BARCELONA: French boat Orient Express became the first America’s Cup challenger eliminated from the Louis Vuitton Cup as they lost their last race in the round-robin phase to Ineos Britannia on Monday. The defeat meant Orient Express finished the double round robin with one win in eight races against other challengers.

The result ensured Swiss entry Alinghi Red Bull, which had won two races ahead of their encounter with Italians Prada Luna Rossa later on Monday, will finish in the top four and qualify for the semi-finals. The regatta was scheduled to end Sunday, but racing was postponed because of “unstable” weather conditions.

That potentially helped the French, who had come off their foils and plunged nose first into the water in morning practice, suffering unspecified structural problems. After emergency repairs they just made it to Sunday’s start line, before racing was cancelled. On Monday, even after overnight work on the boat, they trailed throughout.

In patchy wind conditions off Barcelona, Orient Express, skippered by Quentin Delapierre, fell behind early and dropped steadily further back over the six legs to finish one minute, 11 seconds behind the British entry. “Feeling real disappointment,” said French helmsman Kevin Peponnet. “All the shore team pushed really hard to win this race today to continue our journey. We are very disappointed because we could not.”

‘Tough little race’

Victory put Britannia level at the top of the table with Luna Rossa in the battle for top-seeding in the four boat semi-finals. “Tough little race in a light breeze,” said British skipper Ben Ainslie. “The guys did well to get the boat round the course.”

Orient Express and fellow strugglers Alinghi are the two boats in the fleet who did not compete in the last America’s Cup regatta in New Zealand in 2021.

Despite having the smallest budget of the six teams, Les Bleus beat Alinghi in their first race. After that, the French suffered one setback after another as they learned to sail a hydrofoil boat. “Just looking forward to coming back stronger to win this Cup one day,” said Delapierre.

“Putting together this team only one year before and being able to compete against those experienced teams: unbelievable effort.” No French boat has made the semi-finals in the Louis Vuitton Cup since Ville de Paris in 1992.

The double round robin phase ends with the third race Monday, when American Magic face defending champions Emirates New Zealand. The result does not count to the Challenger standings and will not alter the New York boat’s third seeding. Victory for the Kiwis could give them a psychologically-important first place in the broader Louis Vuitton Cup standings, which include all the races between the six boats.

The semi-finals are scheduled to start on September 14. In each, the first boat to five points advances to the first-to-seven challenger final, scheduled to begin on September 26. — AFP