The fourth and final day of racing in the 37th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta 2024 saw very tricky conditions for the foiling AC75 monohulls today, Sunday 25 August.

It wasn’t hugely breezy with the wind once again in the mid-low teens, but the unstable wind from the east and a big confused sea state, meant teams would have a lot to do to keep their foiling beasts in control. And with the technical issues we’ve seen on a number of boats so far, the possibility for a breakage loomed large. This close to the Louis Vuitton Cup major damage would spell disaster for any of the America’s Cup challengers.

Although the racing got underway in winds that were in the teens, the forecast was for this breeze to drop throughout the day and, sure enough, by the final race of the day windspeed was closer to 7 knots, with the seaway still fairly significant.

Key takeaways from America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Day 4

• Based on the results, the two strongest teams in the 2021 America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli remain the top two
• But American Magic is absolutely up at the same level as these two, if not quicker
• Orient Express Racing Team and INEOS Britannia are pretty evenly matched at the slower end of the Challengers

Race 13 American Magic Vs Emirates Team New Zealand

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling & Nathan Outteridge
American Magic: Paul Goodison & Tom Slingsby

It was a disappointing day for American Magic on day three of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta after a technical rudder failure forced them to retire before their race even got underway. But they came out swinging for today. The US-flagged boat has a clear plan to get to the left of the course early, led the Kiwis back to the start and got off the line to leeward of Emirates Team New Zealand.

“We made a pretty big error in the prestart and led back too early, which gave an easy lead to the American’s and they made the most of that opportunity,” Ray Davies explained during the race. “I felt like we had an okay start but got a wrong shift early in the race and that was it,” explained Burling at the end of the race.

The kiwis were forced to tack away and by the time the boats had their first cross, the Americans had a solid lead. We’ve seen Goodison and Slingsby happy to let their opponents get a bit of leverage on them and here again we saw them back themselves not putting a tight cover on the Kiwis. As we’ve seen throughout the racing so far in Barcelona passes are few and far between and we saw it again today with the US-flagged boat extending significantly over Burling and Outteridge in the Kiwi AC75.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 13?

This race absolutely confirms the Patriot is a very, very fast boat. The Kiwis are widely rumoured to be as quick as ever, but American Magic looked like a rocket ship in this opening race. It’s tricky to make too many assumptions when the boat behind is forced to the wrong side of the course, but Patriot looked quick upwind and on a single downwind leg the Americans pulled out 15 seconds over Emirates Team New Zealand.

“When we sail well, there’s a lot of potential in this team,” a satisfied Slingsby said after racing. “We’ve had a few set backs this event, but it’s really good to finish on a high.

For their part, Emirates Team New Zealand won’t be too worried about their first loss of this regatta. Assuming American Magic is one of the fastest challengers – which the racing we’ve seen so far would indicate – the Kiwis looked quick enough that had they won the start they probably could have won the race.

Race 14 Alinghi Red Bull Racing Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Arnaud Psarofaghis & Maxime Bachelin

Jimmy Spithill may well be one of the best match racing skippers in the world, but even the best of us make mistakes and it looked as though the Italian team made a major error in the pre-start of this race. Luna Rossa were a little early coming back to the startline. That early lead back put them in a vulnerable sport and Alinghi were able to accelerate around behind the Italians and push them back to the start to be over the line early.

Not only did Luna Rossa have to tack and head back downwind to re-cross the startline, they compounded the error by not fully recrossing the start and were called back by the umpires again. By the time Spithill and Bruni actually managed to get their boat underway Alinghi was long, long gone.

Just when you thought this would be another race that was over before it even began, Alinghi make their own mistake as they got too high out of the water during a gybe, lost grip with the rudder to dramatically splash down. For the briefest moment it looked as though Alinghi may well capsize, but they managed to get their boat under control. Spithill and Bruni pounced on the opportunity to sail round the bow of Alinghi, but with Alinghi luffing slightly, Luna Rossa picked up a windward / leeward penalty!

The gap between the two boats looked plenty big enough, but these boats have an electronic boundary around them that prevents them getting too close. With the closing speeds this high, it’s a needed safety feature for match racing on 75ft foiling monsters, but to a sailor’s eye it is a little odd.

By the time the pently and mistake had shaken out, both teams rounded opposite sides of the leeward gate and set off on the second upwind leg almost dead even. What followed was some of the closest action we’ve seen in the regatta to date as a tacking duel takes place between the two teams on the beat and a beautiful tack from Alinghi right on the face of Luna Rossa is about as impressive as it gets. However, it’s Luna Rossa who come out of the exchange slightly ahead picking up a decent shit at the top of the course to lead around the windward gate.

From here the Italian team never really look back – although Alinghi do a good job of pushing them all the way to the finish. “Talk about doing it the hard way,” said Jimmy Spithill to his team as they cross the finish line. “Sorry about that,” he adds referring to the startline error.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 14?

Alinghi showed a decent turn of of pace here and it was a very, very impressive pre-start for the team, really forcing the error from Luna Rossa. By right that should have been the race won. The Swiss-flagged team also showed enough pace to stay ahead of the favoured Luna Rossa.

“It was a bit difficult for us with the waves today, so we just have to get back to to [practicing],” Maxime Bachelin said after racing and it’s fair to Alinghi looked a little less slick than the Italians when the pressure was on.

Luna Rossa continue to look a class act and winning a race when you’ve made such a significant error in the start will be a real confidence boost for Spithill, Bruni and Co.

Race 15 INEOS Britannia Vs Orient Express Racing

Skippers INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainlsie & Dylan Fletcher
Oreint Express Racing Team: Quentin Delapierre & Kevin Pepponet

The British team really came out fighting and get a piece of the French team forcing a port / starboard penalty in the opening exchanges. By rights that should have been a significant boost for the Brits as the French would be forced to drop behind Ainslie’s crew immediately after the start.

With the penalty done INEOS Britannia looked happy to let the French do their own thing. However, in a quite remarkable error, the British team, totally unchallenged by their competitor, managed to be over the line early and have to make a dip back. Not only that, but starting at the leeward end looked to be an error with Orient Express Racing at the windward end, they were looking strong. Sure enough at the first cross there was a decent lead for the French.

The French team did a good job of the beat and managed to lead at the top mark by dint of making one less manoeuvre.  But their gybing was not quite as slick on the downwind and INOES Britannia managed to take the lead, although it remained very tight between the two teams. “It’s super tricky conditions. If you drop one tack or gybe it could be all over so it is pretty nerve racking for both of the teams,” explained “Rob Wilson of the conditions.

There were certainly some wobbly looking manoeuvres from both teams as the wind dropped off towards the tail end of the race, and from the French in particular who have a smaller jib than the Brits. But the race finished without any more major drama with a win for the Brits, who managed to keep a decent cover on their French rivals and finished the race with a decent lead.

“We were in the fight today which is good, I did think we were a little underpowered so that made the difference,” explained Quentin Delapierre after the finish.

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 15?

Unforced errors by the British team are a concern and will be added to the list of concerns for Ainslie’s squad, but a second win at least makes their regatta look a little more respectable. Certainly INEOS looked to have some decent pace at the very tail end of the race, so that will be something to hold onto.

From what we’ve seen so far this was a race between the two weakest Challengers for this America’s Cup and neither team looked all that much stronger than the other. Mistakes from the Brits let the French take the lead and vice versa. Neither boat looked particularly faster than the other either. Lots to do for both of these teams.

America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Final – Emirates Team New Zealand Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
Emirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling & Nathan Outteridge

A repeat of the 2021 America’s Cup saw the Italian and New Zealand teams get stuck into one another straight away and it was Burling and Outteridge who came out in top in the opening exchanges and managed to put a port / starboard penalty on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

Both boats tacked straight onto port on the startline, Luna Rossa to try to clear their distance penalty by dropping back after the tack, and Emirates Team New Zealand to prevent that happening. Thus Luna Rossa were forced to foot off downwind a bit to clear their penalty and it was a solid advantage to the Kiwis on the first leg.

The gap between the pair goes up and down a little in the puffy, skightly shifty conditions, but for much of the race, the Kiwis hold a 200m lead over the Italians and, as the race progresses it looks increasingly like Spithill and Bruni will need a mistake from Burling and Outteridge to pick up the win.

A slight overlay by the kiwis on the penultimate downwind leg could be the opening needed and it saw Luna Rossa really close in on the New Zealanders and as they tack immediately around the leeward gate it’s starting to look very close. Up the final beat there’s a tacking duel up the left hand boundary with the Kiwis coming in on starboard and then performing a leebow tack to force Italy to tack away again.

After the next tack, the Kiwis try to do the same again and the Italians try to accelerate to leeward of the Kiwis in an attempt to get a leeward hook on them. However, they’re deemed to have got too lose to the stern of the New Zealanders and so are penalised themselves (this truly could have gone either way and for my money if it wasn’t for the electric boundaries on the boats, Luna Rossa would probably have been called in the right). But Luna Rossa is quick and even having scrubbed off the penalty they looked to have taken the lead.

However, as Luna Rossa try to get over the top of New Zealand, with both boats on port and Luna Rossa to windward, New Zealand manage to get a luff on the Italians and force another penalty. It remains tight to the finish, but ultimately it’s Emirates Team New Zealand who take the win and claim the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta spoils.

“We made that a lot harder than we should have,” said Outteridge after the racing. “It’s awesome to see such a tight, tactical race, but it was good action, a good battle and lots for us to review.”

“It sure was a match race,” Spithill agreed. “I think with this wind direction and wave state it certainly showed there were some passing lanes, which we haven’t seen to date. Congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand on the win.”

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