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A breakdown on board Luna Rossa forced the Italian ship to abandon the 7th final race against Ineos Britannia, who continue the race but now have a 4-3 point in their pocket. The two boats had started on equal terms and crossed the first gate with a gap of 1 second, then the technical accident that put the Italians out of the game.

HOLY DAY – On a day of recovery yesterday, after the smooth calm that had led to Saturday’s stalemate, and yesterday 2-2 due to the penalty of Luna for an accident on the mainsail, the beautiful sea of ​​​​Barcelona with a strong wind of 17 -18 knots offered an interesting spectacle, with both cars launched on the wings.

The team of Sir Ben Ainslie and Dylan Fletcher won the fifth race to take a 3-2 lead. With a burst of pride and nerves of steel, the Prada Pirelli team of Checco Bruni and Jimmy Spithill brought the match back to a perfect balance at 3-3 in the sixth regatta, where the Italian team laid down the law.

“It’s an important attraction. Well done lads!”, the hot comment from ‘the dog’ Spithill, who highlighted the Azzurri’s “huge merit” for “being moved again perfectly at the start” and after the the others executed “very cleanly”, gaining an advantage over their opponents. “The boat sailed well,” said Bruni. “We made a small mistake at the start of the race. But in general it went very well, the conditions were ideal for racing. We have to continue like this and try to crush them,” he said.

The first game started with the overlap at the start in favor of Sir Ainslie’s boat who went downwind and separated from Luna Rossa but a short fall from the colt was fatal. At the first gate, the gap was 5 seconds. On the down leg – the first of a total of 8 legs of the regatta – the Italians recovered and moved into the wake of Britannia.

At gate 2 Prada Pirelli was still 6 seconds behind; on the second upwind leg Ineos pulled ahead again. At the third gate Luna Rossa was still aiming to overtake him, but the English were able to manage their advantage well, which had increased to 11 seconds midway through the race. And there was no need for the guards of the Prada team on the third leg, imitated by Ineos, who managed to control the front of the Azzurri.

A mistake by Ineos on pitch seven reduced the gap to 70 meters and raised hopes. But it wasn’t even the fast pace of boys’ skipper Max Sirena that got the better of Britannia, who managed to cross the finish line 12 seconds behind Luna Rossa.

Vuitton Cup final: race 6 at Luna Rossa, 3-3 with Ineos

Without losing heart, Azzurri Prada Pirelli prepared for the start of the second match race, determined to repeat the strategy but this time without making any mistakes. After an almost equal start, Luna Rossa managed to be faster, go into first place with a perfect move and close the first leg with a 4 second advantage.

The two sailing cars passed the mark on the right side, but the Italians managed to extend a hundred meters and conquer it on the leeward side, removing another second or two. Then the magnificent leg up, with the duel of tackle that showed full leadership of Sir Ainslie’s team and his companions, 200 meters behind. At the halfway point of the race, Luna Rossa’s lead was 13 seconds, which became 17 on the fifth leg, with the AC75 flying at over 51 knots.

At the seventh gate, the advantage over Britannia’s competitors was 400 meters and the Prada Pirelli team went to the finish line with a 17-second gap and a 3-3 redemption in their pockets.

Ineos Britannia won the 5th race of the final with a 3-2 lead over Luna Rossa