Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand, NYYC American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have claimed victories in the first four races of the third Preliminary Regatta, which marked the start of the 37th edition of the prestigious America’s Cup in Barcelona on Thursday.
For 68 days, six teams aboard the new AC75s will compete for the Hundred Guineas Jug, with Emirates Team New Zealand defending the title. Before that, from Thursday, they will all take part in a match-race event with a grand final between the two best teams on Sunday.
In the first of Thursday’s races, Swiss side Alinghi Red Bull Racing beat French side Orient Express Racing Team by 36 seconds. The French boat started with a limit penalty before entering the starting area, which allowed the Swiss team to pull away and make a perfect start.
Alinghi Red Bull sailed away to the port mark with a 12-second lead over their rival, and maintained the advantage at the second windward mark; they also had a 13-second lead going into the final beat, and the advantage increased in the final metres, a real walk for the Swiss, who added their first point to the table.
In the second race, a repeat of the finalist duel from the last edition of the competition, Emirates Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, which suffered an electrical failure that forced it to retire.
The battle remained close until, during the first leg of the race, the Italian boat experienced a serious problem on board which caused the boat to nose dive and the communications system indicated that control had been lost. The failure condemned it to retirement, while the ‘kiwis’ continued sailing towards victory.
NYYC American Magic, meanwhile, took the third race victory over INEOS Britannia by 29 seconds. Paul Goodison’s Patriot and Ben Ainslie’s crew engaged in a close battle that ended with Britannia having a slight advantage at the start. However, on the final approach to the windward mark, the Americans took the lead six seconds ahead.
From then on, they increased the gap, which was already 21 seconds at the second windward mark and 25 seconds at the starboard gate. At the last windward mark, the ‘Patriot’ moved away cleanly towards the port mark and reached 46.4 knots, before scoring her first victory by 29 seconds over the British.
In the final race, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli managed to make up for its retirement due to a breakdown in the second race by beating the Orient Express Racing Team by 93 seconds. The French team had problems getting to the start line in the final approaches, which, together with the subsequent penalty, allowed the Italian boat to gain 300 metres of distance at the start.
After that, there was no story. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s quick manoeuvres prevented any surprises, leading her rival by 1:12 at the end of the second gybe. They eventually crossed the finish line with a lead of one minute and 33 seconds.