Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals Day 3
by Mark Jardine 17 Sep 00:13 HKT
16 September 2024
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic on Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals Day 3 - 16th September 2024 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
The third day of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals saw winds right on the margin of being sailable. Races must start in 6.5 knots, but after that all that matters is one boat finishing the race inside the 45 minute time limit.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing vs. INEOS Britannia
After a short delay required to pass the lower wind limit, racing was under way. The last thing Alinghi needed was an unforced error, and being over the line was just that.
Despite this penalty, they hung in there upwind to round the first gate just 17 seconds behind.
At the leeward gate, the lead was 1 minute 10 seconds, but then INEOS Britannia fell off the foils in a tack at the boundary in very light winds. Alinghi went the same way, but crucially managed to stay foiling, and before long were in a 500 metre lead.
The British got up foiling again, slowly clawing back into Alinghi's lead, but then span out when foiling too high, dropping back into lowriding mode, and the Swiss lead was soon over a kilometre.
As the lead reached nearly two kilometres, Alinghi came off the foils on the second downwind leg, but with the course shortened to five legs, they only had just over one leg left to complete the race, and the British boat hadn't reached the second windward mark.
It was painful watching these high speed machines bobbing around at 6 knots, and the battle now was to finish within the time limit, with Alinghi having 15 minutes to reach the final windward gate.
After 41 minutes and 22 seconds, Alinghi glided across the finish line, just 3 minutes and 38 seconds inside the time limit to take their first win of the Semi Finals.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. New York Yacht Club American Magic
After a lengthy delay, the wind finally built enough for more racing.
Both teams lined up high, since the area beneath the startline suffered from very light winds, but crucially American Magic came in earlier, and had less pace than Luna Rossa. When they crossed the line, the Italians had 3 knots more speed, and gradually went past the US team, enabling them to gain cover at the boundary tack.
American Magic managed to break cover with an unexpected tack halfway upwind, but Luna Rossa rounded the top gate with a 17 second lead.
Crucially the boats took different marks, with the Americans going out to the favoured right, and on the next engagement they forced Luna Rossa to duck beneath them, as well as picking up a penalty for pushing it too close. The Italians managed to wipe off the 75 metres very quickly, which seemed a very lean penalty, and the Americans ducked Luna Rossa on the next cross.
The Italians then crossed ahead of American Magic while on port, but on the race graphics which the umpires use the diamonds around each boat intersected, so Luna Rossa picked up another penalty, which again seemed to be rubbed off exceptionally quickly, and the US team rounded the top gate with a 3 second lead.
At the second leeward gate Luna Rossa squeezed inside American Magic with a gybe, but the manoeuvre was too much to keep them foiling, and the Americans sailed around the outside as the Italians wallowed. Luna Rossa protested, in the hope that American Magic hadn't given them enough room, but no penalty was given.
In very marginal conditions American Magic managed to stay foiling for the final lap, while Luna Rossa couldn't get up, and wallowed at the bottom end of the course. The lead went up like the price display at a fuel pump, ending up over three kilometres as American Magic took their first win of the Semi Finals.
In both Semi Final matches it ain't over yet. The wind failed to build, so the second races of the day were postponed until Wednesday.