For the third time in the best-of-13 series, the Italian challenger was able to overturn a one-point deficit, ending this morning tied at 4-4 with British entry Ineos Britannia.
Butit wasn’t just on the scoreboard where the Italians had to make a comeback.
It was a massive nosedive that saw them fall behind again in the first race of the day, with damage to their AC75 forcing them out of the contest.
It was initially unclear exactly what sort of damage the vessel had sustained, but it appeared to mainly be cosmetic and after some fast work by their sailing team and shore crew they were able to line up again for the day’s second race less than an hour later.
A boundary penalty in the pre-start against the British gave Luna Rossa the perfect opportunity to take control in that second race, and the Italians didn’t waste it.
It was the second time in three days that Luna Rossa handed a point to the British, after a mainsail issue saw them unable to start the third race of the series.
“These curveballs that keep coming our way, that’s when you see a champion team,” Luna Rossa starboard helmsman Jimmy Spithill said.
“Once again, all the shore team structural engineers jumped on board and were able to affect a repair to get us back out there and the boys just sailed an absolutely flawless race.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli assess the damage onboard after a big nosedive early in race seven of the Louis Vuitton Cup final. Photo / Ricardo Pinto, America's Cup
“We’ve been making a habit of this [levelling the series]; we’ve had a couple of goes at it now. But it’s good to know the team can take that pressure when it comes on. That’s a powerful thing as a team so well done to the team, but we’re going to really try and learn what we can from today and look forward to the next one.”
On another day of conditions towards the top end of the wind scale, the nosedive saw Ineos Britannia put their noses back in front in the series in a race that was in the balance down the opening leg.
Luna Rossa made a strong start, executing well in the pre-start and dictating things early before the British edged back into the lead just before the gate.
The Italians appeared to have been dealing with an issue with one of their foil arms earlier in the race, but a nosedive at over 40 knots stopped them in their tracks soon after the mark rounding.
The Italians stayed on the course and did not receive outside assistance for some time, forcing the Brits to continue to sail the race until about the fifth leg at which point they retired and the win was awarded to Ineos Britannia.
The second race saw the British open the door for the Italians to hit back, though, with an execution error in the pre-start as they sailed outside the boundary, picking up a penalty and having to start 75m behind Luna Rossa.
The Italians showed no ill effects from their earlier faux pas through the second race, executing well to claim a 16s win.
“We just got out of position, which in these conditions is really hard because you can’t just throw the boat around like you want to or you can do in lighter airs,” Ineos Britannia starboard helmsman Sir Ben Ainslie said.
“It was our mistake and they did a great job to defend.”
