A disqualification and a fierce duel leave America’s Cup clash 2-2

Monday, 30 September 2024

From a disqualification to three protests in rapid racing, Stuff's Todd Niall and Joseph Pearson still can't separate Britannia or Luna Rossa in Barcelona.

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The fight between challengers Luna Rossa and INEOS Brittania is heating up in Barcelona.

In the most dramatic day yet at the 37th America’s Cup, a pre-race disqualification and the most intense duel of the regatta has left the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers level at 2-2.

Luna Rossa was disqualified before the start of race one, for having support crew on board repairing a sail when the race countdown was green lighted.

In the second race, an intense end-to-end duel between Luna Rossa and INEOS Britannia resulted in a four-second margin to the Italians.

“It was a real tight one and could have gone either way but, again, credit to the Italians, they got the lead and did a good job defending,” said Sir Ben Ainslie, the British challenger’s skipper.

“It was really back and forwards. Full credit to those guys, they were breathing down our necks the whole time,” said Jimmy Spithill, the co-helmsman on Luna Rossa.

“That's what you want and that's what you expect when you're going against the world's best,” he told Stuff.

Sir Ben Ainslie's INEOS Britannia was 4 secconds behind Luna Rossa in race 4

In the disqualification, the Italians had a damaged mainsail from practice sailing and took a gamble to seek outside assistance to change the sail before its duel with INEOS Britannia.

Following repeated delays due to wind being too strong, the support crew came on board to help with the replacement.

INEOS Britannia won the first race of the day without sailing, after Luna Rossa's disqualification

But the Italians were unlucky. During that time, the green light was given to start the race, and in that period, external help was not permitted.

“They had outside assistance - being non-sailing crew on board - while they are sailing with that, it is an offence that gets disqualified for,” said Richard Slater, the chief umpire.

Spithill said they had no choice but to tackle the sail damage the way they did.

“We knew if the (wind) average came down and the limit was okayed, that we were just going to have to miss that one and just try and get organised. I mean, it was still a push to get organised for the second one,” he said.

Luna Rossa and INEOS Britannia in one of the most intense AC75 encounters yet

“We knew if the average came down and the wind limit was okay, that we were just going to have to miss that one and just try and get organised. I mean, it was still a push to get organised for the second one,” he said.

After a lengthy delay waiting for the wind strength to ease below the 21-knot average, the third race in series set off in dramatic fashion.

INEOS Britannia unsuccessfully protested a close encounter in the pre-start. “Jesus Christ,” shouted Sir Ben Ainslie as the British avoided the Italians.

The first half of the race was one of the fiercest yet, with the boats remaining close, and Ainslie twice more protested without success, during close sailing.

“This is a joke, umpires,” fumed Ainslie after the second dismissal of a protest bid.

The margins remained tight from four seconds at the first mark, six at the second, five at the third, but then after 11 seconds at the fourth and halfway point, the Italians built a bigger lead.

Around the seventh mark, with INEOS Britannia rounding at more than 50 knots, the final leg tightened all the way down, with the British closing fast, to be just four seconds behind at the finish.

“That was a fun one,” was Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill’s assessment. “Just a pure head-to-head free-for-all.”

The Louis Vuitton Cup Final remains tied at 2-2 in the first-to-seven series, with racing to resume on Monday (1am Tuesday NZ time) which had been intended as a reserve day.