BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — NYYC American Magic and Britain’s INEOS Britannia both locked up spots in the America’s Cup playoffs along with a dominant Italian boat after winning races on Saturday.
Now it will come down to Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing and France’s Orient Express Racing Team to see which one will also move on and which will go home after the final round-robin regattas on Sunday.
Alinghi is 2-5 and Orient Express 1-6. The French will need to beat the British on Sunday and hope the Swiss lose to the Italians to pull level on points and force a single-race tiebreaker.
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli remained the most in-form challenger with a perfect 6-0 record after beating American Magic. But the Americans bounced back by edging the French to improve to 4-4.
“We have a lot of work to do to keep progressing, but we are really happy to move into the semis,” said American Magic helmsman Tom Slingsby.
INEOS also secured a spot among the final four challengers by beating Alinghi to go 4-2.
The playoff series will start on Sept. 14 to decide which challenger will claim the Louis Vuitton Cup and earn a place in the America’s Cup match, where it will face holder Emirates Team New Zealand in October. New Zealand is participating in the opening phase, but its races don’t count.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports