Cup Spy – Day 16: Louis Vuitton Cup – Close Yet Distant – 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 likely have handed the third race of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals to INEOS Britannia based on bragging rights, despite the race exceeding the time limit. However, there was actually one significant 20° windshift between the teams.
The race ended with both INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing across the course, but neither could even aim toward the finish line and could only move at displacement speed. Luna Rossa fans were ecstatic with the result.
However, the outcome was truly uncertain until the first leg when the Royal Yacht Squadron team discovered a 20° windshift and gained a 220-meter lead, with the Italians left to follow closely behind.
The start was postponed for nearly two hours due to insufficient wind, finally commencing at 1410 hrs UTC.
In the light breeze, both teams prioritized staying on their foils during the prestart, avoiding gybing as a safer choice. Both boats positioned themselves to windward of the starting line, with INEOS crossing at the starboard end for an advantageous position. Luna Rossa entered through the center of the line, dipped it, and started, with INEOS Britannia slightly ahead by 12 meters.
The British team gained a 20° right-hand shift about two-thirds up the first leg, providing them a substantial advantage over the Italians. It remained unclear if the British crew discovered the shift or if it came upon them, but it influenced the race dynamics considerably.
They maintained the lead around each mark despite the wind being highly variable in pressure throughout the course—assuming the displayed wind data was accurate. The Livewind reading typically showed about 7.5 kts, corroborated by both AC75s achieving an impressive 35 kts—almost five times the wind speed.
Both boats nearly lost their foils during tacking and gybing, especially as the wind began to weaken in the race’s latter half.
The Italians were the first to drop off their foils after appearing to lose steam with the breeze. The British team followed suit a couple of minutes later when their rudder appeared to wash out while executing a tack.
While both boats were still on Leg 5, INEOS held the lead. Co-skipper Dylan Fletcher noted they had 16 minutes remaining to finish within the 45-minute time limit.
At that moment, unless they regained foiling, chances were high the race would be abandoned.
Without Virtual Eye data, assessing the relative performances of the two boats becomes challenging.
Data from both vessels showed minimal difference in performance, other than Luna Rossa’s splashdown occurring two minutes ahead of INEOS Britannia, who benefitted from slightly improved conditions on the starboard side.
Leading up to their splashdown, Luna Rossa reduced the British lead from over 400 meters to 135 meters as they made efficient VMG on starboard tack. INEOS navigated across the course, maintaining a foiling pace but not making significant progress toward the mark. With skipper Ben Ainslie calling for maximum effort, he exclaimed, “This is everything.”
This accurately reflected the British team’s approach that day—comfortably using their lead while sideways across the course at nearly 0 kts VMG to maintain foiling. It was a reasonable assumption that once they dropped off the foils, recovery would be unlikely.
Luna Rossa, having lost ground on the first leg by missing the 20° shift, occasionally picked up slight increases in pressure downwind, allowing them to close in on the British lead momentarily. However, when they too resorted to sailing across the course to sustain foiling, they only widened the gap, while the British simply spent their accumulated advantage.
In the final analysis, as INEOS Britannia rounded the last mark with 3,500 meters left to sail, they were ahead of the Italians by 600 meters. Both crews anticipated a new, fresher breeze—but it never materialized.
The hope, and the forecast, is for increased wind on Sunday.
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 3: GBR vs ITA Start: 14:10 hrs CET (12:10 hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Mark roundings and margins – Final Race 3 (abandoned)
Boats began to weather of the starting line, dipping back to start to maintain foil lift.
Mark 1: 04m 57sec GBR led ITA margin 19 secs
Mark 2: 10m 06sec GBR led ITA margin 15 secs
Mark 3: 15m 50sec GBR led ITA margin 88 secs or 945 meters on the water.
Mark 4: 20m 41sec GBR led ITA margin 73 secs or 380 meters on the water. Luna Rossa stopped foiling while tacking off the port boundary. GBR also lost foiling a minute or so later tacking off the starboard boundary when their rudder washed out during the maneuver. Both boats sailed at 4-6 kts in displacement mode while nearing the 45-minute race time limit to finish.
Mark 5: 35m 22sec GBR led ITA margin 359 secs.
Race deemed abandoned when the 45-minute time limit expired, leading to all racing for the day being called off, much to the delight of Luna Rossa supporters.
Weather Outlook:
America’s Cup Weather Partner PredictWind has established a dedicated Race Weather Center providing fans with daily weather insights, live webcam feeds, and historical data compiled by meteorologists.
Provisional Forecast Race Day 16, Saturday September 28, 2024:
From Arnaud Monges, former America’s Cup Team Meteorologist:
Saturday 28th
Morning will start with an offshore wind from the North-West before tapering off by midday. A weak onshore breeze from the East-South-East around 5 knots is projected to increase to 10 knots by the afternoon. As the wind gains strength, it should shift to the South-East and eventually to the South.
Sea state will remain calm at 0.6 meters from the East with a 5-second interval.
Expect a sunny day, though temperatures will be cooler than the previous day, with highs only reaching 22°C due to a cold air mass from the North.
Sunday 29th
A South-West wind of 10 to 15 knots alongside clear skies in the afternoon should provide excellent racing conditions on the water.
Louis Vuitton Cup Race Schedule, Pairings, and Start Box Entrance:
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 3: GBR vs ITA Start: 14:10 hrs CET (12:10 hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 4: ITA vs GBR Start: 15:15 hrs CET (13:15 hrs UTC) Entry: Port: TBA Starboard: TBA
Saturday’s Live Race Coverage:
Pre-race Analysis:
The Finals are modeled after the America’s Cup—13 races are scheduled, with the first team to secure 7 points winning. Generally, that means the first to win seven races; however, the International Jury may impose points penalties for various violations, both on and off the water, that are not addressed by the Racing Rules, managed by the Umpiring team.
Two races are organized each day. Same wind limits as earlier Louis Vuitton Cup rounds apply—a lower limit of 6.5 kts and an upper limit of 21 kts, measured at the course’s start line using devices at each gate. Four devices measure the wind, with readings averaged over 30-second intervals five minutes before the start, from the 9th to the 4th minute. If wind conditions stay within the allowed limits, the Course Director will announce via radio (accessible in TV commentary) signalling racing can continue.
Once approved to proceed, the race continues regardless of subsequent wind fluctuations. The only stipulation is that teams must meet a first leg time limit of 12 minutes and a total race time limit of 45 minutes. The Race Committee can also modify the legs’ length, compass heading, and number of legs during the race.
To date, no race has exceeded 25 minutes in duration.
The race director can choose not to start the race (even if conditions fall within prescribed limits) if he deems the sea state unsafe. He can also cancel a race for safety reasons—an authority he almost exercised during day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup when lightning struck. However, Emirates Team NZ’s choice to withdraw from competition and sail beyond the 100-meter boundary line, leading to their disqualification, resulted in an immediate victory for Luna Rossa, which prevented the Race Director from acting on safety grounds.
Our coverage includes Weather, Live video, Up-to-date imagery from the race course, mark rounding statistics, rounding times, margins, and additional commentary.
Course Location:
Weather Update – Louis Vuitton Cup – Finals – Day 2
Crew Lists
Virtual Eye
Currently, or after racing, you can replay key moments or the entire race using Virtual Eye from ARL. ** Unfortunately, there is no Virtual Eye for Race 3 (stopped). **
You can directly access the Virtual Eye America’s Cup coverage by clicking here and selecting “Watch Previous” to choose the race you want to view. This is a 3D viewer allowing you to zoom in, out, around, and vertically just as you could from a helicopter.
