Italy managed to recover from a dramatic, high-speed nosedive during their first race against Britain on Tuesday, bouncing back in the second to tie the America’s Cup challenger series at 4-4. The Italians have faced multiple issues with their AC75 boat throughout their long campaign to become the challenger for the “Auld Mug”, a trophy that dates back to 1851.
“These curve balls that keep coming our way … We are sort of making a habit of this … We are really going to learn what we can from today,” Italy’s co-helm Jimmy Spithill commented on the America’s Cup live broadcast after the races concluded. The teams were evenly matched before Tuesday’s races in the first-to-seven Louis Vuitton Cup, with the winners earning the right to challenge defenders New Zealand for the America’s Cup. However, the Italians’ sleek silver foiling monohull crashed bow-first into the Mediterranean waters off Barcelona.
The dramatic splash occurred as the boat picked up speed after bearing away from the top mark of the first leg of eight in the head-to-head race. Italy forfeited the race as their support team hastily repaired their “silver bullet” with tape, barely finishing in time for the crew to make the start of the second race. This race began with an unforced error by the British, who skidded out of the boundary during a high-speed turn in the “pre-start”, incurring a distance penalty that they could not shake off until they crossed the line, gifting Italy an early lead.
“We just got out of position,” explained British co-helm Ben Ainslie, noting that the high speeds at which the AC75s sail mean any slight misjudgement is magnified. “It was our mistake and they did a really good job to defend,” Ainslie said, describing the closely fought contest as “two good teams really going at it hammer and tongs”. Racing is scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
