37th America’s Cup

According to the America’s Cup summary: The Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final races take centre-stage this afternoon with, once again, Alinghi Red Bull Racing and NYYC American Magic standing on the precipice of elimination and with no margin for error. For INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli the race is on! And Day 4 races began.

What great news. Alinghi wins the first race against INEOS.

Alinghi looked great winning race 1 today but then lost the second race to INEOS Britannia. Sadly, the Swiss have been eliminated.

INEOS now enters the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. This is the second consecutive time they have made the Challenger Selection Series Final, the first ‘Louis Vuitton’ Cup Final since 1983.

Luna Rossa vs American Magic. In its first race, the winds fell below 6knots and that worked in the Americans’ favor as  American Magic wins the first race. The second race was really tight, the lead going back and forth until Luna Rossa suffered a gear failure abruptly ending the race for them. It was a victory for American Magic. Score now is Luna Rossa 4, American Magic 3.

Tom Slingsby, helmsman of NYYC American Magic, commented “Obviously, it’s never the way you want to win, but by the same token, we were out there giving out our best as well – so you don’t want to discredit the work of our team. Our thoughts are with Luna Rossa – it sucks to lose a race like that – but look, they have still got the lead, and they can come out tomorrow and finish it off – or we can get out there and win.”  We’ll see what happens today.

DAY 5

now Alas, American Magic lost to Luna Rossa today and is eliminated,  abandoning its 2024 dream of bringing the Cup back home. Luna Rosa now enters the Final against INEOS Brittania.

What’s Next? The Final for tDefenderhe Louis Vuitton Cup runs Sept 26-Oct 7. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup is the first team to score five points to become the Challenger  and will then face Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup. Racing starts at 2.00 pm (14:00 CET on race day.

September 18, 2024. Louis Vuitton Cup, Semi Finals Race Day 4. LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI TEAM, NYYC AMERICAN MAGIC

Tom Slingsby, helmsman NYYC American Magic

Believe it or not – American Magic takes a win against ‘the unbeatable’ Luna Rossa! So, the score in the semi-finals is Luna Rossa – 4 and American Magic 1. And the amazing thing is that the Swiss also beat the British today moving that scorecard to INEOS 4 and Alinghi 1.

What could have been a day of eliminations from the Louis Vuitton Cup for the Americans and Swiss, was just the opposite. There will be two more races on Wednesday.  It’s a far cry from a comeback, but remember what Team USA did in 2013!

According to the 37^TH America’s Cup FB post, “It ain’t over yet. With 1 win a piece for Alinghi Red Bull Racing and American Magic the comeback continues on Wednesday.”

Speaking dockside afterwards Tom Slingsby, helmsman of NYYC American Magic, summarised the day saying: “It was a good race. The start was close. The boat felt really good. We have been making some changes, and in those light conditions that were kind of a weak spot for us a week ago, the boat feels as good as it ever has in those conditions. That’s exciting and we are going to try to be faster again on Wednesday.”

Tomorrow will see the start of the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup – one of the most hotly anticipated regattas of this summer of sailing in Barcelona – with fleet racing for the America’s Cup teams in the AC40s starting at 14:00 CET.

Featured image/Ivo Ravira; Photo of INEOS/Ian ROman

Challenger Standings

What’s next:

The Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals will continue on Wednesday September 18 with two more races planned for each pairing. 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 five 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

September 16, 2024. Louis Vuitton Cup, Semi Finals Race Day 3. LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI TEAM, NYYC AMERICAN MAGIC

Tom Slingsby, helmsman NYYC American Magic

Day 1 & Day 2 results in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals:

Saturday Semi – Finals: British 2, Swiss 0. Italians 2, Americans 0.

Day 1 results were tough.  American Magic lost both races to Luna Rossa, but their performance demonstrated their ability to compete at the highest level under pressure. Narrow losses set the stage for an exciting second day!

Day 2, Sunday, September 15, is a big day in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals, where the British and Swiss match saw the teams far apart by the finish.

Luna Rossa’s two races against American Magic were both closely fought battles. The Italians won the first one by a 32 second margin and the second race was so close the Italians only won by a 2 second margin. Though they crossed in front of Patriot on the way to the finish, no penalty was granted. Luna Rossa 4. American Magic 0. From Slingsby:

In the 4th match of the day the winds were heavier and both Ineos and the Swiss sailed well with no errors, but INEOS had the lead most of the way finishing 48 seconds ahead of Alinghi. The ratings are now: INEOS 4. Alinghi 0. The semi-finals could be over after two more races.

Challenger Standings

What’s next:

The Semi-finals continue Sept 16 to possibly the end of the semi-finals. 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 five 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

Tom Slingsby, helmsman NYYC American Magic

It’s the night before the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals. As winners of the Luis Vuitton Cup Red Robins, the British get to choose their first racing opponent, their preference for entry and where in the lineup they wanted by the first dayt.

The four skippers left in the Louis Vuitton Cup attended the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the revered stadium of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, for a chilly early morning photoshoot. Tension was in the air ahead of the INEOS decision.

Sir Ben Ainslie confirmed that INEOS Britannia had selected Alinghi Red Bull Racing as their opponent in the first-to-five series. The British also selected starboard entry in their first encounter against the Swiss and chose the second start of the day. The British team’s decision was very much a signal of the belief in their momentum, built after topping the standings at the end of the Round Robin series.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who had led comfortably overall in the standings before some extraordinary final day turnarounds, will race NYYC American Magic.

American Magic will be looking for a reset after their roller-coaster set of results through the Round Robins. And, after teammate Paul Goodison suffered rib fractures in the last race and will not be returning to the port helm just yet. “Unfortunately, he won’t be with us tomorrow. We are still taking it day by day for when he will return,” Slingsby said at a news conference (AP). “We all wish Goodie a quick recovery and we hope that we can still see him in this competition.”

In the interim, Olympic medalist and multiple World Champion Lucas Calabrese will helm Patriot. Lucas has been an integral part of their helmsman rotation for over two years, training extensively alongside the crew, and is fully prepared to take on this role, according to American Magic’s press release.

Racing starts on Sat, Sept 14 and is scheduled to continue through to Mon, Sept 16 , before the first planned Reserve Day on Tues, Sept 17, with two races planned for each semi-final per day.

With the series expected to be tight as all teams step forward in terms of technique and technology, the schedule allows for racing to run through to Thurs, Sept 19, plus there are a further four Reserve Days, if required, spanning Fri, Sept 20 to Mon Sept 23.

Featured Photo/Ian Roman

Challenger Standings

 INEOS Britannia 1 . Luna Rossa 2 . NYYC American Magic 3 . Alinghi Red Bull Racing  4

What’s next:

The Semi-finals start 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 five 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

September 13, 2024. Louis Vuitton Cup, Semi Finals: Press Conference. Arnaud Psarofaghis, ALINGHI RED BULL RACING, Ben Ainslie, INEOS BRITANNIA, Jimmy Spithill, LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI TEAM, Tom Slingsby, NYYC AMERICAN MAGIC

Tom Slingsby, helmsman NYYC American Magic

INEOS defeated Orient Express Racing Team in a win by 71 seconds. According to news sources, Orient Express did their very best to come back into the race after a slow beginning. But there is more to this loss. It was the final blow. The team was eliminated.

Deflated after being eliminated from the Semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, Quentin Delapierre, the skipper and sailing figurehead for the French team said, “I do think that what we built together with the sponsors and with the whole of the team is getting stronger and stronger, and for sure the ambition is to come back. But if we come back, we will need to come back stronger and faster.”

After France’s defeat Alinghi Red Bull took on the then leaders in the Cup, Luna Rossa with trepidation since they seemed so unbeatable. However, just before the start, Luna Rossa sailed outside the left boundary due to a technical difficulty and were disqualified by the Race Committee. The Swiss, meanwhile, started just fine and were immediately awarded the win!

This meant that now Luna Rossa and INEOS Britannia were tied in the standings at the top, requiring a race-off between the two.

It was a cautious dance and then INEOS started gaining on almost every leg of the course to take the win over Luna Rossa and secure the top standing!

Ahead of the sail-off race, Emirates Team New Zealand had defeated NYYC American Magic after they had a couple of falls of the foils and lost by an over 2 min margin.

The mood was quite sad as the group said good-bye to the French. American Magic skipper Tom Slingsby commented, “Hats off to them (the French), with the limited training and the limited budget, to be able to put together such a very competitive and impressive campaign.”

For the remaining four Challengers, the Louis Vuitton Cup now moves on to the semi-final stage. For INEOS Britannia, by finishing top amongst the Challengers, they now can select both their opponent and the side of entry for their first race. Who will they pick? The Italians, Americans or Swiss? In the upcoming Semi Finals battle, the first to win five races will secure a spot in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

Semi Final racing begins Sept 14, and all will be revealed the evening prior. Stay tuned!

Challenger Standings

 INEOS Britannia 1 . Luna Rossa 2 . NYYC American Magic 3 . Alinghi Red Bull Racing  4

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

September 09, 2024. Race Day 9 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. ORIENT EXPRESS RACING TEAM,

Tom Slingsby, helmsman NYYC American Magic