Ineos Britannia struck a devastating blow in the Louis Vuitton Cup final by winning both races in rough conditions on Wednesday to claim a 6-4 lead over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
The British team need just one more victory to secure their first appearance in the America’s Cup since 1964.
Double defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand lie in wait for the challenger series victor with the 37th America’s Cup taking place later in October off the coast of Barcelona.
“It’s great, good effort from the team, it’s bloody hard to sail these boats in these waves, but still a long way to go, (we) still need to get to seven,” said Ineos skipper Ben Ainslie.
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The Italians, who were runners-up to New Zealand in the last America’s Cup in 2021, started stronger in the first race with the British team over 10 seconds late to enter.
However Ineos stayed close behind before taking a small lead on the first leg, which they later expanded.
On the fifth leg the Italians suffered a splashdown, allowing Ineos to move over 100 metres ahead, eventually securing a 23-second winning delta.
“It’s a nightmare to keep in these foiling boats, they’re delicate, finely-tuned — cutting through the wave tops and not falling off the foils (is) a real challenge for all teams,” said Ainslie.
“The guys did a great job there, I feel like we managed the really difficult conditions very well.”
Luna Rossa admitted they misjudged the wind speed and had opted for a smaller jib, which they swapped for a slightly larger one for the second race.
The second race was even, with Ineos taking a slight lead and able to defend it well.
The British boat teetered on the edge in the fourth leg and momentarily lost the rudder, but were able to keep their opponents at bay.
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“(These were) really challenging conditions, full credit to Ineos for getting those two race wins, no mistakes, (but) we’ll come back out the next day swinging,” said Luna Rossa helmsman Jimmy Spithill.
“They obviously had an edge on the first (race) but the second one was pretty similar.” Despite needing three consecutive wins to triumph with no margin for error, the crew of the ‘Silver Bullet’ believe the two-time America’s Cup runners-up can recover from this deficit.
“(There will) be more flavour in it, full trust in the boys,” said Luna Rossa’s Francesco Bruni, ahead of Friday’s racing.
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