If he does not lose his flight in a manoeuvre, he is disqualified before the start for arriving late to the race course. And if he is not penalised for crossing the start line prematurely, he succumbs in the race. The mishaps are repeated at home for Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland), which is still without a win after four days in the Round Robin of the America’s Cup, the qualifying phase that gives access to the knockout rounds from which Team New Zealand’s rival (classified as defending champion) will emerge in the grand final match in October. The Swiss are currently last without any points, a position that entails elimination in this initial phase that will end on 8 September and which is now halfway through.
The day started badly for the Swiss, who were disqualified from their face to face with the kiwis (who participate with their rivals to train, but their races do not count towards the classification) before starting by arriving late to the regatta field. It seemed like another miscalculation by a team that is not finding good sensations on the water in Barcelona, but later it was discovered that there was a problem with the sail that they could not repair in time.
No one was surprised by the latest mishap of a team that seems to be cursed. Two days before the start of the Preliminary Regatta in August, it broke a new mast after having already broken another one just two months earlier. And already in official competition, it succumbed to the Orient Express, the most modest team in the competition; it lost its flight in the pre-start (the start phase where the AC75s try to take the best position in a countdown that validates the start) against the Ineos Britannia (United Kingdom) and crossed the start line early against the American Magic (United States). “We have to find the speed that we are missing, fine-tune the boat and get to know it better,” admitted Joan Vila, meteorologist for the Swiss team on Saturday.
The positive part of the day for the Swiss was their final performance against the leader Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy), in their second race of the day. Ernesto Bertarelli’s team, the Swiss billionaire who finances the Swiss project, finally got off to a good start and held their own in the first of the six races that make up the race, but the Italian potential was unbeatable. Max Sirena’s team are leaders with four wins in four races and have one foot and a half in the playoffs.
After four rounds in which the five contenders have already faced each other, the Round Robin will rest on Monday and will begin the second round on Tuesday with an eye on the ability of the Swiss to recover. They are last in the standings and their duel against Orient Express (France), second from bottom with a single point, will be crucial to assess the reality of the Swiss team. A defeat would be fatal, perhaps definitive, for their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
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