Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final / Photo: Josep LAGO - AFP
NYSE - LSE
Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
Italy's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli reached the Louis Vuitton Cup final on Thursday as they defeated New York Yacht Club American Magic.
The Italians will face the other semi-final winners Ineos Britannia for the right to compete against New Zealand in the 37th America's Cup in October.
Luna Rossa suffered a mainsheet traveller failure on Wednesday but the shore team got their AC75 boat back in shape to compete and triumph against Magic in Barcelona.
"This victory really has to go to our shore team, they pulled an all-nighter, (we) walked in this morning and it was like seeing a bunch of zombies wandering around -- it's just the best way to repay them," said helmsman Jimmy Spithill.
The Americans came from 4-0 down to trail 4-3 but the Italians triumphed with Thursday's victory in the first-to-five points battle.
"It's been a fantastic journey these super semi-finals and we're ready for more fights," said Luna Rossa's Francesco Bruni.
"We had some pressure (on us) for sure and it was good to reply strongly to that pressure.
"The last 24 hours have been toughest for the shore team and they deserve this win... we all deserve this win, it was not an easy night in the shed and psychologically it was very hard for the whole team."
Magic led but two downspeed tacks allowed the Italians in and they took a 20 second advantage at the first mark.
From there Luna Rossa made no mistakes to seal a 61 second victory.
They face Ineos Britannia, who defeated Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing, in the first-to-seven final which begins in a week's time.
L.Keller--HHA
