American Magic Team USA takes the win to secure place in the Semifinals!

On Day 6 of the Louis Vuitton Cup NYYC American Magic defeated the British for a win and then lost to the Swiss in the next race who capitalized on their great start and Magic’s penalty start, not allowing their opponent any gains throughout the race

On Day 7 of the Louis Vuitton Round Robin Challenger Series, NYYC American Magic secured a spot in the semifinals after a hard-fought victory against Orient Express Racing Team.

Despite tough conditions and a challenging race against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli earlier in the day, the team showed resilience and skill to clinch the win against the French that they needed.

American Magic helmsman Tom Slingsby acknowledged the challenges: “We’re happy with that. We’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to keep progressing, but we’re really happy to get through that one and move into the semis. There’s a lot of debris in the water — we hooked something up on the rudder, but luckily it popped off. That was a risky one.”

With this crucial win, American Magic heads into the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals!

Day 7 also saw the first defeat of Luna Rossa, who up til now seemed unbeatable in this LV Round Robin Challenger series. INEOS Britannia, in a challenging race, rounded the final gate with a 30 second lead and then made a gybe error causing a nose dive, but recovered and took the win over Luna Rossa by 25 seconds.

INEOS Britannia, Luna Rossa and Alinghi Red Bull Racing also enter the semifinals.

Who will the Challenger to Emirates Team New Zealand be? Stay tuned.

Challenger Standings

Luna Rossa 6 . INEOS Britannia 5 . NYYC American Magic 4 . Alinghi Red Bull Racing 2 . Orient Express Racing Team

What’s next:

The Semi-finals start next Saturday, Sept 14 – Sept 19. The Final for the Louis Vuitton Cup runs Sept 26-Oct 7. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup is the first team to score seven points and will then face Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Racing starts at 2.00 pm (14:00 CEST) on race days

Featured photo/Ricardo Pinto