LOUIS VUITTON PRELIMINARY REGATTA – DAY 3

Iain Murray, Race Director, is expecting similar conditions to yesterday with a building south-westerly of around 11-13 knots and a slight sea-state of just 0.3-0.4m. Sunday, however, sees a switching wind pattern to the east-south-east which could produce much bigger swells, with some warnings of up to one metre wave heights. There are still many questions to be answered, and the outright winner is anything but a foregone conclusion.

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INEOS Britannia (Port Entry) vs Alinghi Red Bull Racing 

Following a race defeat yesterday to the Kiwis, INEOS Britannia spent what Neil Hunter, cyclor, described as: “Probably one of the most important hours of yachting in this campaign,” as they trained pre-starts hard. Today, coming in from the port entry, Dylan Fletcher steered Britannia into the box bang on time and made the crucial first cross after an equally accurate entry from the Swiss. 

The British go for an immediate circle that the Swiss ignore, preferring to sail deep in the box and harden up. The Swiss set up to windward on the final approaches but both boats are early and dial down the line, with INEOS to leeward getting it almost to perfection. The Swiss are to windward, desperately holding their height on the drag race to the left boundary and both boats tack in sync with Alinghi Red Bull Racing now to leeward and squeezing in a high mode on port tack. INEOS, sagging into dirty air are forced to tack away to the left, giving what looks like an advantage to the Swiss. 

It’s a short tack and Ben Ainslie brings Britannia back but a poorish tack with a slow exit, really gives the advantage to the Swiss who continue out to the right-hand side of the course. As the two boats come back together, it's Alinghi Red Bull Racing that crosses a boatlength ahead but gives up the right to Britannia who go out towards the right boundary. The Swiss stay on to the left side and go for the port layline but it’s advantage to Britannia who come in on a starboard layline and tack on the face of the Swiss to lead around the starboard-hand marker by four seconds.

Downwind, it’s super close with Britannia gybing first onto starboard at the left boundary (looking downwind) and keeping ahead by almost 100 metres. Gybe for gybe, both boats want to keep this racing tight, and it very much appears that the British have great speed downwind and eke out marginal gains throughout whilst sending maximum dirty-air back onto the Swiss.

At the first leeward gate, Britannia elects to round the port marker and goes for a one-board rounding with a nine second leading delta to head out to the right side of the course (looking upwind). INEOS Britannia are in the command position in the early stages of the second beat, but the Swiss are sailing hard to close down the delta with arguably a click more height upwind. The British though, have speed in their platform and their J2 jib looks to be working well on a long drag on port before Alinghi Red Bull Racing breaks tack half-way up the beat that Britannia covers tenaciously. The Swiss, knowing they run the risk of being pinned on the right boundary, tack and go left, but it’s a losing move as Britannia nails the port marker layline and really makes a big gain, rounding with a 19 second lead. 

The Swiss split tactics and take the starboard marker at the second windward mark and Britannia are quick to cover, coming back on port gybe and extending to some 400 metres – great sailing from Ainslie and Fletcher with some smooth gybes, fast exits and low VMG angles downwind.

At the second leeward gate, Britannia sets up to take the port marker and goes for a very rapid one-board rounding to head out right on the final beat. The delta was up to 28 seconds and with the Swiss splitting tactics and taking the starboard gate to head left, this looks very much like Britannia is in complete control as they come back to the middle of the course to slap a tight cover on Alinghi Red Bull Racing and head back to the right. With the wind feeling pretty even in terms of pressure, Britannia are picking their tactics and sailing supremely well, front-running effectively.

At the final windward gate, Britannia elects to take the starboard marker and bears away, hitting 44.9 knots and enjoying a 25 second leading delta that translates into over 500 metres on the water. Again, the Swiss roll the dice with a split strategy initially, heading left before coming back on a long port gybe. Britannia covers loosely, playing the pressure patches and keeping the power on to the finish to record their first win of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta by 33 seconds. Great win by the British.

INEOS Britannia beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (33 seconds)

NYYC American Magic (Port Entry) vs. Orient Express Racing Team

After an impressive display of speed and racecraft yesterday from Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison aboard NYYC American Magic, the Americans are looking to keep the pressure on the leaderboard, and it’s Goodison who steers ‘Patriot’ into the pre-start box at 2 minutes and 10 seconds, and immediately secures the cross from a very late Orient Express who come in some 11 seconds late.

However, there are immediate issues for Magic after they execute their first tack manoeuvre, falling off the foils on the exit and appear to have issues onboard with the boat going into a hobby-horse as the team wrestle with control. Paul Goodison later confirmed that they had no "rake control" on the rudder.

Orient Express have a clear, unopposed start as the Americans are forced to retire. A crew-member can be seen on the aft gantry looking at the rudder and Race Control are quick to close the race down, awarding the first win of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta to Orient Express Racing Team.

Orient Express Racing Team beat NYYC American Magic (Retired)

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Port Entry) vs. INEOS Britannia

Superlatives are ringing around the Italian campaign, and for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli it is all about the long-game of development and improvement now. Francesco Bruni steers Luna Rossa in at the port end of the line, four seconds late and go for the immediate cross of INEOS Britannia who enter just a fraction early and incur a penalty.

Luna Rossa adopts their usual tactic of legging out to the right side of the start box before turning, whilst Britannia goes for an aggressive move to sit on their bow and lead back to the line, killing speed, aiming for the pin end of the line and nailing their time on distance. Great start from the British but they still have to drop 75 metres back and then incur another penalty by going over the left-hand boundary line. With the penalty doubled, 150 metres of distance was killed almost immediately on the tack back and with penalties cleared, it was now catch-up for Britannia, handing the lead to Luna Rossa who kept a close cover up the first windward leg.

INEOS Britannia look to have speed upwind but with Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni offering no passing lanes, at the windward gate, Luna Rossa opts for the port marker and bears away with a leading delta of 23 seconds. Down the first run, Luna Rossa shows its low VMG mode and keeps a tight gybe cover on the British. Pressure appears to be building to the left side (looking downwind) and both boats head on port gybe towards it with Luna Rossa clicking into the new breeze just a fraction earlier. The lead stretches to some 300 metres but the British are holding in there and trying to let their downwind pace come through.

At the first leeward gate, Luna Rossa nails a rapid one-board rounding at the port marker with just a 16 second lead and Ben Ainslie calls for a split tactic, taking the starboard marker and heading out left up the second windward leg. Luna Rossa plays the right in the first quarter of the beat and comes back to cover Britannia in the middle of the course – Spithill and Bruni want this win and are not giving any quarter. With the wind pressure dropping off to 8-9 knots at the top of the course, Britannia looks alive and visually appears to be making gains but at the second windward mark, Luna Rossa bear away around the port marker, hitting 37.9 knots of boatspeed, and with a 23 second lead, know that the next downwind leg is going to be all about defending against the rapid downwind pace of the British.

Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher were in full attack mode, desperate to close the gauge down and ready to capitalise on any mistake. Manoeuvre execution was at a premium with huge pressure on both boats’ Flight Controllers who must have been holding their breath on every turn. Luna Rossa executed well to round the final leeward gate with a 28 second lead. Ainslie again split tactics to head out initially left on the final windward mark whilst the Italians remained out right and gained again in better pressure. The lead in distance terms was out to around 400 metres but with the wind strength lower at the top-end of the course, there was still plenty to play for.

Luna Rossa bore-away at 41 knots at the port marker at the final windward mark with a handy lead of 30 seconds for the ride down to the finish line. Again, the lower downwind VMG angles of Luna Rossa were evident as they stretched to a 530-metre lead and kept the gybe cover on Britannia effectively before picking their layline to the finish. The final delta was 46 seconds and Luna Rossa now stand just one race win away from securing a spot in the grand final on Sunday.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat INEOS Britannia (46 seconds) 

Emirates Team New Zealand (Port Entry) vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing

The overnight leaders of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, Emirates Team New Zealand are looking for a clean race here against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and it’s Nathan Outteridge steering from the port pod who brings ‘Taihoro’ into the pre-start box a couple of seconds late and heads deep into the box accepting the trail of the Swiss. At the gybe, the Kiwis go first but then bear away under the Swiss before getting trapped high. However, it’s the first time we’ve seen a split-tack start as the Kiwis tack away and take the starboard end, starting on port and heading over to the right. Alinghi Red Bull Racing make a near-perfect start at the port end and head to the left of the course but as both boats come back together in the middle of the course, it’s Emirates Team New Zealand who have the advantage and begin bouncing the Swiss left.

The tacking duel up the middle of the course was revealing with the Kiwis gaining through every tack and into the final quarter of the beat their lead had stretched in excess of 100 metres. Frustrating for the Swiss, the tight cover was sending dirty air down the course and at the first windward mark it was Emirates Team New Zealand with a 12 second lead.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are the first to gybe, covered loosely by the Kiwis and both boats head down the course on a long port gybe as the lead stretched to in excess of 400 metres. At the first leeward mark, the Kiwis set up to take the starboard marker and headed upwind to the left with a smooth one-board round-up. The Swiss followed suit, showing good boat-handling, taking the port marker and headed to the right boundary.  Emirates Team New Zealand came back from the left to cover on a nice pressure build and then slapped the cover on the Swiss ruthlessly.

With the wind dropping, the Race Committee reduced the length of the legs to just 1.45 miles and the pressure came on the Flight Controllers through the manoeuvres to keep the boat flying. Smoothness through the tacks is something of a hallmark for the Kiwis and they showed great exit speeds so that by the second windward mark, they rounded the port marker at almost 38 knots but with an increased lead of some 45 seconds.

No mistakes on the Kiwi boat, after a gybe at the right boundary (looking downwind), it was a long port gybe leg down to the left boundary and a clear intent to minimise gybes as they hit the port layline and rounded the starboard marker at the leeward gate to begin the final windward leg. The lead now was out to 52 seconds and the writing was on the wall for Alinghi Red Bull Racing who could only hope for a fall off the foils from their rivals to close the gauge on Emirates Team New Zealand.

It never came, as the Kiwis just kept the power-on and showed some lovely windward heel to get the maximum out of a dying breeze whilst still flying upwind in excess of 32 knots and keeping tacks to a minimum. At the final windward mark, Emirates Team New Zealand opted to take the starboard marker in order to play the left side of the run and headed off to the left boundary with a lead now extended out to one minute and 15 seconds. Just two gybes down the final leg and the victory went to the Kiwis with a winning delta of one minute 15 seconds. Impressive sailing in very tricky conditions from Emirates Team New Zealand.

Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (75 seconds)