Beaten by the Americans, the French in the Orient Express challenge now have their backs to the wall. They must win their last regatta, on Sunday, to reach the semi-finals.
Beaten on Saturday by American Magic, the French team of the Orient Express challenge have their backs to the wall in the America’s Cup qualifiers in Barcelona. They absolutely must win their last match on Sunday to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
“I think it was one of our best races today (Saturday). On put American Magic under pressure, but it was decided at the start“, regretted the French helmsman Quentin Delapierre on Saturday just after the defeat. Authors of a better start to the race downwind, Tom Slingsby and the Americans managed their short lead over the French AC75 without making a mistake. The gap at the finish mark was 15 seconds between the two challenges, a mere nothing.
“Now we have one race left” to qualify, said the Frenchman. Fifth and last in the standings on Saturday, Orient Express (1 win and six losses) will absolutely have to beat Ineos (3rd, 4-2) on Sunday. And even in this scenario, the Swiss team of Alinghi (4th 2-5) will have to lose to the Italian team of Luna Rossa, who were nevertheless unbeaten in the preliminary rounds.
The French and the Swiss will then be perfectly equal and will have to face each other in a final play-off regatta to obtain the 4th and final qualifying place in the semi-final of the Louis Vuitton Cup, a preamble to the America’s Cup. The winner of this table will face the New Zealanders to try to win the silver ewer, the oldest sporting trophy in the world, in October.
