Riding a three-win streak, Pensacola’s American Magic has two more races today to make the finals for the rights to challenge New Zealand for the 37th America’s Cup.
- Italy’s Luna Rossa team has had a busy and long night in the shed repairing its AC75 after its mainsail system failed and crashed down on the foil during Race 7 yesterday.
Luna Rossa skipper Jimmy Spithill has confidence that his team will get the AC75 ready to compete this morning:
“This is high-level sport. I mean this is exactly what you expect. You’re always going to get a few curveballs that come your way, but champion teams can deal with that, and we’ve certainly got a champion team. We got a fantastic team ashore, and there’s no doubt in my mind that we will be back…man, I’ll make a bet, and I’ll put the farm on it that we’ll be out there tomorrow.”
For NYYC American Magic, they will be looking to capitalise on the momentum they have built having won the last three races and come back from the seemingly impossible situation of being 4-0 down. Now at 4-3, they are in striking distance and will be desperate to equalise the series and take it all the way to the ninth race. Tom Slingsby, the helmsman of ‘Patriot’, has been on fire in the pre-start and some of his tactical calls and positioning have been first class.
LIVE BROADCAST
“Real News with Rick Outzen” will watch the races at Seville Quarter and will broadcast the results live from Rosie’s, starting at 7 a.m.
- Our guests include Tom Pace, Collier Merrill, Erica Grancagnolo, Buck Mitchell, Clark Merritt, Ray Palmer, Grover Robinson, Kristen Longley, Nicole Gislason, Sena Maddison and Walker Wilson.
Recap of Yesterday’s Race 7:
NYYC American Magic pulled off a stunning double victory against their Italian rivals, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, to bring the scoreline in the first-to-five-point Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final to 3-4.
Both of the day’s matchups were sailed under cloudy skies, with the wind for the first race at the lower end of the America’s Cup-prescribed wind limit of six and a half knots.
After a closely fought prestart, the American crew got away well off the line as the Italians tacked immediately to the right side of the course, where they found a little extra breeze to take the lead. At the windward gate, although Luna Rossa was first to round, it was “Patriot” that found the best breeze on the left and was able to overtake.
With the breeze becoming patchy, both boats dropped off the foils more than once before the first leeward gate, where the pair rounded in an absolute dead heat at opposite markers.
After several tight crosses, there was still nothing between the two AC75s at the second windward gate, but when NYYC American Magic managed to cross ahead on the starboard layline, the effect of the wing wash from Patriot’s mainsail dropped the Italians off the foils. With Luna Rossa stranded in a wind hole at the top of the course and unable to finish, the Americans carefully picked their way around the rest of the course to take a well-earned win.
With the scene set for more of the same nip-and-tuck racing over the final three legs, disaster struck the Italians with a major failure in their mainsail system, crashing them off their foils and out of the race. This left American Magic to race unopposed around the rest of the course to take the team’s second victory of the day.
With the series hanging by a thread, American Magic’s back-to-back wins have set up what could be an explosive final showdown. The pressure is mounting on both teams and with no room for error, the next race promises to push them to their absolute limits.
“It’s not the way you want to win those races, and our thoughts are with Luna Rossa. We’ve had gear failure as well, and it’s not nice. It’s not a nice way to lose,” said Tom Slingsby, helmsman of NYYC American Magic, which was measured in his response to the Italian breakdown.
“But hats off to our guys as well. We get the pressure on, and the guys are sailing well. Luck went our way this time, and there is still plenty of work to do. We want to get faster than we are today.
We are happy with the way we’re sailing. We can still improve. Luna Rossa is still an unbelievable team, and we’ve got to remember that heading into tomorrow’s races.”
For full results and standings, visit https://www.americascup.com/results
Stay updated with NYYC American Magic on AmericanMagic.com and on Instagram @AmericanMagicTeam.
Photo credit: © IAN ROMAN / AMERICA’S CUP
