Italians half way to second slot in Louis Vuitton Cup final

Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge (L) and Sweden's Artemis Racing (R) face off at the start of a Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals match on August 7, 2013, in San Francisco. (GETTY IMAGES)

Time is running out for Swedish America’s Cup challenger Artemis, whose sailing director is Iain Percy, after going two down to the Italians in the semi-final of the Louis Vuitton Cup elimination series.

The next two races in the best of seven are scheduled for Friday and Saturday; lose those and things will be a lot quieter at an Alameda base that has had to respond to a summer of strife after seeing Percy’s double Olympic medal partner, Andrew Simpson, killed in a training accident and then working frantically to build a second boat.

It also means that the Prada-backed Luna Rossa will have achieved team boss Patrizio Bertelli’s initial target of a place in the Louis Vuitton finals against Emirates Team New Zealand, another best of seven starting on Saturday 17 August.

In Chicago, defending champion Ian Williams lost his opening race of the Chicago Match Cup to local man Don Wilson but beat the U.S.-based Kiwi Gavin Brady in his second race. Taylor Canfield of the US Virgin Islands was the only one on 2-0 at the end of the first day of the fourth regatta, of six, in the Alpari World Match Racing Championship.