Lightning near-miss forces Louis Vuitton Cup Day 5 racing to be abandoned

Only one race was completed in today's America's Cup Challenger Selection series, the Louis Vuitton Cup day 5, after a lightning strike nearly hit one of the boats

With the first Round Robin of the America’s Cup Challenger Selection Series, the Louis Vuitton Cup concluded, teams moved onto the second Round Robin today, Tuesday 3 September. This second Round Robin will run through to Sunday 8 August at which point the Challenger with the fewest wins against fellow challengers will be evicted from event and will see their hopes of making the America’s Cup itself over for this cycle.

In short, from here on things get very, very real.

Conditions for this fifth day of Louis Vuitton Cup predicted another light day with a maximum windspeed of 10 knots from the east with relatively flat seas. However, the easterly breeze was actually significantly stronger than that with a lot of clouds and rain around and the breeze was up into the high teens for parts of the day.

All of this made for winds fluctuating between 10-18 knots and oscillating a fair bit as clouds and weather fronts blow down the course, making for very tricky varied conditions for the AC75 sailors.

Key takeaways from Louis Vuitton Day 5

• Alinghi get a point on the board
• Luna Rossa looks as strong as ever

Race 16 Alinghi Red Bull Racing Vs Orient Express Racing Team

Skippers
Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Arnaud Psarofaghis & Maxime Bachelin
Orient Express Racing Team: Quentin Delapierre & Kevin Pepponet

This first race of the day was set to be a big one. Alinghi Red Bull Racing are yet to score a win from their Louis Vuitton Cup racing so far. Their competition, Orient Express Racing Team had secured just a single win so far – the first race of the series when these two last met. So this battle was key for both team, who will desperately want to avoid becoming the single team to be knocked out of the competition come Sunday’s conclusion of the Round Robin Series.

It was a slightly odd start sequence between the two team and in the shifty and puffy weather it looked as though neither team particularly wanted to engage. Alinghi led back to the start and actually dropped off their foils briefly on their way back to the line, but this was far less of an issue in today’s windier weather than it has been in the racing to date and they easily popped back up on the foils to hit the mid-line at pace at the gun.

The French looked as though they wanted to accelerate along the line and harden up at the start gun to start to windward of Alinghi at pace, but if that’s what they were aiming for, the messed up the timing and were still in the process of hardening up when the gun fired.

From there it was pretty simple for Alinghi to hold their lane all the way to the left hand boundary and when both boats tacked Alinghi had the advantage. But during the tack the French looked to get a little too high on their foils and their rudder ventilated. They were able to save the boat from a huge spinout but by the time they were fully back in control they had lost a great deal of distance.

A similar incident happed again to the French up the first upwind and they splashed down off the foils too. They then took an age to get their windward foil raised and it became clear they were sailing with some technical issue.

Whatever gremlins there were in the French boat seemed to slowly dissapear but the race was already long gone, with Alinghi picking up a much needed win. “We struggled to sail the boat in the first upwind as we hd some issue,” confirmed Delapierre after the finish. “The Swiss took the advantage and we were not able to close the gap. The technical issue was there till the end.”

What we learned from Luis Vuitton Cup Race 16

We’ve seen that if they get everything right, the French boat is probably faster in a straight line than Alinghi. However, the French have a great deal less time in an AC75 than the Swiss and this inexperience has often shown itself in the French manoeuvres.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from this race given the French has some sort of technical issue, and without knowing the exact nature of that issue it’s even harder. But Orient Express looked pretty lose today again, as they have done on other days.

Race 17 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Skippers
Emirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling & Nathan Outteridge
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni

There’s a long way to go before the America’s Cup itself takes place in October, but many observers think when we do finally get there, these are the two teams who are mostly likely to be racing for the Auld Mug. As such, this might not officially count – as America’s Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand’s results are discounted from the Challenger Selection Series results – but there’s plenty to learn for both teams in this racing.

With the breeze up to 18 knots as a big rain system blew across the course, these two teams looked to be gloves off in the pre-start with the Kiwis leading back to the start. Luna Rossa bore away to try to get around the transom of New Zealand, the Kiwis matched them and when Luna Rossa finally luffed back towards the line, the Kiwis duly followed and looked as though they might be able to lock the Italians out of the windward end.

“Be prepared for them to push again” was the call from Outteridge on the Kiwi boat, but Spithill and Bruni had other plans, with the Kiwis a little slow and high, the Italians powered up and managed to sail around the bow of the Kiwi boat. With only a handful of seconds to go until the start the Kiwis were force to effectively follow Luna Rossa, footing down the startline gaining speed until the gun. “It was really a power race there and our guys did a better job,” said Bruni of that moment after the race.

“I thought we were in a strong position but we didn’t manage to accelerate the boat as quick as I though we could and they just managed to get over the top of us,” agreed Burling.

Instead of just following the Italians in dirty air, the Kiwis elected to drop their windward board and roll straight into a tack but with the speed they were going it looked as though they got rudder ventilation and as they boat spun they dropped off the foils.

From there the two teams looked pretty evenly matched in the windier conditions and, barring a little moment where Luna Rossa got too high out of the water after a tack, both teams were looking pretty polished.

By the final lap with the Italians a way out in the lead and the front passing over the course, the wind started to rapidly die away and was down to 8 knots by the time both teams rounded the final windward gate.

Thunder had been rumbling around the course for a while but on the final downwind, a lightning strike hit the water in worryingly close proximity to Luna Rossa. Deciding discretion was the better part of valour, the Kiwis decided to leave the race course. They were quickly followed by the Italians and they were quickly followed by the announcement that racing would be abandoned for the rest of the day, with this race being awarded to Luna Rossa.

Lighting, carbon masts, carbon hulls and electronics do not mix…

What we learned from Luis Vuitton Cup Race 17

It might not matter in terms of the results but that was a clear win for Luna Rossa. Spithill and Bruni got the better of Outteridge and Burling in the pre-start and the Italian boat looked a fair bit quicker downwind and possibly upwind too.

When the wind dropped and things got very shifty the Italians also did a better job of picking their way through the tricky conditions – admittedly that is a lot easier to do from the lead.

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