Cup Update – Day 16: Louis Vuitton Cup – Close but Elusive – Day 2
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ, 28 Sep 13:43 PDT
27 September 2024
Luna Rossa pursues INEOS Britannia – Race 3 – Finals Louis Vuitton Cup – Day 16 – September 28, 2024 – Barcelona © Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup
Most analysts would have credited Race 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals to INEOS Britannia based on prestige, even though the race exceeded the time limit. Nevertheless, a significant 20° windshift impacted both teams’ performance.
The race concluded with INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crossing the course, yet neither could aim toward the finish line and could only achieve displacement speed. Luna Rossa fans celebrated the result enthusiastically.
However, the outcome hinged on the first leg when the Royal Yacht Squadron crew detected a 20° windshift and gained a 220-meter lead, forcing the Italians to trail behind.
The start faced a delay of nearly two hours due to insufficient wind, finally commencing at 1410 hrs UTC.
In the light breezes, both vessels prioritized remaining on their foils before the race began, opting not to gybe. They positioned themselves to windward of the start line, with INEOS dipping near the starboard end to secure the windward spot. Luna Rossa entered through the middle, dipped the line, and started with INEOS Britannia slightly ahead by 12 meters.
The British team encountered a 20° right-hand shift about two-thirds up the first leg, significantly propelling INEOS ahead of the Italians. It remained unclear if they discovered the shift or if it occurred fortuitously.
INEOS maintained the lead at each mark, with wind pressure fluctuating across the course—assuming the displayed wind data is accurate. The Livewind measurements hovered around 7.5kts, corroborated by the AC75s achieving remarkable speeds of 35kts, nearly five times the windspeed.
Both teams nearly dropped off their foils while tacking and gybing, particularly as the wind lightened in the race’s latter half.
The Italians lost their foils first, seemingly running out of wind. The British followed moments later as their rudder appeared to wash out during a tack.
With both boats still on Leg 5, INEOS had the lead. Co-helm Dylan Fletcher announced they had 16 minutes remaining to finish within the 45-minute race time limit.
At this stage, it seemed likely the race would be abandoned if they couldn’t get foiling again.
Without Virtual Eye’s data, it is challenging to deduce the relative performance of both boats.
Comparative performance data reveals minimal differences between the two, except Luna Rossa splashed down two minutes ahead of INEOS Britannia, which remained in slightly better wind conditions.
Leading up to their splashdown, Luna Rossa reduced the British lead from over 400 meters upon exiting the port boundary to 135 meters, effectively making good VMG on starboard tack. INEOS found themselves sailing across the course, maintaining a foiling pace while gaining little ground toward the mark. Ben Ainslie, the skipper, urged maximum effort, stating, “This is everything.”
This scenario characterized the British performance; they comfortably utilized their lead while sailing sideways at near 0kts VMG to stay on foils. Once off the foils, it would be nearly impossible to regain speed.
While Luna Rossa conceded distance on the initial leg due to missing the 20° shift, they occasionally capitalized on headers or slight pressure increases downwind, making minor gains on the British lead. However, when they also resorted to crossing the course to keep foiling, it only worsened their deficit, while the British seemed to coast with what they had.
Ultimately, when INEOS Britannia rounded the final mark with 3,500 meters left to sail, they led the Italians by 600 meters. Both teams hoped to find fresher breezes, which didn’t materialize.
The forecast suggests more wind may arrive on Sunday.
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 3: GBR vs ITA Start: 14:10hrs CET (12:10hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Mark roundings and margins – Final Race 3 (abandoned)
The boats started windward of the start line, dipping back to stay on foils.
Mark 1: 04m 57sec GBR led ITA margin 19secs
Mark 2: 10m 06sec GBR led ITA margin 15secs
Mark 3: 15m 50sec GBR led ITA margin 88secs or 945 meters on the water.
Mark 4: 20m 41sec GBR led ITA margin 73secs or 380 meters on the water. Luna Rossa came off the foils while tacking off the port boundary. GBR followed a minute later from the starboard boundary after their rudder washed out during the tack, with both boats moving at 4-6kts in displacement mode, pushing the race time limit of 45 minutes.
Mark 5: 35m 22sec GBR led ITA margin 359secs.
Race was abandoned once the 45-minute time limit expired, leading to the day’s racing cancellation, much to the satisfaction of Luna Rossa fans.
Weather Forecast:
America’s Cup Weather Partner PredictWind has set up a dedicated Race Weather Center, providing fans with detailed daily weather insights, live webcams, and historical data presented by meteorologists.
Provisional Forecast for Race Day 16, Saturday September 28, 2024:
From Arnaud Monges, former America’s Cup Team Meteorologist:
Saturday 28th
The morning will see a North-West offshore wind, which will dissipate by midday. A weak onshore flow from the East-South-East at around 5 knots is anticipated to build to 10 knots by afternoon. As wind speed increases, the direction is expected to shift right from Southeast, eventually heading South.
The sea state will remain calm at 0.6 meters from the East at 5-second intervals.
While it will be sunny, temperatures will be cooler than the previous day; maximums will only reach 22°C due to a cold air mass from the North.
Sunday 29th
Afternoon winds from the South-West at 10 to 15 knots combined with clear skies should create excellent racing conditions on the water.
Louis Vuitton Cup Race Schedule, Pairings, and Start Box Entry:
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 3: GBR vs ITA Start: 14:10hrs CET (12:10hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 4: ITA vs GBR Start: 15:15hrs (CET) (13:15hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Live race coverage for Saturday:
Pre-race insights:
The Finals mimic the America’s Cup format – 13 races are planned, with the first team to reach 7 points declared the winner. Typically, this means winning seven races, but the International Jury can impose point penalties for violations, both on and off the water, that aren’t addressed by the Racing Rules reviewed by the Umpiring team.
Two races are scheduled daily. The same wind limits from earlier rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup apply—minimum limit of 6.5 knots and maximum of 21 knots, measured at the course’s top and bottom (starting line) using recording devices positioned on each gate. Four devices collect readings averaged over 30-second intervals for five minutes, beginning at the ninth minute down to the fourth before the start. If readings fall within permissible limits, the Course Director will communicate via radio (as noted in TV commentary) that racing will commence.
Once permission is granted, racing proceeds, irrespective of wind fluctuations. After authorization, teams must meet a first leg time limit of 12 minutes, followed by a race time limit of 45 minutes. The race committee reserves the right to modify the length of legs, their compass direction, and the number of legs at any point.
No race has exceeded 25 minutes in duration to date.
The race director can choose not to initiate racing (even if the wind is within the designated limits) if he deems the sea state unsafe. He also possesses the authority to cancel a race for safety reasons—a power he nearly exercised during lightning strikes on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Nevertheless, Emirates Team NZ’s decision to withdraw from their race, venturing beyond the 100-meter boundary and triggering their disqualification, led to an immediate win for Luna Rossa, thus precluding any safety-related action by the Race Director.
Our coverage includes weather updates, live streaming, real-time images from the race course, mark rounding statistics, rounding times, margins, and additional commentary.
Course Location:
Weather Information – Louis Vuitton Cup – Finals – Day 2
Crew Lists
Virtual Eye
Now, or following the race, you can view key moments or the entire race using Virtual Eye from ARL. **Unfortunately, there is no Virtual Eye coverage for Race 3 (which was stopped).**
Folk can access the Virtual Eye America’s Cup coverage by clicking here and selecting “Watch Previous,” then choosing the desired race. This 3D viewer allows you to zoom in, out, and around as if in a helicopter.
