Britain feared ‘someone might have been killed’ with America’s Cup challenge series finely poised

Louis Vuitton Cup final locked at 3-3 in first-to-seven race as Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa battle to take on holders New Zealand

British co-helm Dylan Fletcher said he feared “someone might have been killed” had Ineos Britannia not taken evasive action during Sunday’s controversial loss to Luna Rossa, which allowed the Italians to draw level at 2-2 in the Louis Vuitton Cup final.
Speaking after the two teams once again shared the spoils on Monday, winning one race each to leave the first-to-seven challenger series final locked at 3-3, Fletcher again questioned the umpires’ refusal to award Luna Rossa a penalty in that race.
And he added that their “inconsistent” interpretation of the rules might lead to less close-quarters racing in future as it was possibly not worth the risk engaging.
Monday’s racing was far less dramatic than Sunday’s, even if it did leave the series – which determines who goes through to face New Zealand in the 37th America’s Cup – still on a knife-edge.
A mistake by Luna Rossa in the pre-start to Race 5, losing control of their rudder and falling off their foils, allowed Ineos to establish a lead they never relinquished to go 3-2 up. Ben Ainslie’s crew did an excellent job of defending their lead in that race, getting their elbows out and making passing virtually impossible as they repeatedly hit the Italians, tacking on them and making them sail through their dirt.
Ineos did make one glaring error, a poor roundup which almost allowed Luna Rossa back in. But they bounced back immediately, shutting the door on the Italians in the next upwind leg.
A small mistake here, a small gain there. There’s nothing in it as we head into Day 5 tomorrow.#LVCFinal #Day4 pic.twitter.com/ZGPoOSR5aw
Luna Rossa hit back straight away, though, just as they did in Sunday’s wildly controversial second race. This time, it was far less dramatic. There were no protests, no near-collisions and, most importantly, no passing opportunities for Ineos once the Italians got their noses in front towards the end of the first beat, rounding the top gate just ahead of Ineos.
It was also noticeably less aggressive and charged.
Fletcher later conceded that the explanation given to Ineos by the race umpires as to why they had declined to give Luna Rossa a penalty in Race 4, despite four protests, had possibly informed the way the British team went about their business.
Fletcher, who had described the umpires’ refusal to award Luna Rossa a penalty as a “joke” at one point on Sunday, was asked whether he had changed his view of that incident having reviewed the footage, or the one in the pre-start when Luna Rossa gybed in front of Ineos with both boats travelling at around 40 knots.
He replied: “I guess we didn’t change our view but we got some understanding of how close the umpires want the boats to get [in order to hand out a penalty].
“Ultimately, in that first one in the pre-start we thought we would have potentially killed someone if we had got as close as they wanted us to get. So there is a bit of a difference [of interpretation] there.”
Umpires in the America’s Cup use something called the Umpire App which gives them a virtual view of where the boats are on the water and projects where they will be in a few seconds’ time if they continue on their trajectory. The boats have virtual diamonds around them which must not intersect.
Fletcher, though, said it was one thing looking at a screen in a room on dry land and quite another being on the water in 20-plus knots of breeze. “I think if the umpires had been on the water yesterday they would have made a different decision,” he said.
Fletcher admitted it had informed their approach on Monday. “I guess yesterday was a good lesson in terms of not wanting to leave it in the umpires’ hands. We felt like four decisions went against us, so the more we can do to take it out of their hands the better.
“We’ll always play it the way we need to play it, but I guess the feeling we came away with was we could have just left them alone a bit more and we probably would have gone around them.
“From our point of view it felt like certainly two of the incidents were black and white, so we were very surprised. So that dialled in maybe how the umpires are choosing to umpire it, and therefore how we then need to race. But as long as they’re consistent with their calls we are happy.”
Neil rounds up race day 4 in Barcelona as the leaderboard remains all square in the #LVCupFinal🟦🔒 pic.twitter.com/hfpDSAL5BN
Asked whether he felt they were being consistent, Fletcher said he was not sure, recalling an incident against France in the round robins when Britain were penalised despite the diamonds not intersecting.
“Especially with the hook upwind, it would have been easy to have tagged [Luna Rossa],” he said. “It only takes them to have a little leeway slide, or we were close to losing the rudder, and then you get a penalty. So we are certainly looking into it. We had a little incident with the French where we got a penalty where the diamonds didn’t intersect, so we’re still not sure there is consistency there.”
In the media briefing which they give each morning, regatta director Iain Murray and chief umpire Richard Slater conceded there were “always grey areas” in sailing, especially with these foiling AC75s which have entered new territory in terms of speed and manoeuvrability, especially in the sort of top-end conditions we have experienced in the last few days in Barcelona.
But they also pointed out that the challenger of record had helped to define the rules for this Cup and they were doing their best to apply them even-handedly.
Two more races are scheduled for Tuesday, although conditions are once again expected to be at the upper limit, possibly over it.
Fletcher said Ineos remained positive on the whole, despite the frustration of missing out on a point on Saturday due to a lack of breeze, and then being pegged back on Sunday and Monday.
“It’s frustrating but there’s a lot we’re doing really well,” he said. “It’s just a matter of locking things in a little bit better and it will start clicking.
“It’s going to come down to fine margins. Things like the mainsail selection, jib selection. I think in hindsight we were probably on the wrong jib in that last race. They had a slightly larger jib than us and that did enough to just swing that first cross.”
Ainslie, meanwhile, described the series as “the gift that keeps on giving”. “It’s two great teams,” he said. “But at some point something is going to have to give.”