Louis Vuitton Semi Finals Day 1 Report 9. INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Take Honours

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The business end of the Louis Vuitton Cup began today under bright sunshine on the stunning waters off Barcelona, with the first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Finals seeing two utterly ruthless performances from the top two Challenger teams to emerge from the initial Round Robin series – Ineos Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

On a shifting and tricky day, with a seven to 13 knot wind coming in across the Mediterranean from the south-south-west, it was time for the superstars of the sport to shine – and they did so with clinical execution. With Sir Ben Ainslie’s selection of the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing tight racing was expected, but apart from some initial exchanges in the pair’s opening race, it was all one-way traffic in favour of the British.