INEOS Britannia secures race win in dramatic battle against Alinghi Red Bull Racing

 

INEOS Britannia started the third day of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta with a race win against Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI). The match race was the most intense of the regatta so far, with both teams executing the start before an extremely close cross between the two AC75 race boats had viewers on the edge of their seats.

The British Challenger of Record, racing for the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, had a double race day on Saturday facing the Swiss first and then Italian's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Ben Ainslie's crew was unable to secure their second win, after being issued two penalties - one for being early into the start area and the second for fouling the boundary in the race.

Team Principal and Skipper Ben Ainslie said: "It was a much more positive day today. We've had some really good learnings from the last two days of racing. We made a couple of mistakes today, particularly the pre-start entry with Luna Rossa but we had a strong race against Alinghi and I feel like we have a good bit of momentum."

INEOS Britannia faced Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA), and the pre-start demonstrated just how fine the margins are between winning and losing. The British boat was just 2.4m over the start line at the gun. Moving at over thirty knots, that converts to just over one tenth of a second early. It meant that they had to take a penalty and let the Italians gain a 75m lead. In trying to manage that loss - and come out of it in a strategically strong place - they fouled the boundary, again by just a couple of metres. It effectively ended the race. The breeze then dropped 2-3 knots, becoming too patchy for sensible performance comparisons.

The final day of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta takes place today from 13:00 BST (14:00 CET). INEOS Britannia will race France's Orient Express Racing Team and UK viewers can watch it live on TNT Sports as well as on the Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com homepages. The Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selections Series) then begins on 29 August. The series will determine which of the five Challenging teams will take on Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Match.