Tudor Team Alinghi salvaged a difficult opening day at the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta in Naples, charging home for second place in the final race after a first race that gave the Swiss team little to smile about.
Conditions were slow to settle. Racing was delayed while the fleet waited for stable wind, and when the opening race finally got underway, it proved a tough watch for the Swiss.
Race 2 told a different story. Paul Goodison, Phil Robertson, Nicolas Rolaz and Pietro Sibello were straight into the fight, leading the opening upwind leg before finding themselves locked in a tight battle with Luna Rossa.
The Italians eventually got ahead, but Tudor Team Alinghi refused to let go, closing the gap to just nine seconds at the final leeward gate before crossing the line second.
The numbers show just how close it was. Tudor Team Alinghi averaged 32.29 knots for the race, against Luna Rossa's 32.33 knots.
With six fleet races still to sail, that second race gives the team something concrete to build on. Tudor Team Alinghi sits sixth overall after day one, on 11 points.
Skipper Paul Goodison said: "It was a really good day for us to finish the way we did. We probably performed better than we ever have in that super-light stuff, and to bounce back in the last race when the breeze finally came up was really encouraging. It's a good step in the right direction and a testament to the work everybody has been doing on the shore and in the sailing team."
New Zealander Phil Robertson, who sails as Port Helm for the team, described a frustrating start to proceedings. "We started with very little wind and had a lot of starts where we were towing up, foiling and then having the race abandoned. In Race 1, the breeze came in really quickly, and we got caught out over range with the J1 jib. For Race 2, we were on the J3 in around 15-18 knots and had a great race to finish second. It was nice to validate a lot of the work we've been putting in, and the boat was going fast in those conditions."
Coach Marcus Lynch pointed to the value of sticking to process on a stop-start day. "We focused on our processes throughout the day, including several starts that didn't become races. By the time we got to the second race, we'd dialled in how we wanted to deliver. We'll revisit tonight what went well and make sure we come out tomorrow consolidating the insights from today."
Racing continues on Saturday, with four fleet races scheduled in the Bay of Naples.
