Athena Pathway Leads in Puig Women’s America’s Cup
by Athena Pathway 10 Oct 10:01 PDT
10 October 2024
Athena Pathway Women’s Team from Great Britain (at the finish line) – Group A – Puig Women’s America’s Cup – October 10, 2024 © David Maynard / www.alleycatphotographer.com
The British team Athena Pathway currently sits at the top of the leaderboard in the PUIG Women’s America’s Cup after five qualifying races.
On Saturday, four races were completed, with an additional four planned for Thursday. However, only one race could be finished due to light winds. Athena Pathway, backed by Cobham Ultra and representing the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, secured a second-place finish in the fifth race, elevating their score to 1-3-2-2-2.
Because racing was called off, the remaining three qualifying races for Group A, consisting of teams from countries also participating in the 37th America’s Cup, are scheduled for Friday morning. The top three teams from Group A will join Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands, the leading teams from Group B, the invited teams, in the Semi-Final. Four Semi-Final fleet races are set for Friday afternoon, with the top two teams advancing to the PUIG Women’s America’s Cup Final Race on Sunday.
The last 48 hours have been intense for the Athena Pathway team as they raced against the clock to be ready for Thursday’s start. On Tuesday, the Canadian women’s team had been racing in Athena Pathway’s AC40 boat Sienna, under a boat-sharing agreement between teams. During the race, Canada experienced a severe nosedive, causing damage to Sienna’s foils and systems. To enable the British team to race on Thursday, a spare AC40 was readied with components transferred from Sienna.
Hannah Mills, Team Principal and Skipper of Athena Pathway, said: “It wouldn’t be an America’s Cup without some challenges, but we’re grateful for all the effort that got us to the starting line today.”
The British crew began the day’s only race with a late start, placing them fourth out of six on the first leg. Despite this challenging beginning, Mills and her team made significant progress, rising to second place by the first leg. They were just 8 meters behind leader Emirates Team New Zealand as they approached the first gate when the Kiwis touched down around the mark. This provided a perfect opportunity for Athena Pathway to take the lead, but they too fell prey to the light winds and briefly touched down before swiftly recovering to maintain second place.
During the second leg, winds dropped further, causing Emirates Team New Zealand to lose their foils again as Athena Pathway closed a 325-meter gap to seize the lead. The British team then touched down, struggling to regain their foils in the light conditions. Out of nowhere, the Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing managed to fly past both New Zealand and the British crew to claim the lead. With all teams finding it hard to keep their foils, the race committee shortened the course to just three legs. Switzerland maintained their lead and won on the final leg, with Athena Pathway finishing second. The seven points pushed Athena Pathway to the top of the leaderboard, followed by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) in second and Alinghi Red Bull Racing in third.
Mills stated: “Today was tricky; we encountered light winds and significant swells of up to two meters. It turned into a bit of a surfing contest, with teams in survival mode trying to stay flying. Unfortunately, the breeze faded and didn’t return, leading to the abandonment of racing for the day. We’ll go again tomorrow, and we’re currently in a strong position, so we aim for solid races to secure a Semi-Final spot.”
Racing will resume on Friday at 09:00 BST (10:00 CEST), and UK viewers can catch all the action on TNT Sports.
