Tonight will be a significant night for the America’s Cup. We say goodbye to our first challenger who will be leaving the round robin part of the regatta, and leaving the 2024 America’s Cup competition.
Barring what is a mathematical possibility, we will say goodbye to the Orient Express team; they have had one win during the round robin regatta. As a new team and the competition, they have performed admirably.
After their short learning curve, and with clear but growing skill, I hope they are already able to look forward to the next America’s Cup, which will be held in four year’s time in 2028, with the goal of investing time and effort, as ETNZ, Luna Rossa and the other teams do, in preparing a mature team for the next regatta.In saying that, it’s not impossible for a spanner to be chucked in the works; technically speaking Orient Express have won one race and Alinghi have won two races. Tonight the first race is Orient Express versus INEOS. If Orient Express win this race, then Orient Express and Alinghi will both have won two races each. In this circumstance, they will need to compete in a knockout match. In saying that, looking back on last night’s racing with INEOS’ trouncing Luna Rossa, the first place holder in the whole competition, chances are slim, but doable, of this dramatic outcome!
