The Chase for the America’s Cup Starts in Earnest September 14 – Sailing in Barcelona
The chase for the America's Cup starts in earnest Saturday, September 14 for American Magic and three other contenders as the Louis Vuitton Elimination Series sails into its second and most challenging phase. The American boat will face Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in a first-to-five Semifinal series of match races that American Magic’s helmsman Tom Slingsby predicts might produce a big upset.
To this point, five challengers have fought it out in Barcelona Harbor for the right to sail against the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand. One team, France’s Orient Express, has already been eliminated.
Through a grueling round robin series, Ineos Britannia has emerged as the team to beat, having gutted it out over betting favorite Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in a winner-take all shoot out to conclude the early phases of elimination races.
As the winner of that phase, Ineos Britannia choose to sail its semi-final races against Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull, while the US team will pair up against Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. It will take five victories for each team to advance to the next elimination round. The two teams that emerge victorious will battle it out in the Louis Vuitton Finals in a first-to-seven series which will determine who will line up against Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the penultimate Race for the Cup scheduled to begin on October 12.
It will take some pretty salty sailing for American Magic to make it into that final race.
In the pre-race press conference Slingsby put the upcoming match races vs. Luna Rossa in perspective: “We’ve had a lot of really good races with them; they’ve got the better of us in the Round Robins, but we had some races there where we were ahead, and we were back and forth a lot, so we believe we can do well in this match. We’ve got to trust in our processes. It’s going to be a really exciting battle.”
Jimmy Spithill, whose Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team was given a reality check by events at the end of the Round Robin stage, cut a measured but still confident figure on stage and said he is looking forward to the racing:
“I really see two very evenly matched teams. It’s actually a very exciting prospect to go up against Tommy (Slingsby) and the American team. We have a lot of respect for them, as we have for everyone involved in the competition. It will be one hell of a match, and it’s why we do it. You want to go up against the world’s best, and we believe they’re a fantastic team. It will be an awesome semis.”
The action begins this weekend at 8 a.m. EDT on Saturday. In the first race of the day, it will be American Magic entering on starboard vs. Luna Rossa. In the second race of the day, it will be Ineos Britannia entering on starboard vs. Alinghi Red Bull. Each team will race once more on Saturday. More races are planned for Sunday. Check americascup.com for additional matches in subsequent days.
To make matters more difficult for American Magic, the American crew will be racing without the benefit of veteran port helmsman Paul Goodison who has been sidelined this past week with an undisclosed injury. Taking Goodison’s place is Olympic medalist and reserve helmsman Lucas Calabrese. No stranger to the big stage, Calabrese has been training alongside starboard helmsman Tom Slingsby and Goodison in case he was needed to drive the big AC75.
“We will miss Goodie,” Slingsby says, “but Lucas is a capable sailor. We don’t see any problems with him stepping in at the last minute. Can Goodie come back and sail in the semis? I can’t say. That’s up to the medical team.”
It’s a big ask, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli fielding a known tandem of helmsmen in Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni.
Readers might recall that it was the Italians that knocked American Magic out of the semifinals during AC36 in Auckland. Is revenge in the air?
Slingsby shrugs it off. “We are a different team with a different boat. It would come full circle for us to pull an upset.”
You can catch the action on ESPN+ or by going to americascup.com.
By Craig Ligibel
Read about American Magic's AC75 Patriot here.
