The second day of racing in the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta 20-24 began today with 10 knots on flat water in Barcelona, ​​​​which provided perfect conditions for the foiling AC75 monohulls.

Emirates Team New Zealand, American Magic, Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won the first day of the America’s Cup preliminary round, while INEOS Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team suffered losses. With the winds weakening, the question is whether the previous day’s form can be maintained.

Key findings from the second day of the America’s Cup pre-regatta

• Big worries for INEOS Britannia
• Luna Rossa and American Magic as biggest challengers
• Kiwis as strong as ever
• The gremlins that emerged yesterday continue for Orient Express as they are forced to abandon their first race today
• The pre-starts seem to be crucial and we should see some good fights there

Skippers
Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Arnaud Psarofaghis and Maxime Bachelin
American Magic: Paul Goodison and Tom Slingsby

In the first race of the day, the combination of Goodison and Slingsby performed well in the starting box and set their time at distance. This was in contrast to Alinghi, who outmaneuvered and ended up to windward of the American team and miscalculated their time at distance for the start. As a result, American Magic were slightly bow forward at the start and had Alinghi off their windward hip. Alinghi could not survive and tacked, closely followed by the Americans.

At the first cross, American Magic had a handy small lead and decided to keep going rather than stay with the opposition in order to protect the favoured right hand side. This set the tone for most of the day and the right hand side was the favoured side of the track yesterday too.

From then on, Goodison and Slingsby continued to defend the right side and made no mistake. This impressive performance coupled with the significant acceleration the Americans showed yesterday was an easy win for the US team. “It was really good to get off the line so well. It was a good start and from then on we kept control well,” said Goodison of the race.

“We all know that when you come off the starting line as the leader, half of your work is already done,” agreed Psarofaghis. “We tried to fight the whole time, but Magic closed all the doors for us, so we tried to sail as fast as we could and hope they make a mistake.”

What did we learn from Race 5 of the America’s Cup Regatta Preliminary Round?

With the clear favorites and the clear win off the starting line for American Magic, it would be foolish to put too much stock in the result here. However, there is no denying that the American team looks fast. And although the right side was favored, this was the second race in a row where the US team was happy to let their opponents go. To me, this suggests a certain confidence in the speed of their boat and their tactics, which together make for a formidable team.

The only question about American Magic is the stability of their maneuvers. Yesterday the US team had a pretty big roll during a bearaway. In my view there was a slightly uncertain bearaway today that required a big adjustment to the mainsail. Add to that the fact that American Magic are the only team so far to have rounded every leeward gate with both foils down, which is a slower but more conservative approach. Does this show a slight weakness in stability or confidence in their position in both races so far?

As for Alinghi, they didn’t look as fast as American Magic, but they weren’t completely worn out either. A better start and who knows what could have been. Not a disaster.

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling and Nathan Outteridge
INEOS Britannia: Ben Ainlsie and Dylan Fletcher

Although the first race of the second day of the America’s Cup preliminary race was no disaster for Alinghi, the second race of the day was an absolute disaster for Ainslie’s British team, INOES Britannia. A tough match was expected against the all-conquering Kiwis, but a combination of the Kiwis’ apparent superiority in manoeuvring and a miscommunication at the pre-start saw the Brits completely left behind and the Kiwis managed to push them into the wind and force them off their foils.

After yesterday’s race, Ainslie had expressed concerns about his team’s boat speed, but even if their boat was a rocket, it would be basically impossible to make up a 37-second deficit at the first mark. The team also made headlines when they chose Dylan Fletcher Scott to partner Ainslie at the helm instead of Giles Scott, but the relative obscurity of that duo was on display today.

What did we learn from Race 6 of the preliminary round of the America’s Cup Regatta?

You might think this is another walkover win for the Kiwis after yesterday’s victory over a struggling Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, but as the saying goes, luck is in your own hands and this boat and team continue to look top notch.

As for INEOS Britannia, it seems that Ainslie can add manoeuvrability and crew work to his ever-growing list of problems, in addition to boat speed. “It was a tough game again,” summed up Ainslie. “Obviously we tried something different at the beginning and it didn’t work for us. But it’s better to try these things now than later. These pre-starts are challenging, we’re racing against the best guys out there and Dylan is doing really well. We’ll be OK, we’ll talk to our coach and come back fighting.”

Skippers
American Magic: Paul Goodison and Tom Slingsby
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni

Judging by the few races we have seen so far and the rumours in the sailing world, these two teams are starting to be seen as the best teams of all the challengers. Once again we saw a fairly competitive pre-start with both boats going head to head at the start.

However, Luna Rossa’s Jimmy Spithill is not considered one of the best match racers in the world for nothing and has shown why he has won the America’s Cup for the eighth time in a row. However, it was probably a mistake by Slingsby, who dropped out of a push and was caught upwind by Luna Rossa. The Italians then simply had to hold their bow up to the start and dive through the line, meaning the US team had to round the windward end of the line and cross the start again.

“The start is on me, it was my mistake,” said Slingsby. “I didn’t think we would be held up at the (windward) end of the boat. But they did a great job of staying high and slow to hold us up, and kudos to them. We still have a bit of work to do, but we’re not afraid of that.”

After that start, it was a pretty easy win for Luna Rossa as they had an easy hold on the US team for the rest of the race. “Jimmy did a fantastic job (at the start) and the whole team did a fantastic job,” Bruni said. “I’m very proud of how we sailed the boat and very happy with the result. We know the Americans are a hard team to beat and that was an important point today, so we’re happy.”

What did we learn from the 7th preliminary round of the America’s Cup Regatta?

Despite being beaten quite significantly in the pre-start, American Magic probably won’t be too disappointed with this race. They were quite far back at the start and were constantly pushed to the wrong side of the track, but they managed to keep up.

Luna Rossa, on the other hand, looked very elegant, the boat looks fast, Spithull and Bruni steered the 2021 America’s Cup together and look like a great team. All in all, the Italians will be very happy with their day on the water.

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling and Nathan Outteridge
Oreint Express Racing Team: Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Pepponet

Unfortunately, the last race of the day could not be sailed as the French Orient Express Racing Tam abandoned shortly before the start of the race. “We have a big tactical problem on board. (It’s) nothing too big for tomorrow or the day after, but we would rather keep the boat in good condition to be able to race tomorrow and the day after,” said Delapierre.

Anyone who followed the French team’s efforts yesterday and saw the impressive form of the Kiwis cannot help but believe that a technical error on the French boat was a kind of mercy for them.

Follow all our coverage of the America’s Cup 2024

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