is between 8 and 15 knots, and we haven’t really seen that yet. So it will be a different race course tomorrow, as opposed to the first five days we’ve seen.”

INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli split tacks on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup

Reliability proves key

Long before their AC75 was even launched, the INEOS Britannia team were talking a lot about how key reliability of components would be, and why that was a focus of their work with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team.

The British have now taken two race points from the Italians due to gear failure in strong winds – one caused by batten damage and today’s first race when Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli spectacularly nose-dived, ripping fairings from the foredeck.

Is reliability proving as key as expected? “It is,” says Carr. 

“I’m going to find some wood to touch because I’m really superstitious, so I don’t want to jinx it. But we worked really hard at that. And it’s been comforting to know that there’s so many people in the background making sure that the boat is tip top and ready to go.

“As a sailing team member, as a member of the coaching staff, we all feel very happy to have such good on shore and on the water support if anything, heaven forbid, doesn’t work out how it should do mechanically on the boat.”

Fully loaded: INEOS Britannia hit over 55 knots on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Taking gear failure out of the equation, how much is it taking from the team in the shed just to keep the show on the road and maintain the phenomenally complex AC75s in optimum condition while they’re being thrashed this hard on the racecourse?

“I think we fell into a really nice rhythm with the shore team probably two months ago, where we started properly operating night shifts. 

“Now, a lot of this boat performance is around the foil finish and how close we can get the foil finish to the optimal design that we came up with months ago back in Brackley. 

“The six or eight guys that are working overnight to make sure our foils are as close to perfect for the next racing day, they’re equally as important as the sailors. Those guys who are doing the night shifts and finishing the foils to the level that we need them to are the unsung heroes of the campaign in my opinion.

‘We’ve trained for two years for this week’

And what of his cyclor team? How are they holding up in massively demanding conditions – with this week’s layday becoming a race days the power squad are seeing little recovery time.

“Everyone’s in the zone. Everyone is super-focused, but we still have a very nice energy around the group. There’s not been anybody, for want of a better description, lose their s**t,” says Carr.

“We have a very relaxed energy around the group when we can. Then when we need to collectively step up and get our race heads on, we’re managing to do that. 

“Obviously, with the big delays in racing that we’ve had due to the big breeze and the light breeze, it’s really important to collectively be able to detune and find an hour to switch off and then instantly get your race head back on and go racing. 

“But honestly, we are genuinely enjoying it. It’s a real privilege to be in this series against such a polished team as Luna Rossa and be sailing our boat as well as we are and have the support from home that we’ve got as well. It’s not stressful – at least I don’t find it stressful. I find it more fun!

Cyclers onboard INEOS Britannia catch their breath after a tough light winds race on Day 2 that demanded maximum ‘oil’ creation

“It has been hard. But as a few of the rowing boys said, this is why we’ve trained so hard for two years for this week. Right now, we’ve worked our asses off for two years. 

“You know the racing is going to be hard, and you don’t train to make the racing less hard, you train to tolerate the pain better. And that’s the mindset we’re in. All the cyclors are backing each other up and checking in. Everybody’s recovering well. Everybody’s doing really good powers on the boat. And we’re in a happy space with all of our nine lads.

One race at a time

So what’s it going to take to break the gridlock? “It’s one race at a time. It’s one mark rounding at a time. It’s one pre-start at a time. 

“We are super sticking to our processes, we love our processes. They’ve got us this far in a really positive mindset with good sporting energy. It is every tack at a time, every bear away at a time. And you piece those things together, and hopefully it falls in your favour.”