Alinghi Red Bull Racing struggles on Day 1 of Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals
by Alinghi Red Bull Racing 14 Sep 18:48 BST
14 September 2024
Alinghi Red Bull Racing BoatOne and INEOS Britannia compete during the Day 1 Semi-Finals race of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Barcelona, Spain on September 14 © Alinghi Red Bull Racing / Samo Vidic
It was a rough first day of the Semi-Finals for Alinghi Red Bull Racing with two losses to Ineos Britannia, the top-ranked Challenger from the previous round.
With the level of competition rapidly increasing and any mistake potentially lethal, the pressure is on for the Swiss team to do whatever they can to start putting points on the board.
Day 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals saw light and shifty conditions on the racecourse which demanded only the best performance from teams. For the first race, it was a strong start for the Swiss but was quickly lost, as the British found more pressure and broke ahead for the rest of the match. In race two, light winds and two pre-start penalties left the Swiss chasing from behind, a position from which they never recovered. It's not over yet, but Alinghi Red Bull Racing has an uphill battle to turn things around. The Swiss team will need to shake off today's result and start with a clean slate tomorrow.
Maxime Bachelin, Helmsman: "I feel frustrated. It's not the start we want to have in the Semi-Final. Losing the first two races is pretty bad. We just got caught in trouble. Sometimes things don't go your way. But we need to reset for tomorrow and find the best way to get the boat up to speed. It's not over yet. There are still a lot of points up for grabs before the final, so we'll push for that."
Paul Jacquot, Cyclor: "Today we analyse what happened on the water and try and come up with a solution for tomorrow. We've done it in the past; when we were backed to the wall, we found a solution, so let's do it again. 'One down, focus on the next' is the mentality, because there's no use crying over spilled milk."