The tie lasted 10 seconds, the time it took Ineos Britannia (United Kingdom) to overtake Orient Express (France) after the start of the decisive race in which the French were playing their last chances of staying alive in the competition. They needed a victory and hope that Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland) would lose its fight against Luna Rossa (Italy), but they did not need to wait any longer because there was no color in their duel against the British. Eliminated. The last to arrive at the America’s Cup is the first to leave. The Orient Express is already past in Barcelona. Only four challengers remain and the Defender, Team New Zealand, which will not compete again until the end of the race. Match final at the end of October against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, which will crown the best of the contenders in the qualifying rounds to be played on 14 September and 6 October.
After two weeks of racing, the crash of the Orient Express confirms the difficulty of adapting to the competitive pace of the America’s Cup without the impetus of a medium- and long-term project. The French team was the last team to join the competition, in 2022, and bought an AC75 design (the yacht that must be used in the current edition) directly from Team New Zealand due to lack of time to create a boat from scratch. “What this team has done in a year, and that we have been able to compete against the teams is something to be proud of,” claimed the team’s skipper and pilot, Quentin Delapierre, still on the boat. “We fought hard but it was not enough. It’s a shame. We just want to come back stronger, and win this Cup one day,” he added.
The team was unable to train on their yacht until June 6. “We are short of hours of flight,” admitted Kévin Pepponet, one of the team’s two pilots, to EL PAÍS before the start of the Round Robin. Despite winning their first race against Alinghi Red Bull and facing Ineos Britannia in their first head-to-head, the team’s evolution has not been sufficiently pronounced to beat the rest of their rivals. The Orient Express is leaving after losing its last seven consecutive races.
The day served to crown Ineos Britannia as the first classified in the Round Robin, which will allow it to choose its opponent in the semi-finals. The team led by Ben Ainslie, one of the greatest sailors in history, beat Luna Rossa in the tie-break race. The Italians, who had won the first six scoring races and even beat the all-powerful Team New Zealand, end the first phase with doubts. They already lost on Saturday against Ineos, on Monday they did not arrive on time in their duel against Alinghi Red Bull due to a problem with the foil; and they lost again against the British in the tie-break. Both squadrons complete the semi-finals together with Alinghi Red Bull and American Magic (United States).
