The four-time Olympic champion, British Sir Ben Ainslie, helmsman of the INEOS Britannia, noted on Monday, after concluding the third day of the Louis Vuitton Cup final in a tie (3-3), like the two previous days, that “at some point, one of the two will win the final.”
The Italian boat had problems during the pre-start of the first race of the day, with an error after a maneuver that made them lose speed and gave the British an advantage. The British eventually won the race, but in the second duel, they were far superior and leveled the final once again.
“We are two great teams and we have to continue with this game. Luna Rossa has had a great race and our mistakes have not allowed us to win the second duel of the day,” said Ainslie from INEOS at the end of the day.
The British team took the lead in the first leg, but in the second leg the Italian team started better and, combining speed and maneuverability, equalized the elimination round again
On his part, Dylan Fletcher, co-skipper of the INEOS AC75, had kind words for his rivals regarding their performance in the sixth showdown of the final: “Congratulations to Luna Rossa for the great race they've had. We tried to do our best, but it just didn't come together for us.”
The television show must go on
The Italian sailor Francesco Bruni, co-helmsman of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, stated on Monday, after concluding the third day of the Louis Vuitton Cup final with a tie (3-3) against INEOS Britannia, that both teams must “maintain this television show.”
His teammate and co-helmsman of the Luna Rossa's AC75, Australian sailor Jimmy Spithill, analyzed that the team performed “very clean maneuvers” that were “decisive” in winning the second match of the day. He highlighted that there were “no navigation issues.”