INEOS Britannia on cusp of claiming Louis Vuitton Cup against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Racing continues today in Louis Vuitton Cup. The British team now stands just one victory away from lifting the Louis Vuitton Cup and earning the right, as the top challenger, to progress through to the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match against the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand. All the team needs to do is score another victory against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

There’s a growing sense of destiny building up around the Port Vell that this could be the first time since 1964 that Great Britain has had a boat in an America’s Cup Match. Although INEOS Britannia knows all too well that in Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli it faces a competitor that will never roll over.

Racing is due to continue today (4 Oct 2024).

Catch up on the action below.

“It was a great effort from the entire team,” says INEOS Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie. “It’s very hard to sail these boats on these waves and it’s difficult to explain to people just how tough it is. You’re constantly on a knife edge trying to keep these AC75s foiling whilst cutting through the wave chop, it’s a real challenge for both teams. It’s great to get the two wins, the guys managed the really difficult conditions well but there’s still plenty of gains to make.” 

Cyclor Neil Hunter says it was amazing to get two wins and break the deadlock, especially in the conditions the team experienced. “We had significant sea state which makes a massive difference for us cyclors as the power demands are much more. Every function on the boat is being used twice as much so it was flat out today for us cyclors. It was pretty relentless but we did a good job of delivering the power when it was needed.” 

INEOS Britannia has a stronger focus on reliability and defence, winning by smaller margins, whereas Luna Rossa is faster but struggles with reliability issues, Matt Sheahan posited prior to the day’s racing.

The Louis Vuitton Cup Final continues today, with two more races scheduled (starting around 13:00 BST; 14:00 CEST). INEOS Britannia needs to win one more race to go through to the 37th America’s Cup Match against defenders Emirates Team New Zealand (that pairing will start on 12 October).  

Main image courtesy of Ricardo Pinto & Ian Roman America’s Cup.

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