Alinghi at the America's Cup: Frustration at the start of the semi-finals

Frustration and calm: Alinghi misses the start of the semi-finals

The first races of the duel with the British team Ineos clearly show the balance of power: Switzerland had no chance. The team is still fighting.

Published today at 17:17

One thing is clear: Alinghi started strongly but then had to give in to the high speeds of the British team Ineos.

Photo: Toni Albir (EPA)

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Arnaud Psarofaghis is a level-headed man. The 36-year-old Alinghi skipper prefers to keep things calm and lets others make the headlines.

In this sense, the French-speaking sailor was making a huge mistake when he said the day before the start of the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup: “If we want to win the America’s Cup, we have to learn from the best and beat the best. If I had to choose, I would have chosen Ineos Britannia as my opponent.”

You have to know: Ineos Britannia was clearly the best of the five challengers in the preliminary round of the Challenger Series in Barcelona. At the helm of the British team is Ben Ainslie, four-time Olympic champion and six-time America’s Cup participant. The 47-year-old is currently the best sailor in the world. Psarofaghis, on the other hand, is the most talented sailor in Switzerland.

Two different calibers: Alinghi skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis with his opponent Ben Ainslie the day before the first race.

Photo: Quique Garcia (EPA)

This comparison alone shows how big the challenge is for Alinghi Red Bull to get past Great Britain and into the next round. And that’s exactly what happened on the first day of the semi-finals. The Swiss sailing team lost both duels with the British by a clear margin – the first by more than two minutes, and the second by 97 seconds.

The score between Switzerland and Great Britain is now 0:2 – whoever gets five wins first will be in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The next two races are on Sunday. “We have proven that we are a team that is used to fighting back,” said Maxime Bachelin, the second helmsman, with courage.

Started brilliantly, but then…

After a weak start to the Louis Vuitton Cup, which also caused internal unrest, Alinghi Red Bull had recently shown better form. But Saturday was another difficult and frustrating day for the Société Nautique de Genève and its patron Ernesto Bertarelli.

In the first duel, the Alinghi crew managed an outstanding pre-start, but soon afterwards the experienced Brits struck back with their fast yacht and stole the show from Switzerland in the first downwind course. Later, Alinghi fell off the foils once again due to a driving error and quickly came to a standstill.

The second race got off to a bad start: the Swiss were caught in a lull before the start and incurred two penalties. They were unable to make up for this. “The conditions were difficult, but there are still many races and points to be won,” said Psarofaghis, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday.

Luna Rossa leads 2-0

In the second semi-final, the Italian team Luna Rossa leads with 2:0 victories against American Magic. The Italians managed to win the first race after a bad start and a strong comeback and followed on in the second despite great pressure from the New York Yacht Club.

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David Returns is deputy head of the Tamedia sports department and writes about topics from a wide range of areas. As editor, he is also (co-)responsible for planning.More info

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topicnews · September 14, 2024

Alinghi at the America’s Cup: Frustration at the start of the semi-finals

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