Louis Vuitton Cup Finals Media Conference staged in Barcelona
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 26 Sep 00:07 NZST
26 September 2024
Louis Vuitton Cup Final Dylan Fletcher, Ben Ainslie, Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni in the Palau de la Música Catalana - September 25, 2024 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
The Louis Vuitton Cup Media Conference was held at 1100hrs CET in Barcelona on the eve of the Challenger Final, due to get underway on Thursday.
On stage were Dylan Fletcher and Ben Ainslie - co-helmsman of INEOS Britannia, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron; and Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - representing Circolo della Vela Sicilia, although the Italian team is based in Sardinia.
The only key announcement of the session was that INEOS Britannia has opted to take the starboard entry tomorrow, leaving Luna Rossa to enter 10secs early from the port end and on the port tack - give way boat.
Absent from the session was any of the competitive needle between the two teams, a feature of previous America's Cups, and part of the psychological games that get played ahead of the on the water racing.
Ainslie says the weather forecast "looks really good - top end, potentially. There's a little bit of uncertainty and just how much wind and how big the sea state, will be but currently looks good for racing. So should be all on."
"The conditions here are really difficult. The wind on the water is tough to read, and sometimes a confused sea state doesn't, doesn't really help with that."
A key part of the British America's Cup team is Juan Vila, a native of Barcelona, twice winner of the America's Cup and Around the World races. Formerly a top navigator he has stepped ashore and is now a leading sailing meteorologist, with the advantage of local knowledge. He is one of several "key buys" when the British remodelled their team after the 2021 America's Cup.
"It's a really, really challenging venue. So we rely on our weather team, " Ainslie explained. "They're obviously looking at the different forecasts coming through and the different weather models that a further for the region, and more directly focused on Barcelona, and then just the observations that you see on the water before the race. And it's obviously not just the direction that we take on the racecourse, but just as critically, the sail selection choices that we make be that mainsails or the headsails. Most teams have four or five different headsails that they get to make a decision on - and getting that right is pretty tricky here."
Both teams are under a lot of pressure to survive the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. For the Italians it would be their third opportunity to be the Challenger in the America's Cup Match. "I think pressure is a privilege," explained skipper Jimmy Spithill," to be in a position like this,.
"We certainly feel a lot of excitement and good energy. So we definitely, don't feel it as a burden."
"We actually feel it as a motivating factor for the entire team. "Talking about the fans, and you can just see it. More than any sailing competition you go to, there are more Italian fans than any other. So we really try and use that as a competitive advantage. It's part of the dream that you know individually, but also collectively, while we do it. We just know how special it [a win] would be."
The British too have a strong motivation to progress beyond the Challenger Finals.
"We've talked about the maritime history in the UK," explains Ben Ainslie. "In fact, we've, we've never won the cup. We started in our in our patch, if you like, on our waters. That's why we're here.
"It takes a lot of time. It takes a huge amount of teamwork to pull together the expertise, the intellectual property, and to get the experience.
"You've seen how long Luna Rosa had been in the game, what, 25 years or more.
"Max Sirena [Director of the Italian team] used to have some hair back in the day! He's still going, and they're doing a great job.
"We've been going for for 10 years with our team, and it takes that time to build it up. But we're both maturing a lot as organizations, and both chasing after the elusive Kiwis [current Cup holders] and trying to hunt them down."
Racing starts on Thursday at 1410hrs CET, the forecast is for moderate to fresh southerly/SW winds gusting over 20kts with seas of over one metre, fortunately from the direction of the breeze.
Racing Program September 26, 2024
UniCredit Youth America's Cup Match Race Final
Start: 12:20CET 10:20hrs UTC
Port: USA
Stbd: ITA
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 1: ITA vs GBR
Start: 14:15CET 12:15hrs UTC
Port: ITA
Stbd: GBR
Louis Vuitton Finals Match 2: GBR vs ITA
Start: 15:49CET 13:15hrs UTC
Port: GBR
Stbd: ITA