It’s a Manic Monday in the America’s Cup

Just when you thought the Round Robins for the Louis Vuitton Cup couldn’t get any more confusing, concerning or bizarre, here comes “Manic Monday.” In the most unlikely of scenarios, INEOS Team Britannia has walked off with the top seed going into the Semi-Finals. The final day of the LVC Round Robins closed with a defeat for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who had been dominating the racing up until the last moment — all of a sudden the British seem to have cracked the code and are firing on all cylinders. As the wind at first failed to really materialize, again leaving the teams and most of everyone else watching wondering what the full potential of the AC 75s could be, the French came out on the losing end and were the first to be eliminated in the process.

In the second race of the day the Italians suffered a pre-start malfunction and the team was unable to compete in its first match against Red Bull Alinghi. With the countdown clock ticking down, LRPP sailed off the course and were disqualified, as another technical issue befell the Italians on the one-design race management system supplied to all the teams. The problem was with lowering the starboard foil, and the result gave the Swiss the point and forced a sail-off at the top as the Italians were tied on points with INEOS Britannia.

Earlier in the day it was do-or-die for Orient Express, who yesterday suffered a bear-away nosedive when they went from 29 knots to one knot in the blink of an eye and caused damage to their foredeck structure. It was quickly repaired and they raced out to the course, though to no avail, as racing was eventually canceled. When racing commenced today, INEOS Britannia controlled the start and the race to win by one minute and 11 seconds, eliminating the French.

American Magic was up next against the Kiwis. The start was a disaster for Patriot 2.0 as they fell off the foils into displacement and were further given a boundary penalty. ETNZ controlled the start in marginal conditions. After a competitive first leg, the Race Committee shortened the legs of the course to just one nautical mile, and New Zealand went on to win by a comfortable 2 minutes 37 seconds.

Perhaps the story of the day was the final race, an unscheduled sail-off to determine the top-ranked challenger between the British and Italians, tied on points at the top of the leaderboard.

Ben Ainslie on INEOS nailed the windward start and both boats went into an immediate high mode, with the British more than capable of living there. At the first tack, Britannia slapped a wicked cover on the Italians, who were forced to tack away. The Brits established real control here and stretched the lead to finish 42 seconds ahead for what turned out to be a very disappointing day for Jimmy Spithill and LRPP.

The following day it was a different story as “Mother Nature” swept in, giving the Spanish coast a much-needed heavy dose of rain, which some described as “biblical.” When it wasn’t raining, the notorious Barcelona chop wreaked havoc on the racecourse, leaving the teams with all sorts of weeds and garbage on their foils and rudders.

The America’s Cup has struggled for years to be taken seriously as a world-class sport, and to have a team that has spent at least $100 million to be eliminated in such a fashion as occurred in this event is certainly not fashionable. Especially when that team is from the home country of Louis Vuitton, the title sponsor. So far Barcelona, Catalonia, has failed to impress as a venue.

Earlier in the week Alinghi Red Bull was aided by the grace of another pre-start mistake by American Magic, who were late on their port-entry start, giving the Swiss the advantage. The Swiss then brilliantly covered the Americans, tack for tack, as the recumbent cyclers on Patriot 2.0 ran short of energy and ultimately the precious juice needed to move the hydraulic fluids to power the foils and flaps. Ultimately, though, American Magic captured the wins they needed over the British and French to scrape into the Semi-Finals.

But unfortunately, it was news from the American camp that has dominated the news cycle.

On Saturday Paul Goodison was injured after racing, while still onboard American Magic, falling into one of the cockpits. Without any official confirmation, Goodison most likely has a concussion and broken ribs, and possibly a broken collarbone, which will keep him off the boat and on the sidelines for the remainder of the event.

The statement from American Magic released today reads, “After securing a place in the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selection Series Semi-Finals with a victory over Orient Express Racing on Saturday, American Magic confirms that helmsman Paul Goodison sustained an injury and is currently undergoing treatment. Paul’s recovery is being monitored daily, and we look forward to his swift return to the port helm of Patriot.

“In the interim, Olympic medalist and multiple World Champion Lucas Calabrese will helm Patriot. Lucas has been an integral part of our helmsman rotation for over two years, training extensively alongside the crew, and is fully prepared to take on this role as we continue our campaign.

“As a team, American Magic supports Paul in his recovery, and we are confident in the Patriot sailing team, which now includes Lucas on the port helm, to lead Patriot through the upcoming races as we focus on the America’s Cup.”

Again, Barcelona, Catalonia, has failed to impress as a venue. Apathy by the yachting community, who have never really embraced the high-speed foiling monohulls — with crews largely out of sight in the mole hole cockpits — and with all the postponements, rules confusion and general WTF-is-going-on that leaves even longtime fans scratching their heads

The Semi-Finals start this Saturday, and in all likelihood Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will face off against American Magic as INEOS Britannia as top seed will choose Red Bull Alinghi — partly because the Americans have beaten Britain fairly consistently when they have raced against each other and the Swiss are the perceived weaker team. We’ll see. Stay tuned ….