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Featured photo/Ricardo Pinto

Despite rain clouds coming off the mountains to the north of Barcelona, the first race of the second Round Robin was lively with Alinghi Red Bull Racing racing Orient Express Racing Team. The Swiss, winless from Round Robin 1, dominated from the start, building a massive lead and never looked back, taking their first win of the Challenger Selection Series. Good for them as one team on Sunday will be eliminated from the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Now, the Swiss are tied with the French, 1-1.

Maxime Bachelin, port helmsman of Alinghi Red Bull Racing came ashore, praising his team saying: “It’s a great way for us to start for the week. I think we did it quite well, we like these shifty conditions and heavy wind, so I think we did what we really wanted to do. We were quite down last week after the results, now it’s a good reset and we’re very happy with the performance of the team on the boat-handling and, as well, the speed looks way better than what it was in the past, so we are very happy.”

Luna Rossa faced Emirates Team New Zealand in the second race of the day amidst thunderbolts and rain and shifting winds. Luna Rossa reached the starting line first and had the advantage until lightning struck the water and the Race Committee called the race in Luna Rossa’s favor and ended racing for the day due to the inclement weather. Tomorrow’s another day.

Standings as of Day 1, the second phase of the Round Robin:

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 4 – Ineos Britannia 3 – NYYC American Magic 2 – Orient Express Racing Team 1 – Alinghi Red Bull Racing 1

Stay tuned! Racing the second phase of the Round Robin continues on Wednesday, Sept 4.

The Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series started on Thursday August 29th. This is the point where every race and every point matters as this double round robin will determine the Challenger to race against the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand.

There are two phases of Round Robin racing, four races are scheduled to be sailed, with six teams competing and two of those will be sailing twice.

Standings as of Day 4, the first phase of the Round Robin:

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 4 – Ineos Britannia 3 – NYYC American Magic 2 – Orient Express Racing Team 1 – Alinghi Red Bull Racing 0 (These are without the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand – whose race wins don’t count.)

Team USA raced Emirates Team New Zealand on Day 4 and said it was a nail-biter from start to finish!

Stay tuned! Racing the second phase of the round robins starts on Tuesday, Sept 3. Anything can happen!

All eyes are now on the Louis Vuitton Cup, starting on Thursday August 29th where every race and every point matters. The Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup is about to get serious. Here’s how the last three days of racing panned out for NYYC’s American Magic:

Day 2 “We are 2-1 after an intense day of racing In Race 1, we outpaced Alinghi Red Bull Racing by a solid 56 seconds, securing the win. However, a difficult start in the second race proved costly against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.  (NYYC AM Facebook page)

Day 3 Day three of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta was a cruel disappointment for NYYC American Magic.

The crew was preparing for a jousting session with the French when, shortly after a tack back towards the line, a loud bang resonated through the boat that caused both helmsmen to turn their attention to the back of the boat.

After a few minutes assessing if the issue could be remedied quickly, the team made the agonizing decision to retire from the race, leaving the French team to cross the start line unchallenged and claim the single point. (AC Cup news release)

Day 4 While the day ended with mixed results, it was a positive and confidence-building experience for NYYC American Magic as they continued refining their strategies and performance. “We did some things really well today, and like every team, we have to learn how to dominate the start box.” (NYYC AM Facebook page). The great win here is that the Defender ETNZ seems to all of us to be unbeatable, and must have pondered being left in the wake of American Magic on Race Day 4 as AM took the win! A little magic in that going forward – maybe anything is possible!

Day 4 American Magic had wins racing New Zealand, Brittain and Switzerland.

In the end, Lunna Rosa and ETNZ were tied, had a match race and ETNZ prevailed. Emirates Team New Zealand wins the Luis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta!

Standings going into the  Louis Vuitton Cup:

Emirates New Zealand – 1 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli – 2 NYYC American Magic -3  Inneos Brittania – 4 Alinghi Red Bull Racing – 5  Orient Express Racing Team – 6

August 29 – October 7, Louis Vuitton Cup. And then Oct 12 – 27, the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup.

Stay tuned!