INVITED TEAMS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE PUIG WOMEN’S AMERICA’S CUP

The teams representing yacht clubs from Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden are scheduled for four fleet races with the top three teams progressing through to the Semi-Final stage where they will meet the top three America’s Cup teams. If yesterday’s racing was anything to go by, expect fast and furious racing with hard tactical decisions to be taken on a shifting, difficult course where big-fleet tactics and consistency pay dividends.

The weather today is expected to be similar to yesterday with the ‘Migjorn’ southerly thermal building into the afternoon and delivering an expected 9-12 knots. Iain Murray, Race Director, thinks it unlikely that we will see the same shifts and transitions as yesterday but the exact direction of where the wind finally settles is of some debate across the weather models and forecasts. Sea state is expected to be 0.4 metres from the south.

For the Invited Teams this is a real moment in women’s elite sport. The fleet is filled with Olympic medallists, youth and senior world champions. There is talent everywhere you look and the result of all the hours in the simulator and on the water are about to come to fruition. Tune in and enjoy. This is unmissable, top-flight racing with the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup on the line and a battle to the very end of the regatta.

CHECK BACK HERE AT 14:10 FOR LIVE UPDATES FROM THE RACECOURSE OF THE PUIG WOMEN’S AMERICA’S CUP  

1415 UPDATE: 

Winds are too light for racing currently in Barcelona but more breeze is expected. The Race Committee aim to get the first race underway at 1435 CET.

Race 1

After a short delay as the afternoon breeze filled, racing got underway in bottom edge conditions with the fight to stay on the foils, a very real battle. At the start NED get away strongly with SWE, ESP and AUS in contention. A good tack on the left boundary by NED starts a drag race to the right boundary where ESP and AUS have tacked off. NED clear ahead.

AUS pick up a good right shift on the starboard tack to the left at the top of the course as the Race Committee shorten the legs to 1 nautical mile. ESP follow AUS to the left and these two are the big winners with AUS taking the lead and rounding at the first gate 5 seconds ahead. ESP overtake NED at the starboard gate. SWE take the port marker. All the fleet looking for the breeze lines down this run.

AUS gybe cover SWE who are out to the left with CAN. AUS clear ahead on the cross with ESP but this fleet is tight and ESP is pushing hard. Into the final quarter and it’s ESP who pick up breeze in the bottom right quadrant and round ahead of AUS by 4 seconds. Final beat and it’s split tactics. ESP out to the far right and AUS left but all teams having to sail wide angles to keep flying in the 6-7 knots of breeze off the bottom gate.

Three-way at the front with ESP, AUS and SWE fighting to stay on the foils and minimising manoeuvres. ESP keep flying through the tacks and hold a marginal lead, crossing AUS and SWE to head to the right of the course as the others go left. Boats almost pointing at one another on opposite tacks. ESP just ahead and force AUS to duck. At the final windward gate though, AUS seize the lead and bear away at the port marker with ESP ducking and taking the starboard gate, just crossing SWE. Anyone’s game.

AUS and SWE head right (looking down the course) on the final downwind, ESP to the left. At the first cross ESP come across on starboard gybe and force AUS to take their transom. On the next cross, ESP have lost out big time at the right of the course and AUS re-take the lead but are struggling to stay on the foils and forced to sail high angles allowing ESP to re-take the lead.

AUS fall off the foils on a gybe at the right boundary, allowing SWE to sail into second with the finish line in sight. ESP come in on from port, sailing wide angles to stay on the foils and then head far right, almost level with the line and at the gybe fall off the foils. Now can SWE do this? Coming in from the left on the port layline, SWE execute one last foiling gybe and skid across the line in displacement to win the race and take 10 points.

ESP in second, come across the line in displacement to score 7 points and the battle for the podium sees a battle between AUS and CAN in displacement.

The race is stopped and AUS is awarded third place and 5 points, CAN in fourth, NED in fifth and GER in sixth.

1.⁠ ⁠SWE 
2.⁠ ⁠ESP 
3.⁠ ⁠AUS 
4.⁠ ⁠CAN 
5.⁠ ⁠NED 
6.⁠ ⁠GER 

Race 2

Ahead of the start of Race 2, SWE are instructed not to start by the Race Committee owing to a suspected onboard comms issue. As the wind begins to fill, racing gets underway for the remaining five boats and on the final approaches both ESP and AUS are early and receive ‘get behind’ penalties. NED are the early front-runners and go to the left boundary whilst AUS head out far right straight off the line.

As AUS, ESP and NED head for the right boundary, at the tack back AUS have gained and NED are forced to tack beneath, handing the lead to AUS after a slow tack as the wind gets lighter towards the top of course. At the first windward gate, AUS, NED and ESP come in on a flat port layline with AUS bearing away at the starboard marker with a lead of 10 seconds over NED.

Fight now to stay on the foils down to the bottom of the course where the wind is slightly stronger and NED are the first to fall. ESP get a 75 metre ‘get behind’ penalty after a port/starboard at the top gate with GER, and clear the penalty quickly to take second place down the first run after surviving a touch & go gybe.

AUS clear ahead by nearly 1000 metres, as GER are disqualified behind for exceeding the boundary limits and we’re down to four boats. Plenty of points up for grabs for the survivors. AUS round the leeward gate well in the lead with ESP and NED picking up the breeze at the bottom of the course and coming into the leeward gate together.

NED go for an immediate tack around the leeward gate and head right. ESP cover and maintain second. Tight racing up this final beat for the podium. AUS sailing supremely at the front and round the final windward gate in 9 knots of pressure and flat water with a lead of 1 minute and 54 seconds from ESP in second.

1.⁠ ⁠AUS 
2.⁠ ⁠ESP 
3.⁠ ⁠NED 
4.⁠ ⁠CAN 
DSQ - GER
INR - SWE

Race 3

Good news is that SWE are back for Race 3 and with the wind still patchy but filling in the late afternoon, racing gets underway with NED making a glamour start at the port end, leading in AUS with ESP on the hip. SWE start mid-line and are sailing fast mid-course and after the first tacks, take the lead by a slim margin as NED ducks their transom.

NED and ESP lead out to the right side of the course and click into some new breeze which they follow all the way to the boundary followed by SWE and AUS. After the tack onto the starboard layline, NED comes out on top to round the windward gate at the port marker just ahead of ESP, SWE and AUS.

ESP and NED neck and neck down the first downwind on a long port gybe, and after ESP gybe onto starboard, they force NED into a slow gybe on the port layline to the leeward gate. ESP survive a splashdown on rounding the starboard gate, whilst NED go to the port marker. AUS steal into third after SWE splashdown on the rounding.

ESP go left initially and then tack to cover NED who are far right. At the cross, NED have taken the lead in better pressure. AUS falls off the foils and is relegated to last place whilst GER come into the podium places in third. It’s a match-race for this win between ESP and NED who head to the port layline and tack to make a very close cross with ESP.

NED sail to the starboard marker and bear-away with a lead of 8 seconds over ESP and both boats head to the left side of the course initially downwind, well clear of the chasing pack headed by GER.

NED gybe cover ESP all the way down the run, keeping to leeward and going boundary to boundary to end up on the starboard layline into the finish line. Big win for NED who celebrate wildly onboard. ESP fly across at 33 knots to get second and secure 7 points but the big story was the fight for third with CAN stealing it right on the line, powering down on a gust to beat GER into fourth. Great racing once again.

1.⁠ ⁠NED 
2.⁠ ⁠ESP 
3.⁠ ⁠CAN 
4.⁠ ⁠GER 
5.⁠ ⁠SWE 
6.⁠ ⁠AUS

Race 4

Final race of the day and down at the bottom of the course it’s light and everyone desperate to stay on the foils in their final approaches. As the clock ticks down, it’s NED that make a great start down at the port end of the line with CAN and both teams tack in sync and it’s a drag race to the right boundary. NED eke into the lead but there’s three boats in a line with NED, CAN and ESP all fighting for speed and position. At the second tack on the boundary NED are just ahead and sailing well.

At the first windward mark, NED leads in on the port layline to round the starboard marker, hitting 39 knots, whilst CAN round and splashdown dramatically having got too high on the foils but survive. AUS and ESP take the port marker and head right downwind initially and after the splashdown from CAN are up into second and third, co ming down on a pressure patch and closing down the lead of NED.

At the leeward gate, NED just stay in the lead and round the port marker cleanly whilst AUS forces their way into the zone and ESP off the foils. CAN also fall into displacement and the big winner is SWE who sail into third on the exit of the gate. NED now in full defensive mode, keeping a cover on AUS and SWE but picking the puffs up the course.

At the final windward gate, with the final leg shortened to 1 nautical mile, NED, who had sailed a blinder up the left side of the course, round with a lead up to 21 seconds from AUS and SWE. A nervy final run from NED as they bounce off the right boundary and then gybe mid-course to cover the fast driving AUS but at the finish it’s a clear win by just 6 seconds to take 10 points. AUS pushed hard right to the end and secure 7 points for second with SWE in third.

1.⁠ ⁠NED 
2.⁠ ⁠AUS 
3.⁠ ⁠SWE 
4.⁠ ⁠ESP 
5.⁠ ⁠GER 
6.⁠ ⁠CAN