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Barcelona is all set to deliver again on this, day three, of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand may well be leading the standings overnight but Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and NYYC American Magic are giving chase. It’s a big day for INEOS Britannia with two races – one against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and another against the Italians. Orient Express Racing Team take on the Americans in race two so it’s all to play for.
Iain Murray, Race Director, is expecting similar conditions to yesterday with a building south-westerly of around 11-13 knots and a slight sea-state of just 0.3-0.4m. Sunday, however, sees a switching wind pattern to the east-south-east which could produce much bigger swells, with some warnings of up to one metre wave heights. There are still many questions to be answered, and the outright winner is anything but a foregone conclusion.
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INEOS Britannia (Port Entry) vs Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Following a race defeat yesterday to the Kiwis, INEOS Britannia spent what Neil Hunter, cyclor, described as: “Probably one of the most important hours of yachting in this campaign,” as they trained pre-starts hard. Today, coming in from the port entry, Dylan Fletcher steered Britannia into the box bang on time and made the crucial first cross after an equally accurate entry from the Swiss.
The British go for an immediate circle that the Swiss ignore, preferring to sail deep in the box and harden up. The Swiss set up to windward on the final approaches but both boats are early and dial down the line, with INEOS to leeward getting it almost to perfection. The Swiss are to windward, desperately holding their height on the drag race to the left boundary and both boats tack in sync with Alinghi Red Bull Racing now to leeward and squeezing in a high mode on port tack. INEOS, sagging into dirty air are forced to tack away to the left, giving what looks like an advantage to the Swiss.
It’s a short tack and Ben Ainslie brings Britannia back but a poorish tack with a slow exit, really gives the advantage to the Swiss who continue out to the right-hand side of the course. As the two boats come back together, it's Alinghi Red Bull Racing that crosses a boatlength ahead but gives up the right to Britannia who go out towards the right boundary. The Swiss stay on to the left side and go for the port layline but it’s advantage to Britannia who come in on a starboard layline and tack on the face of the Swiss to lead around the starboard-hand marker by four seconds.
Downwind, it’s super close with Britannia gybing first onto starboard at the left boundary (looking downwind) and keeping ahead by almost 100 metres. Gybe for gybe, both boats want to keep this racing tight, and it very much appears that the British have great speed downwind and eke out marginal gains throughout whilst sending maximum dirty-air back onto the Swiss.
At the first leeward gate, Britannia elects to round the port marker and goes for a one-board rounding with a nine second leading delta to head out to the right side of the course (looking upwind). INEOS Britannia are in the command position in the early stages of the second beat, but the Swiss are sailing hard to close down the delta with arguably a click more height upwind. The British though, have speed in their platform and their J2 jib looks to be working well on a long drag on port before Alinghi Red Bull Racing breaks tack half-way up the beat that Britannia covers tenaciously. The Swiss, knowing they run the risk of being pinned on the right boundary, tack and go left, but it’s a losing move as Britannia nails the port marker layline and really makes a big gain, rounding with a 19 second lead.
The Swiss split tactics and take the starboard marker at the second windward mark and Britannia are quick to cover, coming back on port gybe and extending to some 400 metres – great sailing from Ainslie and Fletcher with some smooth gybes, fast exits and low VMG angles downwind.
At the second leeward gate, Britannia sets up to take the port marker and goes for a very rapid one-board rounding to head out right on the final beat. The delta was up to 28 seconds and with the Swiss splitting tactics and taking the starboard gate to head left, this looks very much like Britannia is in complete control as they come back to the middle of the course to slap a tight cover on Alinghi Red Bull Racing and head back to the right. With the wind feeling pretty even in terms of pressure, Britannia are picking their tactics and sailing supremely well, front-running effectively.
At the final windward gate, Britannia elects to take the starboard marker and bears away, hitting 44.9 knots and enjoying a 25 second leading delta that translates into over 500 metres on the water. Again, the Swiss roll the dice with a split strategy initially, heading left before coming back on a long port gybe. Britannia covers loosely, playing the pressure patches and keeping the power on to the finish to record their first win of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta by 33 seconds. Great win by the British.