Sailing: America’s Cup trials in Spain, the boats don’t fly

The first stage leading up to the 37th America’s Cup scheduled for next autumn in Barcelona ended in Vilanova ia Geltru. The objective of the Preliminary Regattas (another one is planned in Jeddah at the end of the year again with the Ac40s and one in August 2024 with the Ac75s) was to offer fans a good show while waiting for the actual America’s Cup, well this time there was no show. The weather conditions played a bad joke on the organizers who were forced to cancel the three fleet races scheduled for Friday due to the storm, while the two races held on Saturday were painful. Due to the very little wind the boats were unable to fly and dragged themselves awkwardly along the course in the displacement version. In the second race of the day the New Zealanders were the only ones to finish within the maximum time.

Unique

—

The only real races were today’s three races. Well done Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison who with 2 firsts and a second in today’s practice secured the general classification and the victory of the event given that the final Match Race which would have seen them competing against the New Zealanders (second in the standings) was canceled again due to lack of wind. So good for the New York Yacht Club team who brought home a good victory, which will not have any importance for the actual America’s Cup, but is certainly an injection of confidence for Terry Hutchinson’s men. Emirates Team New Zealand also performed well, finishing 1 point behind the Americans. The Kiwis proved to be very good at making the boat fly in the very difficult conditions of light winds (and with waves that could also be a problem next year) and there is no doubt that they remain the crew to beat. The big surprise was the French team of Orient Express who finished in third place. The transalpines are the crew with the least experience on these boats (they received their Ac 40 last) but they have demonstrated that they know how to race well and can certainly provide other surprises in the future. Fourth position for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. The Italian boat was not brilliant, some errors compromised the result and Bruni & C probably paid for the choice of training less on the Ac 40 to concentrate more on their test boat and carry out the testing program necessary for the construction of the Ac 75 with which the Cup will be raced. Max Sirena has always declared “our goal is to win the America’s Cup”. At the end of the races Francesco Bruni said that his radio was not working properly and this was the cause of some errors. “I was going practically blind and I couldn’t communicate with Spithill on the other side, even Umberto Molineris shouted at me from behind what James (Spithill) was saying and it was really like driving with the headlights off in a tunnel”. Alinghi Red Bull finished fifth, one point behind Luna Rossa, with one race less because they were unable to race the last race due to a technical problem with the boat. For Betrarelli’s men, an overall positive outcome given that the crew is young and has demonstrated that it has excellent ideas in the regatta. Days to forget for Ineos Britannia. For Sir Ben Ainslie, perhaps the worst races of his brilliant career, two fourths and three last places relegated the English team to sixth place with a gap of 10 points from Alinghi. For Ineos there is a lot to review both in the management of the boat and in the approach to racing with these flying hulls. Next meeting in Jeddah from November 29th to December 2nd. Hoping there is more wind.