America’s Cup boat launches are coming thick and fast, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli becoming the third team to launch an America’s Cup AC75 boat in the last couple of weeks.

The Italian team launched their AC75 from their home base in Cagliari, Italy on Saturday 13th April. This follows Alinghi Red Bull Racing unveiling their boat on 5th April and Emirates Team New Zealand launching theirs on 11th April.

Teams are only allowed to build one America’s Cup boat this cycle, so this is the AC75 which Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will race later this year when the event begins. As we have seen with the previous two launches most of what can be observed at this early stage can be attributed to the tweaks that have been made to the AC75 rule for the 37th America’s Cup, which has seen changes such as the reintroduction of cyclors and changes to the rig which has removed runners.

Photo: c/o Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

On the former point the Luna Rossa boat features deep pods in which the cyclors are able to tuck in, almost unseen, behind the helm and trim teams. This should help provide the ultimate aerodynamic efficiency that all teams are striving for on boats that easily generate 50 knot apparent wind speeds over deck. We have seen similar deep pods on both of the other AC75 launches to date and these are a development of what we saw last cycle – particularly on Emirates Team New Zealand‘s winning boat.

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First America’s Cup boat revealed ahead of 37th AC later this year

Alinghi Red Bull Racing has rolled out the boat which the Swiss team is hoping will bring them more America’s…

America’s Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand launch their AC75

Last weekend saw the unveiling of the first America’s Cup boat of this cycle as Alinghi Red Bull Racing revealed…

Also a feature on all boats so far is a slender ‘bustle’ or ‘skeg’ running the full length of the hull. These look to have become both deeper and more slender in the new generation AC75s with speculation that this development path is in no small part a response to the wavy conditions likely to be seen in the America’s Cup venue, Barcelona.

Compared to the previous two launches when looking at the imagery side-by-side, the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli boat looks to sit between the other two boats. Where Alinghi Red Bull Racing features very angular slab sides and a sudden cut of of those sides a way forward of the stern, Emirates Team New Zealand’s boat features much more organic lines, with a smooth taper of its hull sides towards the stern.

Luna Rossa features more prominent slab sides than the New Zealand boat, but does not feature as many curves and lumps. However, it still follows a slightly more organic shape than Alinghi offering.

Initial observations are hard to make without seeing the boats in the flesh, but bow volume is likely to be a key area of difference between the boats and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli themselves say that their bow offers ‘perhaps slightly less volume than we’ve seen on Emirates Team New Zealand and certainly less [volume] than Alinghi Red Bull Racing.’

Photo: c/o Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

One area that will be of interest when we see this boat in flight will be the mainsail arrangement. In the 2021 America’s Cup Luna Rossa had a very sophisticated under deck boom, that was a very impressive asset and one the team spend many design hours refining.

As it was a hidden development, details are still scant, but given this was a strength of their America’s Cup finalist boat last time out we’d be surprised if there was not some development of this system hidden away under the deck.

When Alinghi unveiled their boat we were not able to see the team’s foils as they did not plan to launch the boat and step the mast – at which point it is against America’s Cup rules to use covers to hide parts of the boat. But as both Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli actually launched their boats we were able to see both sets of foils.

However, this is an area teams will be keen to keep as secret as possible as late as possible, so there are not many conclusions to be drawn about these foils yet, other than each team was sporting what might be termed an incremental development of the foils which they used in the last Cup cycle.

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There is now just 1 year to go until the America’s Cup proper kicks off in Barcelona, where Emirates Team New Zealand will take on the winner of the challengers selection series to fight for the ultimate prize in sailing, the America’s Cup. It has been a long time since we last saw cup teams racing, but the Preliminary Regatta last month has served as something of a line in the sand for fans, who can now start to get excited about the build up to the competition.

With this in mind, the sight of America’s Cup sailors out of their aerodynamically sleek cockpits hanging off shrouds and standing on the bow of their AC40s trying to get boats moving in displacement mode was probably not the image that the organisers had hoped for after racing in the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta came to a close over the weekend of 14-16th September. But it is the image many viewers will remember as the racing was marred by poor conditions.

Although racing was cancelled on day one due to no wind, was adversely affected on day two for the same reason and was forced to finish early on day three, there was still some thrilling action on the race course for those patient enough to keep watching through the lulls (both figuratively and literally).

What did we learn from the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta?

The simplest answer to this question is ‘not very much at all’. How teams perform in their one-design AC40 foilers bears very little resemblance to how they might perform at the America’s Cup proper in late 2024, when they will be racing their AC75 America’s Cup yachts which have a much more open class rule and which teams are developing behind the scenes right now.

But there is a little more nuance than that. American Magic, with two of the best foiling sailors in Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison won the event.

They have spent plenty of time sailing their AC40 – of which they now have two. Even if the team felt they came into the race a bit “underprepared” as Goodison put it as the sailors had been focussed on sailing against, not with, each other.

It may be a small surprise that Emirates Team New Zealand with the three generational talents of Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge and Blair Tuke onboard did not win the regatta. They have also been sailing plenty in their two AC40s, but at least the Preliminary Regatta showed the all-powerful Kiwi team can be beaten.

A much bigger surprise, however, was the performance of the French Orient Express Racing Team who picked up third place having only launched their single AC40 in August this year, weeks before the event began.

However, it is interesting to note that with no other test platform on the water and no AC75 either, this team spent a significant amount of time working on an AC40 simulator, so they are not quite as unfamiliar with the platform as their launch date might suggest.

This move to simulator time is a theme we have seen in recent America’s Cup as teams develop computer platforms to help with the design process, but we’ve not often seen them used for upskilling in pure sailing skills terms.

Elsewhere, the two teams that have focussed on technical development of their own test platforms (called LEQ12s) in Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia were fourth and sixth respectively.

For their part INEOS stated their disappointment with the team’s Giles Scott admitting they should have done better despite their limited time sailing an AC40.

Sandwiched between these two were Alinghi Red Bull Racing, who have put a great deal of time and effort into updating and sailing the AC75 they purchased from Emirates Team New Zealand to better understand the platform while they design another boat for the 2024 America’s Cup.

America’s Cup weather worries?

One thing that can be learned from the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta are the conditions likely to be experienced at the start of the next America’s Cup – or at least the challenger series, which will take place at a similar time 50 miles up the coast in Barcelona.

The timing of this event firmly puts it just ahead of the windiest winter season, with the lightest wind month being August and the windiest month typically around January. As such the spectacle of foiling boats struggling to make it round a race course might well be something we see some of in the early parts of the challenger series – and the Youth and Women’s AC both set to use AC40s and both scheduled ahead of the AC itself.

With the America’s Cup itself taking place in October, winds should in theory be a little stronger. It is worth noting that as Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand will not need to compete in any of the racing ahead of the Cup itself, and so could well see a significant advantage from not needing to focus so hard on very-light wind performance.

Of course, this is sailing and everyone is at the mercy of the elements to some extent.

American Magic out two-boat testing. Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

Test platforms and training

Every team entered into the 2024 America’s Cup needs to purchase a one-design foiling AC40 for racing in the Preliminary Regattas and to ensure they can enter teams into both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups (both of which will use AC40s).

All teams set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup now have AC40s on the water, however, some have had them on the water longer than others, and some have two out on the water sailing.

Although the AC40 is a one-design class and must adhere to strict rules for the Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s AC, outside of these events they are allowed to be modified in order to conduct testing ahead of the launch of team’s single allowed AC75 America’s Cup boat – though they must be able to be returned to their one-design configuration for racing.

Photo: Martin Keruzore/OERT

The French Orient Express Racing Team were the last team to enter this America’s Cup and were also the last to get an AC40 – only launching it in mid-August. And as such hold the difficult duel position as both last team to enter the Cup and the team with the least time on the water. But an impressive showing in the America’s Cup Preliminary regatta at least shows they have the sailing chops to mix it with the rest of the field.

By contrast, Defenders of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand were the first to launch an AC40 back in 2022 and were the first to conduct two-boat testing once their second AC40 was launched. Neither of these outcomes are a surprise, with a single builder of AC40s, teams were allocated a build slot based on their order of entry to the 37th America’s Cup.

In terms of boat launches, teams have taken a number of different approaches. With a wait for AC40 delivery and time of the essence (as ever in the AC), some teams chose to build their own training boats.

Boat terminology has become a little confusing, but test platforms are generally referred to as LEQ12s (short for ‘Less or Equal to 12m’ the parameters for a test platform as defined by the America’s Cup rules, to limit teams building platforms too similar in size to an AC75).

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli training in their LEQ12.

The two teams which have chosen this route are Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. To add a little more confusion to the nomenclature, Luna Rossa refer to their boat as simply LEQ12 while the Brits have named their ‘LEQ12’ T6. Both of these were launched in late 2022.

For both of these teams, their LEQ12 has been the primary test platform, with both also adding AC40s to their roster of boats following the launch of their LEQ12 test platforms.

To further confuse the issue, if teams take an AC40 out of one-design configuration that too becomes (officially) an LEQ12. This is because there are limits on the number of parts any team can design and own. So an LEQ12 can have a certain number of test foil shapes (for example) and this same rule applies to foils on a non-one-design AC40.

INOES Britannia launched their LEQ12 bristling with sensors. You can make out one camera here, above and aft of the foil arm buried in the hull, surrounded by carbon there are hundreds more load, speed etc. sensors. Photo: C.GREGORY / INEOS BRITANNIA

In addition to AC40s and LEQ12 test boats, teams are also able to sail their AC75s from the 36th America’s Cup, though with limitations on when they can be sailed. These limitations vary somewhat with teams that took part in the last America’s Cup, who already have AC75s, more restricted than new entries, who were able to purchase an AC75 and sail it earlier in the cycle.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are a new entrant in this Cup cycle and they purchased Emirates Team New Zealand’s first AC75 from the 2021 Cup cycle and relaunched it in August 2022 immediately getting some time on the foiling monohull under their belts. They have since relaunched once again after adding some further developments.

They have split their time between AC75 sailing and AC40 sailing, once their own one-design was delivered, and have recently been two-boat tuning with the delivery of their second AC40.

Sailing ‘legacy’ AC75s will be a key part of the build up to the next America’s Cup, with teams only allowed to build one new AC75 this time around (two were permitted for the 2021 Cup).

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

“The rule that you can only build one AC75 this campaign is to save cost, but it’s a big change from the America’s Cup that I grew up with, in the old IACC class monohulls,” explained Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager. “Back then, it was all about two-boat testing. Every team that could afford to designed and built two boats, and then lined them up against each other for countless hours of side-by-side tuning out on the water. We don’t have that available to us this time.”

The USA flagged team, American Magic has taken a similar approach to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, getting plenty of time out on the water onboard their AC75 from their base in Pensacola and sailing their first AC40 there too, before moving out to Barcelona earlier this year where they got their hands on their second AC40 allowing them to get some two boat testing and training under their belts.

It should be noted that the AC75 rules have been slightly tweaked for this edition with ‘cyclors‘ once again allowed and some changes to the foil arms and sail control systems – among other tweaks, such as reduced crew numbers. And we have seen teams making changes to their legacy AC75s to reflect this, with many teams opting for cyclors at this early stage.

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The second day of racing for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta was something of a mixed bag. Three solid fleet races in full foiling conditions were followed by an attempted two-boat match race, which started as the wind died.

With a 10-minute time limit for the two competing boats, American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand, to reach the top mark the final match race was looking unlikely from the start. After a painful exhibition of the two teams nursing their AC40s upwind – crew on the bow, hanging from the shrouds, doing everything they could to dampen the pitch and roll of the AC40s hulls as they wallowed in the water – the race was abandoned. Swiftly afterwards race organisers confirmed that all racing had been abandoned for the day.

Teams tried everything to get the most from their boats in the extremely light winds

This awarded American Magic the Preliminary Regatta win by just one point.

But the day had started very differently. With around 10-12 knots of south-easterly breeze and a rolling swell at 1500hrs, the AC40s were fully powered up and flying under their J2s (headsail choice is mandated by race committee). The first race start was a stormer – the fleet all hitting the line at speed, French Orient Express Racing Team looking to repeat yesterday’s success with another port start.

Emirates Team New Zealand and American Magic took up the early battle for the front, each slam-dunking tacks on their opponents, until New Zealand team’s height and speed took gave them a direct line to the port top mark, building a lead that was never under threat. American Magic took second, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli taking third from the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

The second race was another showcase start, the French team again showing their willingness to get their AC40 fully in the mix despite their limited time in the boat with a heart-stopping approach at full speed at the committee boat end.

The American team dominated the race, coming off the line at pace to pull away. Behind them were place changes and tacking battles – Luna Rossa and Alinghi evenly matched, while the French made it hard work for Emirates Team New Zealand to get past them. With Emirates Team New Zealand finishing 4th, the third fleet race of the day would determine who would go through to the final match race of the Preliminary Regatta.

The points calculations were further complicated when it became apparent that Alinghi Red Bull Racing wouldn’t be racing, as they parked up with hydraulic issues while the other five boats lined up to start.

Yet again American Magic delivered another super-smooth performance. Meanwhile, though Emirates Team New Zealand had evident pace, they also showed a few chinks in their boat handling with a major splashdown that let several boats past. The Kiwis had to hunt hard to overhaul Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Racing Team, who were duking it out for second. At the finish it was American Magic 1st, from Emirates Team New Zealand, with Orient Express Racing Team rounding off a superb first event with a 3rd.

The deciding race may have been abandoned, but there was plenty to glean from the day’s fleet races about the team’s relative performances.

A day of learning for the America’s Cup teams

American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand were, without question, a notch above – unsurprisingly given both teams have been training using two-boat AC40 programmes.

Paul Goodison, American Magic helm, told Yachting World after racing: “We’re over the moon, obviously. We weren’t shy about saying this was a performance regatta and we needed to put our best foot forward to get the team on a roll, and to deliver it is a really good feeling.

“It’s interesting but we missed some of the fleet practice races that all the other teams did a few weeks ago, to focus on our development side because we had a couple of key milestones to make. So we were actually a little bit worried that we hadn’t done the time [in the AC40s] coming into this event – mainly because the four of us onboard usually sail on two different boats so we’re going against each other more than sailing with each other.

“So one of the biggest things we’ve had to work on the last week is basically the communications, because when you can’t see half the race track you need to communicate what you want to do with the other guy and be sure you’re on the same page. And I felt like we did a pretty good job of getting further down the path with that, and today I feel like we gelled really well as a four.

“I think the biggest thing for us winning here is that’s it a whole team thing, it just lifts the spirits. Some people in the shed have been working very very long hours to get us out on the water in the smaller boats, but also at the same time getting the AC75 ready to sail at the end of this month. So they were all working their balls off to give us the opportunity to go sailing every day! And being able to pay them back by showing them were good enough to take it the best guys was important.”

Another team that was delighted with their performance – and who will no doubt have ruffled a few feathers among the longer standing teams, were the newest entry. The French Orient Express Racing Team finished 3rd overall and were in the mix from the very start despite only taking delivery of their AC40 in mid-August. Helm Kevin Pepponet told Yachting World afterwards:

“There were some close calls today – we got a penalty with Luna Rossa, the second start was pretty intense for us, but we are handling the boat better day after day, and we are getting much more confident on the boat and in the team. Of course we have a lot of work to do to catch the top two. American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand were a way ahead and today there were pretty impressive, but we have another event in just one month – and the Cup itself will be totally different. It gave us a lot of confidence launching this America’s Cup campaign and there is a really good dynamic in the team.”

Others will have been disappointed. INEOS Britannia made little secret of the fact they were under prepared in the AC40s, having instead been focusing on their LEQ12 development boat, but they were consistently off the pace, scoring three 6th places and two 4ths over the weekend.

Helmsman Giles Scott admitted: “We’re licking wounds, as expected after the day we had. We know we were a little bit unprepared but let’s be honest, we should have done better that we did this weekend, we can’t shy away from that.

“So yeah, we’ve got to have a good look at ourselves and, with regards to the AC40, use Jeddah as a bit of a milestone. And also just go back and review where we’re at in terms of the bigger picture, and looking forward to racing in the big boat. Because there’s been good lessons here – really, really good lessons. We’ve come away bitterly disappointed and with our tails between our legs for sure, but we’ve been in some pretty dark places before and the key is how you rebound from it.”

The second America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 29th November to 2nd December 2023, again in the AC40s.

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It was a day of firsts in Villanova, some 30 miles along the coast from Barcelona today: the first races in the 37th America’s Cup cycle, the first ‘proper’ races in the new AC40 one-design class, and the first chance to see how the new teams – and new crew combinations – compare with one year to go until the Cup proper.

This first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta event has a slightly different feel to the usual Cup events – something of a matinee performance. The practice races earlier this week were a chance for teams and organisers to iron out a few teething problems, while the event also had a pleasing air of informality – there are no paid for spectator stands, instead racing is free to view from the beach, and the team bases are equally matched marquees without any glossy hospitality quarters.

Although today began hot and still, by lunchtime the flags were fluttering well and the 200-plus Pati Catala dinghies (a classic local design that has no tiller or rudder, but is instead steered by trimming the mainsail and shifting bodyweight) were racing off the beach for a special celebration regatta in moderate breezes.

Coming off the foils can see an AC40’s boat speed halved compared to a boat in flight mode.

At the pre-start for Race 1, all teams were burning around on their AC40s with ease. The on the water view from a team chase RIB was a frankly eye-opening indication of the closing speeds that can occur with six foiling AC40s in confined water. They may be just 40ft, but with some teams reporting hitting over 50 knots in practice sails (see Matt Sheahan’s column in the current issue of Yachting World for more), these are not toothless mini-models, but a genuinely impressive class in their own right.

When there’s breeze, that is…

America’s Cup AC40s first race

Sadly by the start of Race 1 the wind had dropped, and with around 7-8 knots at the gun few teams were positioned for a clean foiling start. With just 1 minute 40 seconds to go the French Orient Express Racing Team had dropped off their foils and were sluggish in the water, but recovered impressively to cross the line at speed on port, and keep going, maintaining flight and pace to round the top mark in first.

Close behind them was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who traded places for 1st place as the breeze began to fade and the AC40s came off their foils onto a low-riding displacement mode. The remainder of the race was characterised by the curious sight of crews climbing out of their stream-lined, aero-efficient cockpits to stand on the bow to lift the AC40 transoms out of the water.

With a shortened course the leading French and Italian pair crawled down to the finish line, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with right of way on starboard. But as the boats made their final gybes the Italians picked up a penalty for their foil coming too close to the French. This gave the French Orient Express Racing Team the first ever event win in the AC40s. In a final twist, it turned out that Luna Rossa had started incorrectly and were DNS. [In a final, final twist, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was then reinstated 2nd place later that evening]

The French team went into this race as the outsiders, having only taken delivery of their AC40 in mid-August. They were, unsurprisingly, delighted with taking the first win.

Orient Express Racing Team trimmer Jason Saunders commented after racing: “Yeah, we’re surprised. The training hadn’t been going as well as that.

“We’d actually been struggling a lot in those [light] conditions and we’ve spent a lot of time analysing the data, analysing the footage that we’ve got, and we’re just super happy for the whole team, because it’s a massive team effort to be able to help us to progress. And today we were able to put that into place and we showed that we certainly improved. Once we’re up and foiling, we’re able to match with the best. That’s pretty positive for day one.”

Low riding mode

With a fading breeze racing the start of Race 2 was delayed, and it looked very likely that racing would be abandoned for the day. However, by 5pm some boats had headed to the top of the course and were foiling unassisted, with other teams using their chase RIBs to tow their AC40s to get them up to speed before casting off in flight mode, and the race committee quickly followed suit by setting off Race 2.

The start area, however, was still in a patch of much lighter wind, and one by one the AC40s fell off the foils in the pre-start. All but one, in fact, with Alinghi holding flight mode to cross the line on foils and pull away in a completely different race. Behind them the French made another good start with INEOS Britannia behind, both firmly stuck in low-rider mode.

Halfway up the first beat, however, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up on foils and, racing at twice the boat speed of all the other teams (Alinghi also having dropped back down), essentially sailed rings around them, approaching the top mark for the final time while other had barely rounded it for the first.

Emirates Team New Zealand was noticeably able to get their AC40 foiling earlier when other teams were in low-rider displacement mode at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Villanova.

Getting back on the foils

One observation I heard in Villanova, which seemed confirmed by today’s races, is that Emirates Team New Zealand are often seen to foil first, in 5-6 knots of breeze, with other teams needing 1, 2 or more knots extra to get back up onto the foils mid-race.

For teams struggling to foil, the alternative is to sail in VMG displacement mode, sailing the most direct route to the mark. With shortened races, such as today, this also gives the advantage of protecting their position on the course as teams are scored according to their placing on the water if they do not finish the race.

There seemed to have been some confusion over how these points were awarded for those watching the TV commentary, but there was no doubt the teams were racing for rankings on the water no matter how they would be finished (a bit like a Whiskey flag to award tail enders in a dinghy fleet with a result).

The AC40 crews using body weight to get their boats moving when not in foiling mode. Photo: ACEM

Ben Ainslie, skipper and Principal of INEOS Britannia, explained that it’s a balancing act between knowing when to best sail as fast as you can in displacement mode, and when to try and get back onto foils:

“We were actually not in that bad shape sailing around in displacement mode [in the second race]. We were in second place, saw New Zealand had go back on foils, decided to try and pop up, but we didn’t make it and got overtaken.”

“You got to make sure you’ve got some runway, you’re not too close to the boundary going into it. Then you’re trying to figure out is there enough wind, you’re looking at the wind speed on the boat, also looking at the wind on the water and what the other boats are doing, have they got up or not?

“And of course, there’s a lot of technique in it. The Kiwis are very good at it – kind of not surprisingly, they got great sailors and they spend a lot of time in the boat. So, yeah, we’re certainly in catch up mode on that.

“It’s a lot of things. It’s to do with the setup of the boat, of course, the aero side of things, but also the foils. And then, like any other boat, really, it’s just very subtle. We all know how difficult sailing any boat in light airs is. It’s a very subtle technique: when to trim on the sails, when to try and accelerate and when to try and lift the boat out of the water, drive, the pitch of the boat. It’s really dynamic and takes a lot of choreography.”

Does that stance look similar to the one above? The local Pati Catala vintage catamaran dinghies are sailed with body weight rather than a rudder. Photos: ACEM

Today might not have showcased the AC40s’ real potential on their debut, but it did prove that the Kiwis are not actually invincible, and that no team – even the least experienced – can be discounted.

Tomorrow there’s a more solid breeze forecast, and bigger sea state forecast, which is likely to deliver the teams a whole new set of boat handling challenges.

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The six competing teams in the 37th America’s Cup are set to get their first chance to line up competitively against one another at the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, from 14-17 September 2023.

The event, which sees the America’s Cup teams move 50km up the coast to Vilanova i La Geltrú from the main event base in Barcelona, includes four days of racing in the AC40 one-design foiling monohull.

Racing begins with official practise on Thursday 14 September, followed by three fleet races on 15 and 16 September, and then two further fleet races on the Sunday before a single match race final. Coverage will be live-streamed via americascup.com as well on The America’s Cup YouTube channel.

The AC40s lined up to test the tech ahead of the Preliminary Regatta, but are yet to officially race. Photo: Ugo Fonollá/America’s Cup

As it is held in the supplied AC40s, rather than the America’s Cup final designs of the AC75, the Preliminary Regatta will have little direct bearing on the Cup match proper, which takes place 11 months later. However, it is a good opportunity for the teams to bank some foiling race practice, and perhaps glean some indications of whose preparation schedules have been the most fruitful so far.

As with any one-design fleet, the AC40s will put a premium on boat handling, so the one thing the Preliminary Regatta will give some indication of is clues to the sailing teams’ preparation level.

“All the teams are looking forward to lining up in the AC40 against other teams because it’ll give us a good read and a good yardstick on just how our sailors are doing in terms of their technique and the sharpness of their racing skills. It’ll also give us some good feedback on some of the things that we think are fast about the way you sail an AC40; everything from bustle clearance to sail trim. We’ll get a chance to measure those things when AC40s line up against other AC40s,” explains Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager.

Jimmy Spithill explained that even within the one-design there will be variations in set up: “The hardware is exactly the same as the others, and it really comes down to the teams using the controls: cant, ride height, the trim of the boat. Obviously sails and technique, there’s a lot of little things there.”

However, INEOS Britannia’s Leigh McMillan cautioned: “We’re certainly going to put some more time in the AC40s. But the Cup itself, and designing and having a fast boat for the America’s Cup, has got to be our absolute goal. It’s not all about the AC40 for now!”

How do the America’s Cup teams stack up?

Photo: Job Vermeulen/America’s Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

The Defenders moved their team from New Zealand to Barcelona this July. Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling have been taking the dual helms of their AC75 and two AC40s. The Kiwis have performed consistently in the Practice Racing in Barcelona with a tight-knit team that trust in their process.

Photo: Ugo Fonollá/America’s Cup

INEOS Britannia (GBR)

The British squad moved from their winter training base in Palma, and have been trialing a T6 test boat and AC40. Giles Scott is sailing team manager for skipper Ben Ainslie. But it has not been the strongest display from the team in practise racing so far, with execution of manouvers in the AC40 looking less than polished.

Photo: Alex Carabi/America’s Cup

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)

Vilanova Preliminary Regatta will be the first time Ernesto Bertarelli’s famous Swiss team takes part in an America’s Cup race since 2010, now skippered by Hans- Peter Steinacher. Combined helms, Arnaud Psarofaghis and Maxime Bachelin have formed a dynamic partnership, rooted in steady progression, and Alinghi Red Bull Racing have surprised to the upside in the practice regattas.

Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

American Magic (USA)

Australian Tom Slingsby and Brit Paul Goodison are among the sailing squad headliners. The US team has secured some of the highest number of hours in the AC40s thanks to a two-boat programme. They chose to sit out the first few days of the recent practice regatta, preferring to complete their aero and foil testing schedule, but when they came to the racecourse, they were sensational and already look ones to beat in the one-design class.

Photo: Ivo Rovira/America’s Cup

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA)

Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni return on the twin wheels of the Italian AC40, though Spithill cautioned they have had less time racing against other boats than some other teams. However, Luna Rossa have been unafraid to ride very different modes to the others and at times have shown unbelievable boatspeed.

Photo: Martin Keruzore/OERT

Orient Express Team (FRA)

The newest team on the block, the French squad were flying on their first AC40 test sail after launching mid-August, skipper Quentin Delapierre crediting the time they put in on the simulator. Whether they can challenge for the title in Vilanova is a tall ask with so little time in the AC40 compared to the more established teams but they should put up a good fight.

America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta schedule

The format of the Regatta will consist of up to 8 fleet races followed by a single Match Race Final between the two highest scoring Competitors in the fleet racing.

Racing will take place on:

• Thursday 14 September Official Practice
• Friday 15 September Race Day 1 – 3 Fleet Races
• Saturday 16 September Race Day 2 – 3 Fleet Races
• Sunday 17 September Race Day 3 – 2 Fleet Races, Match Race Final (1 race).

Racing is scheduled to be between 1530 and 1730 hours each day, though this can be changed if conditions so require.

In preparation for the first preliminary regatta Vilanova i la Geltrú in just 1 month’s time, four teams lined up for the first AC40 races to help test the new RMS and broadcast systems. Photo: Ugo Fonollá / America’s Cup

How to watch the America’s Cup preliminary regatta

The America’s Cup races will be live-streamed across the official America’s Cup website: www.americascup.com as well as available to watch on YouTube in most territories.

This may not be available in territories where broadcast rights have been sold, but as yet there is no information available about broadcast deals, so it is safe to assume most territories will have Youtube access to racing.

The America’s Cup Social Media channels on Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter) will also be fully activated and updated throughout the racing with a mix of multi-media. Daily race reports will be available on the America’s Cup website after racing.

You can also follow all of our coverage on Yachting World’s America’s Cup mini site.

For those wishing to watch in Barcelona, the America’s Cup Race Village will offer spectators the chance to experience the unique buzz and atmosphere of the regattas off the water.

The Race Villages free throughout all America’s Cup events, with large maxi screens to view the racing action live with commentary plus event and team activations alongside an array of food and beverage stations.

The Race Village in Vilanova i La Geltrú, will open at 11:00 daily and run through to 20:00 with live racing between 15:00 to 17:30 and sailor presentations and interviews after the racing each day.

When is the next America’s Cup preliminary regatta?

After this first America’s Cup Preliminary regatta, teams head to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for a second regatta between 29th November to 2nd December 2023. The third and last preliminary regatta will be held in August 2024 in Barcelona.

As with the first event, the regatta in Saudi Arabia will have racing in AC40s, but the final preliminary event in 2024 will see all the America’s Cup teams race in their new AC75s for the very first time.

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Several years after Emirates Team New Zealand successfully defended the America’s Cup back in 2021, we are about to see racing in this cycle for the first time. But what have teams been up in the last couple of years as they look ahead to the 2024 America’s Cup?

The first official event of the 37th America’s Cup will take place from 15th September 2023 as the five America’s Cup teams gather in the Catalonian port of Vilanova i la Geltrú for the first America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta.  The racing itself will take place in the One-Design AC40 class, which might make for entertaining racing, but will show us very little about where each team is in their technical development path towards the ultimate goal of winning the 2024 America’s Cup.

So what have the teams been up to since the last America’s Cup in 2021?

INEOS Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team training in their AC40s

America’s Cup test boats and AC40s

Every team entered into the 2024 America’s Cup needs to purchase a one-design foiling AC40 for racing in the Preliminary Regattas and to ensure they can enter teams into both the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups (both of which will use AC40s).

All teams set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup now have AC40s on the water in preparation for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta. However, some have had them on the water longer than others, and some have two out on the water sailing.

Although the AC40 is a one-design class and must adhere to strict rules for the Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s AC, outside of these events they are allowed to be modified in order to conduct testing ahead of the launch of team’s AC75 America’s Cup boats – though they must be able to be returned to their one-design configuration for racing.

Oreient Express Racing Team were the last to launch an AC40

The French Orient Express Racing Team were the last team to enter this America’s Cup and were also the last to get an AC40 – only launching it in mid-August. And as such hold the difficult duel position as both last team to enter the Cup and the team with the least time on the water.

By contrast, Defenders of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand were the first to launch an AC40 back in 2022 and were the first to conduct two-boat testing once their second AC40 was launched.

Neither of these outcomes are a surprise, with a single builder of AC40s, teams were allocated a build slot based on their order of entry to the 37th America’s Cup.

In terms of boat launches, teams have taken a number of different approaches. With a wait for AC40 delivery and time of the essence (as ever in the AC), some teams chose to build their own training boats.

Boat terminology has become a little confusing, but test platforms are generally referred to as LEQ12s (short for ‘Less or Equal to 12m’ the parameters for a test platform as defined by the America’s Cup rules, to limit teams building platforms too similar in size to an AC75).

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli training in their LEQ12 in Cagliari

The two teams which have chosen this route are Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. To add a little more confusion to the nomenclature, Luna Rossa refer to their boat as simply LEQ12 while the Brits have named their ‘LEQ12’ T6. Both of these were launched in late 2022.

For both of these teams, their LEQ12 has been the primary test platform, with both also adding AC40s to their roster of boats following the launch of their LEQ12 test platforms.

To further confuse the issue, if teams take an AC40 out of one-design configuration that too becomes (officially) an LEQ12. This is because there are limits on the number of parts any team can design and own. So an LEQ12 can have a certain number of test foil shapes (for example) and this same rule applies to foils on a non-one-design AC40.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on one AC40 and one modified AC40 (officially a LEQ12). Photo: Ugo Fonollá / America’s Cup

In addition to AC40s and LEQ12 test boats, teams are also able to sail their AC75s from the 36th America’s Cup, though with limitations on when they can be sailed. These limitations vary somewhat with teams that took part in the last America’s Cup, who already have AC75s, more restricted than new entries, who were able to purchase an AC75 and sail it earlier in the cycle.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are a new entrant in this Cup cycle and they purchased Emirates Team New Zealand’s first AC75 from the 2021 Cup cycle and relaunched it in August 2022 immediately getting some time on the foiling monohull under their belts. They have since relaunched once again after adding some further developments.

They have split their time between AC75 sailing and AC40 sailing, once their own one-design was delivered, and have recently been two-boat tuning with the delivery of their second AC40.

Sailing ‘legacy’ AC75s will be a key part of the build up to the next America’s Cup, with teams only allowed to build one new AC75 this time around (two were permitted for the 2021 Cup).

“The rule that you can only build one AC75 this campaign is to save cost, but it’s a big change from the America’s Cup that I grew up with, in the old IACC class monohulls,” explained Jeff Causey, INEOS Britannia’s boat operations manager. “Back then, it was all about two-boat testing. Every team that could afford to designed and built two boats, and then lined them up against each other for countless hours of side-by-side tuning out on the water. We don’t have that available to us this time.” 

American Magic out two-boat testing. Photo: Paul Todd/America’s Cup

The USA flagged team, American Magic has taken a similar approach to Alinghi Red Bull Racing, getting plenty of time out on the water onboard their AC75 from their base in Pensacola and sailing their first AC40 there too, before moving out to Barcelona earlier this year where they got their hands on their second AC40 allowing them to get some two boat testing and training under their belts.

It should be noted that the AC75 rules have been slightly tweaked for this edition with ‘cyclors‘ once again allowed and some changes to the foil arms and sail control systems – among other tweaks. And we have seen teams making changes to their legacy AC75s to reflect this, with many teams opting for cyclors at this early stage.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

Testing, data collection and simulators

Two boat testing provides a clearly defined development path for those who choose to do it and can be used to either validate technical data (e.g. how well different foils perform) or team performance using identical kit to race each other.

This type of A/B testing has been key to producing a fast boat and a well oiled sailing team since time immemorial. However, the America’s Cup is at the very forefront of technology and gone are the days of relying purely on such simple tools.

It’s widely accepted that one of Emirates Team New Zealand’s key advantages back in 2017 when they wrested the America’s Cup from the hands of then Defender, Oracle Team USA was the Kiwis’ reliance on simulation tools. And an accurate simulator has remained the holy grail of the AC world ever since.

INOES Britannia’s LEQ12 is bristling with sensors. You can make out one camera here, above and aft of the foil arm buried in the hull, surrounded by carbon there are hundreds more load, speed etc. sensors. Note also the two differing foil shapes. Photo: C.GREGORY / INEOS BRITANNIA

It is here where we are likely to see the key benefits for those teams who have got together with F1 teams – Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Red Bull) and INEOS Britannia (Mercedes).

The key thing here is that teams will want to capture as much data as possible from their test platforms in order to validate their simulator findings. Put simply the closer to real-world sailing you can make your simulations the better and this relies on adjusting the simulation output based on how well it corresponds to real world scenarios.

As such we have seen boats bristling with sensors and cameras all sending high quality data back to huge data banks largely in order to calibrate simulators.

Foil mounted aft with a bulb protruding forward as we saw in the last Cup.

Foils and sail controls

The upshot of a good simulator is that it significantly reduces the need for real world testing of ideas. In short, why design and build a foil to put through two-boat testing when you can build thousands of simulated permutations of different foil types?

But we have seen teams testing different foil shapes in the real world too, with some teams electing to A/B test foils on a single boat by running different foil configurations on port and starboard – something we saw a lot of in the last Cup cycle.

From what can be observed from the testing to date, there seems to be a consensus around the foil wings themselves sitting as far aft as possible on the foil arms, usually with some kind of bulb projecting forward. This is the style of foil Emirates Team New Zealand used in their successful defence of the AC last time out.

Sail controls will once again be a significant development area.

Once again, though foil shapes are a key area of development with flat elliptical foils a popular option, Y foils on display as well as curved foils (somewhere between a flat and Y-shaped foil) and the recent return of a W foil by the Brits (trialled and eventually dropped by them before the last Cup).

While foils were a key visual difference between the boats last time around, sail control setups were also a marked area of differentiation. Some teams had boomless setups, some had a boom, Luna Rossa had a sort-of-boom hidden underneath the deck and INEOS used (and then abandoned) an articulating boom.

There was a lot more experimentation beyond the booms and a significant amount of development was hidden within the boat and between the sails.

All of these differences were in order to get the twin-skin mainsail to be as powerful as possible to provide drive for the AC75 to get up on it’s foils and then allow rapid depowering and aero efficiency once foiling and contenting with apparent wind speeds of around 50 knots.

It looks as though sail controls are once again going to be a significant area of development. More so than the foils, sail controls and systems are very well hidden but we have already seen a mixture of boom and boomless setups on test boats and there are rumours that this is a rich seam of development once again this time around.

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Barcelona has been selected as the venue to host the 37th America’s Cup in 2024, it has been announced today, Tuesday 29th March 2022 by the Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia.

The process for selecting a venue has been a long and fraught one, with many options coming and going. Initially, the venue decision was delayed from its original scheduled announcement in September 2021. It then seemed likely the venue would be formally agreed in time for the 37th America’s Cup protocol announcement in November 2021. But both dates came and went with a commitment to a venue being announced by the end of March 2022.

The final selection of Barcelona makes this the first time a New Zealand team has chosen to defend a Cup win overseas and will likely cause some upset from sections of the New Zealand public.

Auckland had an exclusive period in which to tender for the 37th America’s Cup, but the sums on offer were not enough, and Emirates Team New Zealand CEO, Grant Dalton cast the net wider internationally after rejecting a NZ$99 million (£50 million) offer from the New Zealand government.

Since that time a number of different venues have been rumoured including: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Cork, Ireland; Malaga, Spain and a few others.

In the last couple of weeks, however, the rumours surrounding Barcelona as an option have grown stronger with Dalton having flown to Spain to meet with representatives of the hosting bid.

Spanish news outlet Cronica claimed recently that the city of Barcelona had been chosen to host the Cup and suggested that the city reached the agreement with a bid of 70 million Euro to secure the America’s Cup hosting deal.

The Barcelona money is believed to have come from a number of different sources, led by the Government of Catalonia.

(L to R) Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona. Pere Aragonés, President of the Government of Catalonia.
Grant Dalton

“Barcelona really is one of the most recognised cities in the world so to have the ability to host the most recognised sailing event in the world is hugely exciting,” Dalton said. “As Defender of the America’s Cup, we have always felt the responsibility to grow the event, the audience, and the sport of sailing on a global scale and certainly having the event hosted in a significant city such as Barcelona will allow us to propel the growth trajectory on the global sporting stage.

When thinking ahead to the 37th America’s Cup and the AC75’s racing within a few hundred metres of the Barcelona beach, waterfront, and race village fan engagement zones it will be nothing less than spectacular.”

Barcelona, the venue for the 37th America’s Cup

INEOS Britannia Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie said, “We are delighted the iconic city of Barcelona has been chosen to host the 37th America’s Cup. The historic weather data for Barcelona shows what a fantastic sailing venue it will be. The marina development and race area in Barcelona will offer excellent shore side facilities for the competing teams, alongside a great event village for fans of sports oldest international trophy to enjoy this iconic sporting event.”

Further details on the venue and 37th America’s Cup will be announced in due course. “Obviously all of this news is announced in the shadow of the unfathomable war in the Ukraine we are witnessing right now, which clearly puts everything in perspective for us”, said Dalton “We sincerely hope there is a rapid improvement in the situation, and we would like to send our strong message of support to the people in Ukraine during this period. We look forward to working in partnership with our Host Venue of Barcelona and announcing further details in due course.”

What the 37th America’s Cup Protocol means

The publication of the 37th America’s Cup Protocol has delivered an eagerly awaited blueprint for the next edition of the…

America’s Cup boats: How they work and why they’re unique

The AC75s, the America’s Cup boats currently racing in the Prada Cup and that will be used for next month’s…

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America’s Cup Defender, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Emirates Team New Zealand) and the Challenger of Record the Royal Yacht Squadron (INEOS Britannia) have today, Tuesday 16 November, released the Protocol for the next America’s Cup.

There has been a great deal of speculation as to where the 37th edition of the America’s Cup would be held, but this information (and a number of other specifics) is missing from the protocol.

Traditionally the Defender defends the trophy in their home country but wrangling over hosting costs and funding for the home team may potentially see Emirates Team New Zealand take their defence overseas.

It was widely rumoured ahead of this Protocol announcement that a venue was unlikely to be released so few will be surprised this has yet to be confirmed. However, there is now a timeline to that crucial information being shared, with 31 March, 2022 now the official date by which this will be announced.

The 31 March deadline is also when the date of the next America’s Cup will be made public.

Grant Dalton, Defender Emirates Team New Zealand’s CEO, admitted that the original deadline for a venue announcement of September 17, 2021 was “too ambitious, I’ll put my hands up there. But what it has done is focussed the mind.

“We haven’t got a venue as of today, but it’s certainly my major focus – especially now we have a Protocol.” Dalton pointed out the fact that his team is working 24-7 on the venue agreement, with a dual pronged approach led by New Zealand and Team Origin in the UK operating on opposing time zones.

In the Protocol announcement, Dalton said: “As we saw with AC36, after 170 years, as the oldest trophy in international sport, the America’s Cup maintains its unique position of balancing the traditions of the Deed of Gift while continuing to push the boundaries of innovation, technology and design in the boats, the event, the broadcast and the commercial aspects of the event.

Maintaining this balance is the ongoing challenge and responsibility of the Defender and Challenger of Record as we aim to progress into the 37th edition of the America’s Cup in the ever-changing environment and demands of global sports as well as a determination to drive sustainability through innovation via hydrogen technology for the marine sector which we both believe is reflected in this Protocol.”

INEOS Britannia CEO and Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie said: “As Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia has sought with the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, to make the next America’s Cup less expensive and more inclusive.

“The Protocol this time around will see reduced team operating costs without compromising any of the technical development which the Cup is so famous for. There is an opportunity for change, so for AC37 we will see the first Women’s America’s Cup Regatta and we also welcome back the Youth America’s Cup.”

AC75 retained

The AC75 from the last round of America’s Cup racing will be retained, though with a slightly modified ruleset. These changes should be small enough to allow for new challengers to buy an old generation AC75 and make it class legal.

Dalton explained, “It’s about building a fleet. If you want to encourage more teams, you have to create a fleet that people can buy to get going.”

In a nod to trying to get new teams signed up via this route – which would likely prove cheaper than starting from scratch – existing teams are not permitted to sail their AC75s’ before the 17th September 2022, however new Challengers entering AC37 that have purchased a second hand AC75 are permitted to sail their AC75 for 20 days from 17th June 2022.

Emirates Team New Zealand sailing their AC75 in the last America’s Cup

Significant changes for the AC75 include the reduction in crew from 11 to 8 sailors. “There’s a couple of benefits from that [crew reduction],” explained Ainslie, “obviously it reduces the weight of the boat. Together with some other changes, subtle changes to be made to the class rule, means I think we’re saving about a tonne of weight out of the boat, which coupled with the increase in wingspan, will drastically improve the light air performance, which I think we all agreed on the back of the last event, is important. 

“Also, it reduces the budget having less sailors,” Ainslie added. “I mean, there’s a limit until at what point you take more and more sailors off the boat. But that was something which actually was discussed with most of the teams, if not all of the teams from the last cycle, in quite a collaborative meeting not long after the last Cup.”

With fewer sailors the question of how to generate enough power whilst also maintaining full control will be top of each sailing team’s mind, and – love them or loathe them – the door is open for ‘cyclors’ or leg-powered grinding to return.

Dalton explained: “The rule is silent. You don’t have to go there, but I guess we will because we’ve got a bit of knowledge in that area too, but I just thought it was bloody cool and why not bring it back?  Or give teams the option to bring it back.”

Love it or loathe it, ‘cyclor power’ could be back for the next America’s Cup.

Although the New Zealand team innovated the original cyclor configuration, for INEOS Britannia this rule change could be a potential benefit.

“If you take the viewpoint that we’re going to go down the cyclor route, will you bring in athletes from other sports who potentially are better suited?,” Ainslie told Yachting World. “Cycling is an obvious link there. And we’re fortunate with the INEOS sports group and the Grenadiers that we’re partnered with arguably the world’s leading cycling team. So that will have an impact on the sailor selection, athlete selection and their training. 

“But it’s still going to require input to get these boats around the track. As in the last Cup, we saw close to pretty much all of the sailors having an input at one time or another with the manoeuvres of these boats. And I’d expect that to be similar again in this next cycle.”

Those crew must also be passport-holders for the country they represent, or have spent “548 days between (but excluding) 17 March 2018 and 18 March 2021” in that country.

Other innovations on the AC75 include a closed-loop system which is designed to reduce power loss. Winches, for example, have been replaced by hydraulics, so settings can be more accurately replicated without spilling power. Runners and the bowsprit have also been removed.

Second generation AC75s

Cost reductions

Other efforts to rein in costs include rules that:

• Teams are only permitted to build one new AC75.
• Limitations on the quantity of foils and components that can be built for the AC75’s.
• The introduction of the multipurpose One Design AC40 class for a Youth America’s Cup, Women’s America’s Cup class which teams will be able to convert and use for testing, component development and Match Race training.
• This AC40 class will then be converted back to the measured One Design AC40 class for use in the new America’s Cup Women’s Regatta and America’s Cup Youth events. These events have been developed to create new accelerated inclusive pathways into the America’s Cup for the growing global talent pool of female and youth sailors.
• Further One design elements.
• Supplied starting software.
• The AC75 class of boat will be maintained for the next two events, and entering teams will be expected to subscribe to that agreement.
• Whilst not a cost-saving exercise, teams are also required to develop hydrogen powered chase boats to reduce the event’s environmental impact.

Hydrogen powered America’s Cup chase boat in development in New Zealand

Drive to Survive on the water

Finally there had been a rumour that America’s Cup organisers where considering a behind the scenes show to accompany the racing – widely seen as a reaction to the success of Netflix’s Formula 1 behind the scenes show, Drive to Survive.

This concept is confirmed in the Protocol, though only loosely stating that: With a view to opening the doors and the continued drive to increase the global audience of the America’s Cup and the sport of sailing, a condition of entry to competitors is they agree to be part of a potential behind-the-scenes documentary series. The intention of this is to bring the secrecy, the drama and all the teams’ personalities into the limelight.

No more America’s Cup spying

The trade-off for this degree of openness is that reconnaissance – or spying – between teams will be banned. Instead there will transparent publication of data, open to both teams and fans, including details of which team is sailing with new foils, number of sailing days they have spent on the water, days lost to repairs etc

The approach has two aims – to reduce costs to the teams, and also to help grow the America’s Cup audience by feeding information to the public in the build up to competition. 

The big question will be whether the new Protocol – and the new open approach – overcomes the Defender’s traditional advantage? Speaking after the announcement, Ainslie said: 

“​​I wouldn’t say they [Emirates Team New Zeaalnd] have given up all the advantages of being the Defender, but they’ve certainly given up a few, and I think we’ve got to applaud that.”

37th America’s Cup timeline

Timeline for the 37th America’s Cup

​​2021
17th November 2021: AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule V2 Published.
1st December 2021: Entries for Challengers Open.

2022
31st March 2022: Defender to announce Match Venue and approximate event dates.
17th June 2022: New competitors may sail Version 1 AC75’s for 20 sailing days.
31st July 2022: Entry Period Closes.
17th September 2022: Competitors may sail an AC75 Yacht.
30th November 2022: ACE to announce race schedule for the Match.
30th November 2022: ACE to announce racing area for CSS and Match.
31st December 2022: ACE to publish Brand Manual.

2023
31st May 2023: Final cut off for late Challenger entries.
30th June 2023: ACE to publish Youth and Women’s AC Agreement.
30th June 2023: COR/D to publish Match Conditions.
30th November 2023: COR/D to publish CSS Conditions.

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INEOS Team UK started the third day of Prada Cup Final racing trailing Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli by four wins as both teams fight for the right to be the official challenger for the America’s Cup. They go to bed tonight still trailing the Italian outfit by four wins. 

Once again today we saw a relatively consistent wind of around 10 knots offering few passing opportunities and both races were won by the boat that won the start. 

Sir Ben Ainslie, at the helm of INEOS Team UK had not managed to get the upper hand in the pre-start in any of the opening four races of the series and the opening race today, race six of the Prada Cup Final, saw his team behind immediately. 

The co-helmed Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli led back to the startline and possibly looked a touch early, allowing the Brits to push them back towards the start. However, Jimmy Spithill, who steers the Italian AC75 on starboard, impressively sailed high and slow back to the startline managing to find the delicate balance between closing in on the Brits to windward and staying on their foils as the boat slowed. “Obviously there is a fine line between staying high and slow and being too high and slow and falling off the foils. [Jimmy Spithill] did a really good job,” said Francesco Bruni of the situation and his co-helmsman at the end of the race.

INEOS Team UK is forced to tack away after conceding a start penalty. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

It was obvious from fairly far out that the Italian team would be able to close the door, leaving no space on the line to windward and forcing the Brits to either sail around Luna Rossa and end up to leeward and behind or barge in at the windward end.

With few options on the table, Ainslie tried to squeeze between Luna Rossa and the committee boat end of the line. Luna Rossa were able to close the door and the outcome was only ever going to be a penalty for the British team. 

For any racer, it was a painful watch. There are few of us who have not been in a similar position – to windward of the starline with nowhere to go – and you’re taught from an early age never to get stuck in that spot. 

Easy to say, much harder to achieve when you are on the water against one of the finest pre-start helmsmen in the world in Jimmy Spithill. “It was worth taking the risk as we really wanted the right hand side [of the course] for the [better] pressure,” said Ainslie of the start situation. “I would probably do the same again,” he concluded. 

From that start Luna Rossa romped away to what seemed an easy win, extending throughout the race to cross the finish line fully 1 minute 20 seconds clear. 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli leads INEOS Team UK. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

The second start of the day went better for Ainslie and his team as the Brits led back to the line and won the leeward end of the start. From there they managed to squeeze to windward and close down the gap to Luna Rossa who were forced to tack away early. By the time the boats came back together, the Brits were able to tack dead in front of the Italian team and were never overtaken. 

Perhaps the scorline on paper should buoy the hopes of British supporters – a win is certainly much needed. However, the nature of both races today does little to dispel the mounting feeling that there is a mountain to climb to win this series. 

Tacking problems

Looking back in detail at the opening two days of racing in this Prada Cup Final series shows the British team losing ground in almost every tack as Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli seem to have found a way of getting the boat through the wind more efficiently than their British competition. 

As such, with the Brits behind, all the Italians needed to do was to keep tacking on the Brits’ wind and force them to tack to make ground on them. If the Brits were not aware of this fact on the opening two days of the competition, clearly they have seen this in the data and today represented a different approach. 

When behind in the opening race INEOS did not allow themselves to be forced into tacking quite as regularly. But the problem then, is they were forced to sail much of the race in the dirty air of the Italian team and with few opportunities to pass, being in the same patch of water. 

In the second race, we saw the Brits leading and trying to cover the Italian outfit without getting sucked into a tacking duel. They sailed their own race and managed to work the course geometry to their advantage, essentially forcing Luna Rossa to do more manouvers to try to find a way past. 

This puts the Brits in a tricky spot. If you stay between your opponent and the next mark, you are in a safer position, offering little chance for them to pass you. It is far riskier to allow them some space on the race course and risk being overtaken should they pick up a favourable shift. 

Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

But, if you know the more you both tack, the closer they will get, then staying between your opponent and the mark simply allows them to close down your lead until eventually you are overtaken. 

That the Brits won the second race of the day is certainly a positive. That they won it by a mere 14 seconds having led at the first cross on a course with few tactical options is a serious concern.

Of course, this is America’s Cup racing and teams have won from far more perilous situations than this. But with both boats unable to make any modifications to their equipment during the series hope cannot be pinned on some piece of technical wizardry to make the boat faster. 

The British team can still win this, but to do so, they will need to win the start, and find the delicate balance between covering their opponent and not tacking too often – or hope for stronger winds where the performance of the two teams is more even. 

It is not an impossible task, but the Italian grip on the Prada Cup trophy is tightening, and time is running out to peel their fingers away.

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The post Prada Cup Final: Italy edges closer to victory appeared first on Yachting World.

The Prada Cup Final, to select the challenger for the America’s Cup, between INEOS Team UK and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will restart on Saturday 20th February, following a brief hiatus after the announcement of a new Covid-19 lockdown in Auckland. 

At the close of last weekend’s racing the announcement that Auckland would be entering a ‘level three’ lockdown forced the organisers to cancel the next two races scheduled for Wednesday 17th February.  

Since that time there has been something of a war of words, with the America’s Cup Event authority (ACE) outlining the possibility of a delay to the schedule should level three lockdown continue and possibly should the lockdown be reduced to the less severe level two – which would allow for racing, but would not enable fans to attend the event. 

The Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, would need to sign off on this schedule change and seemed determined to stick to the planned schedule. As things stand, a winner of the event will be declared on Wednesday 24th February irrespective of the number of races sailed. 

The schedule has racing planned for this Friday 19th February (now cancelled). Thereafter there is racing scheduled for Saturday 20th, Sunday 21st, and Monday 22nd, with two reserve days on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th. 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have improved their aerodynamic fairings around the crew positions. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

As such there is still time for the full 13 races in the series to be sailed (should they be needed, it is a first-to-seven-wins competition) but a single lost day could see the event one race short. 

Prada Cup Final war of words

It has been a very public and acrimonious disagreement between ACE and the Challenger of Record as reflected in the opening paragraph of ACE’s confirmation that the event will go ahead, which reads:

While America’s Cup Event is encouraged by the news that Auckland has come down to COVID Alert Level 2, one step closer to Level 1 potentially early next week, it is clear that COR are determined to remain inflexible to a change in the race schedule against the interests of the public and commercial benefits to the city and businesses. ACE has consistently maintained our preference to have the best opportunity to race at Alert Level 1.

The release goes on to quote Chair of America’s Cup Events Tina Symmans stating that: 

“Since Sunday, we have worked really hard on behalf of everyone in Auckland and all Kiwis to give COR the opportunity to demonstrate some honour and respect for this country and delay the PRADA Cup until we have a greater chance of everyone being able to enjoy and benefit from being back into Level 1” explained Symmans.

“Clearly they have forgotten the words of their leader Patricio Bertelli at the opening press conference who spoke about how privileged everyone is to be in Auckland without significant Covid restrictions and that therefore everyone has a commitment and responsibility to deliver great sportsmanship and the PRADA Cup to be a major sporting event.”

“This plea has fallen on deaf ears and it’s clear that their focus is solely on Luna Rossa taking the PRADA Cup rather than the greater good of the country who have worked so hard in order to be in a position to stage this event.” Symmans concluded.

In a press conference involving Iain Murray – Regatta Director, Symmans and Francesco Longanesi Cattani, Director of External Relations of the Prada Group, Cattani responded:

Article continues below…

Prada Cup Final: two wins for Italy as Covid-19 delays further racing

“It was a tough day. We can sail a hell of a lot better than that, and we need to.…

Prada Cup: How new lockdown could affect the outcome

After the opening four races of the Prada Cup Final over the weekend, racing was set to continue between INEOS…

“I welcome this decision [to race] and the fact that a reasonable approach has been taken towards the calendar. I disagree totally with the fact of the sporting moments that Tina Symmans has made. 

“From my view, anything that has to do with sporting fairness lies with respecting the rules and regulations and this is what we are doing and what we wanted to implement. 

“Secondly we want to respect the government provisions regarding the Covid situation and the protocols that have been agreed with ACE which are in place and allow the racing to go on under level two. 

“Thirdly they comment that [the Challenger of Record] is just pushing for Luna Rossa. I disagree as the opportunity for more races gives INEOS more races to win on the water. 

“If we were delaying the racing, the chances for INEOS to recover their current scoring would be minor. So the approach we have is to go on the water as soon as practically possible, in order to give the maximum number of races to give INEOS and Luna Rossa a fair game.”

Back to the Prada Cup Final racing 

War of words and organiser hostilities aside, the outcome is that we should see Prada Cup Final racing this coming weekend, and will have a winner of the event, and so official challenger for the America’s Cup, by this time next week. 

For the sailing teams, very little has changed, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli still 4-0 up in the first to seven match and so remain very much the favourites to win the event. 

Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

Conditions are due to be mid-range to light in Auckland on Saturday and getting lighter for Sunday, conditions in which Luna Rossa has shown good speed. With the lack of spectators, ACE along with Murray have announced that the outermost courses will be used – with little need to remain close to shore with no fans present. As such, we should expect less shifty winds than we have seen on the inner courses. 

The shiftier courses have, to date, seen the British team at their best. A more consistent wind direction will mean the racing is more focussed on boat speed over and above tactical positioning on the course. 

With all these points in mind, if the Brits want to win the Prada Cup, it will be imperative that they get, at least, an even start, if not outright win the starts. 

The opening weekend of racing saw Luna Rossa win all four starts and effectively control the races from there. Looking back at the action in review it seems clear Luna Rossa have found a way to improve their tacking performance, but INEOS do remain competitive in outright speed terms.

This will put even more emphasis on INEOS getting off the startline well and not getting forced into a tacking duel, where Luna Rossa are strong. 

One final point of note, teams measure their boats in, at the start of each round of the event. As such there will have been no developments to either boat in terms of foils etc. arriving for this weekend of racing, the boats will be largely as they were for the previous week. 

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The post Prada Cup Final to continue on Saturday  appeared first on Yachting World.

After the opening four races of the Prada Cup Final over the weekend, racing was set to continue between INEOS Team UK and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on Wednesday 17th February, as the two teams continue their fight to challenge for the America’s Cup.

Update: Since this article was posted, America’s Cup Event Ltd has released the following statement: 

AMERICA’S CUP EVENT (ACE) POSITION ON CONTINUATION OF RACING:

In these uncertain times, as the permitted Event Organiser responsible for the delivery of the 36th America’s Cup presented by PRADA in Auckland under the Host Venue Agreement with NZ Government and Auckland Council, America’s Cup Event Limited remains committed to maintaining as many aspects as possible of the Event as originally planned.

This includes the ambition to maximise the possibility of safe public engagement at the event for Aucklanders and Kiwis from around the country, as well as the commercial benefits to local businesses, event sponsors and partners which includes the New Zealand Government and Auckland City. We are also mindful of the global broadcasting rights holders that are taking the stunning images of our country with thousands of people enjoying the event and broadcasting them into living rooms and devices around the world.

America’s Cup Event Chair Tina Symmans said, “As event organisers, we have spent a considerable amount of time since Sunday evening looking at all possible scenarios. Like the majority of events around the country this weekend, the ramifications of running the remainder of the event need to be considered in an environment which is highly uncertain due to the latest COVID-19 concerns.”

ACE has consulted with the America’s Cup Minister Stuart Nash and senior Council officials and one consideration has been to postpone the current schedule of racing and events in the best interests of the public and all stakeholders given the current COVID-19 environment.

The position of ACE is based on one of two options based on the Government’s review of alert levels at 4:30 this afternoon:

If the alert levels drop to level 1 in time, then racing will resume this weekend.

If the alert level remains at 3 or 2, which obviously entails restrictions in gatherings and difficulties with events, racing and event activations would need to be rescheduled to recommence the Prada Cup Final on Friday 26 February. To respect the original timeframe scheduled between the Prada Cup Final and the America’s Cup Match, Race 1 of the Match would subsequently begin a week later on Saturday 13 March with the intention of racing still being completed by 21 March.

This morning the Challenger of Record (COR36) has made their position very clear in stating their desire to race from tomorrow despite COVID Alert level 3, to complete the PRADA Cup final by the 24th February in accordance with the existing PRADA Cup conditions.

They have also stated that if the racing program cannot be completed by Wednesday (24th) they intend to declare the leading point scorer the winner of the PRADA Cup and Challenger for the America’s Cup Match. Under the current points situation, that would be Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team.

“There is no guarantee as to what COVID-19 Alert Level Auckland or New Zealand will be operating under. If the event is faced with operating under COVID-19 Level 2 or 3, plans are in place to ensure the continued delivery and conclusion of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada within the scheduled dates.” Explained Symmans.

“Clearly this would have potential implications for public participation which we are trying to avoid, however the intention of the potential rescheduling will give the best possible opportunity to see the event run with maximum engagement and benefits for public and stakeholders.”

INEOS Team UK Prada Cup Final statement:

Following the statement from the America’s Cup Event Ltd (ACE) today: 

INEOS TEAM UK respect the decision communicated by ACE to delay the PRADA Cup racing due to the current COVID-19 alert level in Auckland.

The result of the PRADA Cup final should be won and decided on the water in the agreed format of first to win 7 races.

INEOS TEAM UK fully respect the government’s decision to curtail racing until it is safe to do so and would support a delay in the competition if that is required.

The solution put forward by ACE is sensible in ensuring both the safety of all in New Zealand, and the integrity of the sporting competition.

INEOS TEAM UK will continue with our race preparations and be ready to race when it is safe to do so.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Prada Cup Final statement:

The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team is surprised by the statements published by America’s Cup Event (ACE) and by INEOS Team UK.

From day one of the teams’ activities in New Zealand, protocols have been put in place, together with ACE and all government bodies, to allow teams and organizers alike to operate in the different COVID-19 alert levels, enabling them to prepare and race behind closed doors, if need be, as happens in the Formula1, Australian Open and other events; the priority in these contexts is clearly the health of the people involved.

The Challenger of Record has confirmed that it is possible to race in total safety and has also offered full support to ACE and local Authorities for the application of the protocol indicated by the AC36 Event COVID-19 Management On Land and On Water Plans for the Covid-19 alert. There is no reason why teams that are allowed to train during this alert level should not be allowed to race, albeit behind closed doors, according to the same protocol.

The weather conditions for the next few days are ideal to carry out top level racing. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is ready to race against INEOS Team UK on Friday February 19th, in compliance to the program of the Prada Cup Finals that which must end no later than February 24th. Even more so, now that the government has taken the decision to go down from Level 3 to Alert Level 2, allowing the regattas to take place in full respect of everyone’s safety.

Update ends

After racing concluded on Sunday came news that Auckland would go into a new three-day, ‘Level Three’ lockdown – the first in New Zealand in six months, a significant setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus – and America’s Cup organisers were forced to announce the cancellation of racing on Wednesday.

The ‘Level Three’ lockdown in Auckland essentially prevents people leaving the city, or leaving their household support bubble. Given this, it appears that racing will not be possible under current restrictions.

What next for the Prada Cup?

If Auckland is brought out of Level Three lockdown – or brought down to the Level Two restrictions that the rest of the country was placed under at the same time – then racing could go ahead under those slightly looser restrictions.

Article continues below…

Prada Cup Final: Italians look quick on day one

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won both opening races against INEOS Team UK on the first day of racing in the…

Prada Cup Final: two wins for Italy as Covid-19 delays further racing

“It was a tough day. We can sail a hell of a lot better than that, and we need to.…

Following an initial announcement Sunday 14th February about the cancellation of Wednesdays racing, on Tuesday the 15th February America’s Cup Event Limited released this a follow up statement, which reads:

In light of the Government’s COVID19 Level 3 lockdown overnight, America’s Cup Event Ltd and the competing teams are taking all of the necessary steps to continue to work in line with their COVID19 Level 3 working protocols as reviewed with WorkSafe NZ and the Ministry of Health.

Within the respective plans and protocols, there is a clear distinction between the individual team’s operations and official Prada Cup and America’s Cup racing itself.

For each of the teams; sailing, testing and training on the water is part of the core business of all teams.

As practiced under the previous Level 3 restrictions in 2020, the team’s operations must be undertaken like any commercial business operating on the water, as well as on land, in line with their individual protocols developed with WorkSafe NZ and the Ministry of Health working safely under COVID19 Level 3 restrictions.

From an event perspective; there are a number of plans for different scenarios. With regard to the current situation and rescheduling of on water racing and on shore event organisation, the event organisers are updating plans with respect to maintaining a fluid racing calendar in consultation with the Government and relevant authorities.

It seems, then, that organisers are keen to remain as flexible as possible to get racing completed for the Prada Cup Final.

We can only speculate what might happen next at this stage. Should the lockdown be limited to the three days initially announced by the New Zealand government then it is likely that racing could take place on 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd February as initially planned.

Should they be needed, there are reserve days built into the schedule , the first of which is this Thursday 18th February; theoretically the first chance for racing after the three day lockdown window. Thereafter there are two further reserve days available on 23rd and 24th February too, so there is some small amount of leeway in the calendar.

Should lockdown be extended, however, completing the series could become difficult very quickly.

Within the notice of race for the Prada Cup there is provision to modify the schedule of racing. It reads:

5. FORMAT AND SCHEDULE
5.1 The format and schedule for the Prada Cup are shown in Attachment 1 (the “Prada Cup
Format and Schedule”). Without prejudice to Article 3.3 of the Protocol the Attachment 1
may from time to time be revised or modified by COR/D in consultation with the Regatta
Director.

COR/D refers to the Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Defender Emirates Team New Zealand.

The notice of race document also outlines the usage of reserve days and racing days. It states that:

Notes on Reserve Days

Monday 22 February to Wednesday 24 February (included) – If the Prada Cup Final is not completed prior to 22 February then racing will continue every day until completion or until the end of the last Race Day 24 February.

As things stand, should lockdown prevent racing from taking place over the coming weekend and early next week, it seems entirely possible that the Prada Cup could remain uncompleted. Inserting additional race days into the schedule would require sign off from both the Defender, and the Challenger of Record Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who currently happen to be 4-0 up in the series.

It is undoubtedly in the interest of all teams, including Luna Rossa, to finish the series on the racecourse. The Italian team has been vocal about why they believe time on the water in race mode is irreplaceable.

However, if lockdown requires an extension to the schedule, there does seem to be scope for Luna Rossa to block further racing taking place over and above that which has been scheduled. Emirates Team New Zealand could potentially prevent further dates being added to the Prada Cup racing schedule too, but have little to gain from doing so.

We should soon know whether lockdown in New Zealand will continue beyond the initial three days. If it does not, racing will likely continue. If lockdown continues, however, things could get very messy indeed.

This is a hammer-blow for an event which has so far enjoyed being almost restriction-free for both competitors and spectators thanks to New Zealand’s zero-Covid policy.

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The post Prada Cup: How new lockdown could affect the outcome appeared first on Yachting World.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won both opening races against INEOS Team UK on the first day of racing in the Prada Cup Final on the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, as both teams fight for the chance to sail in the America’s Cup.

From the moment these America’s Cup boats, the AC75s, arrived in Auckland the speculation of which team had the fastest boat began. It was quickly widely felt Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli had a boat designed for – and so quicker in – the lighter wind ranges. Today, that speculation looks to have been proven with the Italian outfit looking ominously strong in the winds which slowly built from around 7 knots into the teens by close of racing.

There will certainly be some head scratching in the British camp as the team that have so far proved unbeatable lost two races in a row and, in truth, never looked likely to challenge Luna Rossa for either win.

INEOS Team UK look on as Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli foil off into the distance. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

The first race of the day can be put down to a single moment, with around one minute until the start in extremely light weather, INEOS Team UK just dropped off their foils. For their part Luna Rossa briefly touched down on their way back to the startline but just about managed to keep enough speed to remain foiling. “We had a very scary moment and everyone screamed at Jimmy [Spithill] ‘don’t come up,’” explained Francesco Bruni who shares helming duties with Jimmy Spithill from tack-to-tack. “He was trying to kill a bit of time [to ensure the boat is behind the line at the start] and we just managed to stay up. It is a split second thing and if you get it wrong you drop off [the foil].”

In previous races when we have seen one team drop off their foils there have been opportunities to come from behind as an unstable breeze would make either team foiling throughout the race far from a certainty. However, with a building sea breeze by the end of the first leg the wind was strong enough to remove any question that the teams might not stay on their foils from the equation.

Given the change in conditions there was little the Brits could do to get back into a race which saw them 1 minute 20 seconds behind by the first mark rounding.

Prada Cup Final improvements for Luna Rossa

If the day had ended there, then the Brits might have felt okay about their performance. One unlucky moment handed the race to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. In a first-to-seven-wins series this is not ideal but far from a disaster.

But it is the second race of the day that will have Sir Ben Ainslie and his crew worried.

Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

The British team got the better of the start in the second race, leading back to the startline and getting their timing just right to start the race slightly to leeward of the Italians. Had the gap to windward been smaller it would have been a controlling spot for Luna Rossa as both teams headed towards the port boundary. But the Brits had managed to keep it just close enough to squeeze the windward boat and force them to tack away early.

However, at the first cross the Italians (on starboard) forced the Brits to duck them and by the cross after that were a couple of lengths clear.

Article continues below…

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To date Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has always looked strong upwind and it seemed like they had found a strong high mode when they raced against American Magic in the Prada Cup Semi-Final. This upwind speed was on display again today for the first races in the Prada Cup Final as INEOS slipped back over the course of the first beat.

In the two weeks that have elapsed since their last race, Luna Rossa has made some visible changes and they look to have improved their aerodynamics on the boat.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have improve their aerodynamic fairings around the crew positions. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

Perhaps it was this aerodynamic improvement, perhaps it was the significant depth the team is able to get into their mainsail with their boomless setup (INEOS have a more traditional solid boom), but one way or another, when the teams turned downwind Luna Rossa looked, if not fully faster, certainly a match for the British outfit.

This will be a worry for the Brits as they had looked stronger than the Italians in most races they had sailed together on the downwinds.

A boat speed race

Much has been made of the differing approaches to how these two teams sail their boat. On the one hand you have Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli who sail with two helmsmen, Spithill steering on starboard, Bruni on Port, both sharing that role and the role of tactician – with input from mainsail trimmer Pietro Sibello. On the other hand, the Brits have a more traditional setup with Ainslie helming and Giles Scott providing a dedicated tactician role.

So far we have seen the British setup working well and they have managed to out sail their competition. But today’s racing took place on one of the course areas further out to sea, surrounded by less land mass and so with fewer opportunities to make tactical gains. “It was a pretty steady breeze so it is a bit more of a drag race,” explained Ainslie at the end of racing. “Luna Rossa sailed very well to get ahead and once one team is in front, then it is hard to get past. On the inner courses there [are] more shifts so it can be easier to get back into it.”

INEOS Team UK managed to force the Italians to tack off after the start of race 2 but never managed to capitalise on their slight advantage. Photo: COR 36 / Studio Borlenghi

With their main advantage over the other teams so far – their tactical nous – negated and seemingly lacking some pace both upwind and downwind it was not a day that the British team will look back on happily.

Worse, tomorrow looks to be more of the same with the forecast also for light winds. It would not take much more breeze to change things and a different course could suit the British team but it is not the start they would have wanted.

With two more races tomorrow, it is vital the Brits find at least one victory. To be two races down at this stage is not ideal but if they were to leave the weekend without a single victory it would be a very hard pill to swallow indeed.

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The post Prada Cup Final: Italians look quick on day one appeared first on Yachting World.

It has only been two weeks since we last saw racing in the Prada Cup, precursor to the America’s Cup, but for those who have been following closely, it has felt a very long two weeks. Those who support INEOS Team UK have had an even longer gap, with fully three weeks passing since their epic final race against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

It is that final race which sticks in the memory, with nine lead changes and a last-leg thriller from the two teams, which saw INEOS Team UK win the Prada Cup Round Robin Series and earn their place in the Prada Cup Final.

Now the Italian flagged Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have eliminated American Magic in the Prada Cup Semi-Final – with four straight victories – the stage is set for a thrilling first-to-seven wins showdown over the course of the next two weeks.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Ideal lead up to Prada Cup Final for both teams

It is often said of the America’s Cup that you can throw all the money in the world at a team, but the one thing that is most valuable, and the one thing that money cannot buy, is time. With this in mind, you would have to say the British team going straight through to the Prada Cup Final should put them one step ahead of the Italian outfit.

Put simply, the Brits had a full week in which they could fit and test new upgrades and record and analyse data while Luna Rossa were preparing for racing that had the potential to see them ejected from the competition entirely.

Certainly the Brits have been making the most of their time and have been out on the water but have also spent some time in the last two weeks in the team shed undergoing some modifications. The aim of the game in the modern America’s Cup is to continually develop your team and boat’s performance right up until the point you are either knocked out or win the America’s Cup itself.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Assuming nothing significant has gone wrong in their recent developments then it is safe to assume that the INEOS Team UK AC75 which lines up this coming weekend for the first race of the Prada Cup Final will be a quicker and more refined version of the one we saw during the Round Robins. The question will be how much quicker and how much more refined?

“We have worked very hard over the period and our team has stuck to the task of trying to get every ounce of performance out of the boat,” explained Sir Ben Ainslie at the Prada Cup Final pre-event press conference. “It’s been a tough period, especially for the shore team. During the last ten days or so we’ve been back on the water trying to get the intensity up and making sure we are match fit.”

All things being equal, you would say it is advantage INEOS, however, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s boat has not looked slow, particularly in the medium to light wind ranges. They may have lost every race to INEOS Team UK in the Round Robin series, but none of the winning margins for the Brits were particularly huge.

Article continues below…

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In part is seemed the main thing separating the two teams, was the decision by INEOS to go with a dedicated tactician in Giles Scott, while on Luna Rossa the two helmsmen, Francesco Bruni and Jimmy Spithill, shared the role as they shared steering (one on port tack, one on starboard). Throughout the Round Robin Series, INEOS Team UK seemed to have the tactical edge when it came to the key decisions.

As such, you could easily make an argument that for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the thing they needed most was race practise, so to have the opportunity to sail an additional four races may have helped them more than the week of development.

Performance improvement

Although they have had less development time than the Brits, it appeared that the Italian outfit had managed to make some changes in the four short days of training they had between the Round Robin and the Prada Cup Semi-Final.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Certainly it was noticeable that their mainsail trimmer, the talented Pietro Sibello, was far more involved in the tactical discussion loop than he had previously been, and there seemed much more discussion between him, Bruni and Spithill throughout their racing against the Americans.

However, their boat also looked a touch faster too, with a particularly impressive high mode upwind. It is difficult to tell how much of an improvement they had made with the relaunched American Magic never looking back to her old self.

Several members of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team have been quoted as saying they were 10% faster in the Semi-Final than they were last time they sailed against, the Brits, but whether this is a number reflective of actual data, a thumb in the air measurement of performance and crew work or something else entirely is hard to know.

Certainly 10% would be a startlingly impressive improvement to their actual speed however it is measured. But whatever the truth of the number, the message is clear that they are a quicker, sharper outfit than last the two met.

“Since we raced INEOS Team UK last time, we have new foils, a new modified mast, a new set of sails, a lot of development on the software system on the boat and a lot of improvements especially in the communications on board,” said Max Sirena, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team Director in the pre-event press conference.

“We made a lot of mistakes when we raced against INEOS Team UK and we want to come out with one mistake less than them this time.

“I think at the beginning of this campaign we were a little bit off the pace in big breezes. Mainly because, for some reason, we did not encounter many windy days when we launched the boat. But when we finished the Round Robins we started to sail in the big breezes and were able to work on what was needed and now we feel very confident in the full wind range. We are now ready to sail in any condition.”

Schedule and forecast for the Prada Cup Final

Unlike previous rounds of the Prada Cup, racing will not begin on Friday, instead the first two races for the Prada Cup Final will take place on Saturday 13th February. These two races will be followed by two more on Sunday the 14th and a further two on Wednesday 17th February.

As it is a best of thirteen (first to seven) competition, neither team can win the event over the course of the first three days. Races 7 and 8 are scheduled for Friday 19th February with a further two races on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st, and a final race on Monday 22nd.

As such, should one team win every race the event would conclude at the end of the first race on Friday 19th February with all races after that officially listed as ‘if needed’.

Currently conditions for the opening weekend of the event look set to be relatively light, with winds predicted to be around the 10 knot mark.

Change to wind limits for Prada Cup and America’s Cup

There has been a slight reduction in the upper wind limit for racing in both the Prada Cup Final and the America’s Cup itself this week with the organisers releasing a statement that reads:

After reviewing the performance of the yachts and the variations between the yachts’ wind measurement data and that of Race Management due to differing measurement heights, it has been decided to leave the current upper wind limit at 21 knots for the Prada Cup Final and the Match and not increase it to 23 knots as originally specified in the Race Conditions.

The lower wind limit of 6.5 knots remains unchanged.

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The post Prada Cup Final: Stage set for epic showdown appeared first on Yachting World.

Reversing the odds over the space of four weeks where the worst performing America’s Cup team became the best and vice versa, was on nobody’s radar down here in Auckland before January, writes Matthew Sheahan. It isn’t just the pundits that have been surprised by the complete turn around in fortunes in the Challengers’ camp, the teams have been shocked too.

Among them was American Magic, who had never expected to be so comprehensively thrashed in the opening two Round Robins. After the first two weekends of the Prada Cup they nearly lost their entire campaign after ripping a hole in the bottom of their boat in a dramatic capsize, and were having to perform a major re-build simply to stay in the game.

Having been the only team to beat the Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup World Series (and before that in a practice race), the New York YC entry had gone into the Christmas break as the favourites among the challengers. Just a few weeks later they were not just down, but very nearly out.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

With such major structural repairs to complete they were unable to take part in Round Robins 3 & 4. Instead, they were in their own race against the clock to get back on the water in time for the semi final against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Whilst the shore team performed miracles, the hastily repaired Patriot simply couldn’t keep pace with an improving Luna Rossa and American Magic lost in straight sets to be the first team to exit the Cup.

British America’s Cup team surprise

The Italians, meanwhile, had been denied a path straight to the Prada Cup final after INEOS Team UK continued their winning streak to deliver the finishing touches to an unbeatable 6-0 score line in just one day of racing. With nine lead changes over the course of a 27-minute race and top speeds exceeding 50 knots, the British/Italian match will surely go down as one of the most thrilling and spectacular in modern Cup history.

Article continues below…

Prada Cup day four: Thriller as Brits clinch Finals spot

A casual glance at the results of the Prada Cup day four, will show another win for INEOS Team UK,…

Prada Cup: Luna Rossa win Semis with straight victories

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli today, Saturday 30th January, won the Prada Cup Semi-Final and will now progress to the Final…

Ainslie and co’s turnaround from their dismal performance before Christmas was as surprising as the cargo hold-sized hole in the bottom of the American boat. Yet the British also found themselves with more time than they had expected to be able to effect major changes.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

For the British a jump to the Prada Cup final has allowed them to consider some more significant modifications and refinements than were available to Luna Rossa, who had just four days between the round robin and semi-final races.

The British have had the time to be bold and take the next big step, assuming there were steps to take and that they hadn’t cleaned out the toy cupboard in the major Christmas upgrade. With their huge team of designers and engineers and their link to the Mercedes muscle on the component design and manufacturing front this seemed unlikely.

We will discover what performance gains they have managed to achieve on February 13, when INEOS Team UK race Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the first match of the Prada Cup final.

From there, the winner of the Prada Cup final will go head to head with Emirates Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup: we will have to wait until mid-February to find out who.

If it is the British it will be the first time that Britain has been the successful challenger since 1964. It will also be the first time that a British team has been successful in the challenger selection series. Whichever way you look at it, a big deal.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team leader, Max Sirrena looks on as his team train. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

If the Italians lift the Prada Cup this will be the second time that Luna Rossa have made it to the America’s Cup, the first being in 2000. They have been trying to have another crack at it ever since.

Yet the biggest task will still remain beating the home team, and this still looks to be very difficult. While the Kiwi technical advantage has been reduced, they are still believed to be along way ahead. Their weak points seem to be in some areas of match racing and their own ability to trip up (their capsize before Christmas demonstrated that, but they have also had several nerve tingling near misses). They are certainly not invincible.

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The teams are there, the boats are there, and finally after two months of AC75 racing in Auckland, for the Prada Cup, we know the two teams who will race for the 36th America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

The Prada Cup, as it is now named, used to be called the Louis Vuitton Cup – or Challenger Selection Series. The event’s purpose was to decide which of: Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli; INEOS Team UK; or American Magic would take on Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2021 America’s Cup.

Although INEOS Team UK won the Round Robin Series of the Prada Cup, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli defeated American Magic in the Prada Cup Semi-Final by four straight wins, and then defeated the Brits in the Prada Cup Final with an impressive 7-1 scoreline.

As the Defender of the America’s Cup Emirates Team New Zealand did not take part in the Prada Cup series.

Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget

What do we know?

With the Prada Cup now concluded we have a reasonable idea of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Italian team has had a good run up to the Cup and, significantly, when they launched their second AC75 it was the closest to their first generation America’s Cup boat of all the teams, Defender included.

That they did not go down a new or different design route with their second boat indicates that they were happy with the performance and characteristics of their first attempt and their second boat represents a refinement of their initial concept.

Article continues below…

Prada Cup day four: Thriller as Brits clinch Finals spot

A casual glance at the results of the Prada Cup day four, will show another win for INEOS Team UK,…

Prada Cup: Luna Rossa win Semis with straight victories

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli today, Saturday 30th January, won the Prada Cup Semi-Final and will now progress to the Final…

There are two areas where Luna Rossa were unlike any of the challengers. The Italian team operates a boom-less setup for their mainsail, allowing significant depth in the sail down low and a very clean intersection with the deck. A conceptually similar approach to the mainsail foot has been taken by New Zealand on their second AC75.

This will provide good power in the sail low down where it is most beneficial and the lack of a boom also means the sail and deck interaction is very clean aerodynamically speaking.

The second unique feature on the Italian’s boat is the team’s double helmsman setup. Francesco Bruni steers the boat when on port tack and Jimmy Spithill steers when on starboard.

The team does not have a dedicated tactician with both the helmsmen and mainsail trimmer, Pietro Sibello, all interacting to make tactical decisions. During the Prada Cup Round Robins, which tended to be sailed in shiftier winds, this seemed to be a weakness and the team often made tactical errors.

However, the Italians do seem to have sharpened up in this area and looked stronger in the Semi-Final and Final. Both of these two events did feature more stable winds, however, so it was easier for a team to rely on boat speed. It remains to be seen if this will be a weakness going forward.

What the setup does offer, though is stability through manoeuvres. On all other boats the helmsman crossed the boat, which is then temporarily steered by another member of the crew. For the Italians, the only crew member crossing the boat in the manoeuvres is their mainsail trimmer. Theoretically, provided the transition from one helm to another is smooth enough – which it seems to be – the team can be quicker to settle onto a new tack or gybe after a manoeuvre.

Luna Rossa have shown themselves to be very quick in the lighter end of the wind scale and have also impressed generally upwind with a strong high mode allowing them increased tactical options.

The winder end of the conditions seem to be something of a weakness – the team has admitted as much in the past – but this is an area they have been working on. They have also, at times lacked a little downwind performance, here too we have seen recent improvements.

Trying to understand where Emirates Team New Zealand stand in terms of performance is a much harder proposition. The only time we have seen the New Zealand team racing an AC75 was back in December 2020 during the America’s Cup World Series and Christmas Race.

The Kiwis were by no means totally dominant and lost some of their races, however, it is reasonable to assume they did not want to give the challengers significant amounts of data upon which to compare the relative performance of each boat.

Even within the context that each boat was probably hiding some of their outright performance there were certainly times that the Kiwi outfit looked to have some impressive speed. Certainly of those on the ground in Auckland we have spoken to, the general consensus seems to be that Emirates Team New Zealand probably has the quickest AC75 on the water.

How does the America’s Cup work?

Now the Prada Cup has concluded, we are down to two boats, The Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, and the Challenger, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. These two boats will now take part in the America’s Cup Match.

The competition is head-to-head Match Racing, with the winner being the first boat in the fleet to get to. As was the case for the final of the Prada Cup, the America’s Cup will be won by the first boat to reach seven wins.

Racing is scheduled to run mostly on weekends and in some cases in the week. Each race day has two races scheduled with the exception on the final day on Monday 15th March, which will be the tie-break race, should it be needed.

The first weekend of racing is on the weekend of 6th-7th March, then there are a further two races on Wednesday 10th March. In theory, should one team win every race, they could conclude the series by the first race of the day on Friday 12th March.

All this means that the second race on Friday 12th, the two on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th, and the final race on Monday 15th are all ‘if needed’ and so may not go ahead.

What is match racing?

As is tradition for America’s Cup racing as a whole, each of these races will see one team racing a single other team, or ‘match racing’ as it is known. Match Racing is a unique discipline in the sport of sailing and is explained well by INEOS Team UK sailing team member Matt ‘Catflap’ Cornwell in the video below.

How can I watch the America’s Cup?

All of the America’s Cup races will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, NBC Sports, TVNZ, RAI, and Sky Italia, as well as on the America’s Cup YouTube channel and Facebook page.

There is clearly no shortage of options available, the problem for European viewers is likely to be the timezone difference, with the America’s Cup racing taking place between 0300 and 0500 GMT, so if you want to watch live, you’d better set your alarm clock!

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The post America’s Cup: Schedule and how to follow the racing appeared first on Yachting World.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli today, Saturday 30th January, won the Prada Cup Semi-Final and will now progress to the Final where they will race INEOS Team UK. American Magic, however, becomes the first team to be eliminated from the competition. 

For the second consecutive day, Luna Rossa took two wins from the Americans giving them a perfect scoreline of four wins and no losses in the first-to-four series. The racing itself has been something of a damp squib this weekend where a couple of factors engineered a relatively easy victory for the Italian outfit. 

Firstly, there was the story of American Magic managing to get their boat back on the water in time to race after their near sinking. You have to say, looking at the evidence we have seen this weekend, the team managed an almost impossible task in getting the boat back on the water, but just fell short of the ultimate goal of getting the boat ready to race. 

And then there is the marked improvement in the Italian team. Better communication, better windy weather performance, simply better. How much better they were is hard to judge such were the dire straits the Americans found themselves in with a boat that was only just able to make it around the course. 

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Tough test to come in the Prada Cup Final 

In sport we always have to read between the lines. What professional sportspeople say openly is often different to the message they are trying to convey. Francesco Bruni, one of the two helmsmen of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, consistently said yesterday that all the Italian outfit were thinking about was the next race and getting that bit closer to to the Prada Cup Final. 

However, it was notable the number of times Bruni mentioned how much quicker they were than when they last sailed the British team. The message seemed clear, ‘look out Ben Ainslie, we’re coming for you’. The theme continued today as the team crossed the line in the second race of the day, securing Prada Cup Semi-Final victory when Luna Rossa’s other helmsman, Jimmy Spithill, simply said to his crew “INEOS next”.

Luna Rossa are clearly quicker than they were, and sailing better too. But the question is how much better, how much quicker? Against the relaunched, and clearly not back to her former self, Patriot of American Magic, it is very hard to say. 

What we can say, though, is that Luna Rossa looked to be a class act today and it is difficult to find any fault in their racing. In low to moderate windspeeds of around 10-13 knots they looked particularly quick upwind where they were higher and faster than the Americans all day long. 

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Even in it’s crippled state, though, Patriot looked to have legs on the Italians at times downwind. This is an area INEOS Team UK has looked quick too, so you can imagine this will be something the Italians are looking to strengthen.

Francesco Bruni after the racing admitted the Americans looked to have the edge downwind, but also felt that the weather exacerbated any advantage: “Downwind I think they might have an edge, but it is a bit of a trick as there is more pressure at the top end of the course so that is why it feels like the lead boat upwind is extending when going upwind and losing downwind,” he explained. 

American Magic knocked out

What can be said of the American team who looked so promising just a few short weeks ago? On the one hand, their efforts to get the boat back on the water after their capsize have been undeniably impressive on the other, they have been found wanting.

The sheer determination to get a boat back on the water and able to make it round the course rightly deserves huge amounts of praise. Ultimately, however, delivering a boat that can make it around the course, and delivering a boat that might provide some chance of putting up a fight are very different things indeed. 

In truth, the die was cast the moment water ingressed the hull two weeks ago and totalled their electrical systems. Re-doing from scratch, a system that has taken several years to refine, composed of over 17,000 connections in the course of two weeks, was simply too tall an order, no matter how much money and resources you throw at the problem. 

Article continues below…

Prada Cup day four: Thriller as Brits clinch Finals spot

A casual glance at the results of the Prada Cup day four, will show another win for INEOS Team UK,…

Prada Cup semis: Luna Rossa totally dominant in big breeze

If American Magic had been dreaming of a comeback story to rival some of the best in sport then today,…

It’s hard not to feel sorry for the team members of American Magic as they sailed the second race trying to deal with a problem that caused their foils not to function properly. The team spent much of the their time on course exceeding boundary limits, desperately trying to get their boat to function. 

It was an ignominious end to the campaign, as they eventually crossed the finish line of their final race almost four minutes behind their opponent. A tearful Terry Hutchinson thanked his team for their efforts saying: “I have nothing but pride for what we have done over the last three years. Our measure is the result sheet and without question that is the disappointing part. 

“All we can do is take it on the chin, understand our strengths and weaknesses and try to learn if we are fortunate enough to be in the 37th AC.”

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

It might be easy to look to their capsize as the team’s undoing but we should take a moment to reflect on a campaign that has not gone to plan even without that incident. American Magic exit the competition having failed to win a single race. 

There will be time later for a full analysis of what went wrong and the America’s Cup is the toughest game there is, the vast majority of teams who enter do not make it very far in the competition. But to leave winless will be a bitter pill. 

Whether it was a lack of trust in the newly relaunched boat or something else, today American Magic did not look like a team who thought they had a chance, they did not sail like a team that was up against it. 

Ahead of the racing, the assumption was that they would come out fighting in the pre-start and try to lead away from the startline by hook or by crook. Surely with a boat that may well be in trouble, this is the one place you might be able to take the fight to your opponent.  But they lost both starts to Luna Rossa and worse they barely put up a fight. 

Perhaps the reasons for this will come out. And certainly in these boats, capable of 50 knots, the margin between aggressive and dangerous is very slim, but one thing is for certain, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli never looked remotely troubled by their competitor. 

And so the Italian team go through to the Prada Cup Final in the quickest way possible. We now have a fallow weekend before racing for the right to challenge Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup proper takes place on 13th February. 

We are in for a battle royale between the Brits and the Italians. And based on their thrilling last race of the Prada Cup Round Robin, it is all to play for between these two.

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The post Prada Cup: Luna Rossa win Semis with straight victories appeared first on Yachting World.

If American Magic had been dreaming of a comeback story to rival some of the best in sport then today, the first day of racing in the Prada Cup Semi-Final, saw those dreams met with a cold, hard reality. 

For all the time in the shed desperately trying to repair their boat, Patriot, over the course of the 12 days that have elapsed since their dramatic capsize and near sinking, they now end the first day of their return to racing 2-0 down in a first-to-four series against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. 

If it is not entirely backs against the wall time, then certainly the US outfit is standing nearing that wall. 

The early part of the racing took place in very windy weather, with windspeeds close to exceeding the 21 knot sustained average over which racing cannot start. 

American hopes dashed

Patriot has (at least before their rebuild) shown herself to be possibly the fastest boat in the fleet in the heavier conditions, so you might think that when American Magic helm, New Zealander Dean Barker, pulled back the curtains this morning (Friday 29th January) he would have been happy to see the windy weather. 

The US team do have something of a potential secret weapon in these conditions too, with a mainsail that is dramatically cut down in the top part of the leech – the team having found a rules loophole to exploit, that allows them to make up for a minimum size rules by having battens sticking a long way out the back of the leech – which they call their ‘Batwing’. We have seen them use the sail in training and it has appeared fast, if at the expense of ultimate control. 

Hutchinson says the concept is to reduce aerodynamic drag by having less sail in the sky but with the same amount of power to get foiling – in the windier weather.

American’s Magic’s ‘batwing’ mainsail with battens extending out the cut-down leech. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Today they set out with their ‘batwing’ rigged, perhaps hoping this might be the silver bullet they need.  

Of course, the flip side with regards the weather is that although they have managed to get their boat back on the water – going for their first test sail on Wednesday 27th January – their control systems have been completely replaced and there are bound to be some gremlins. Those gremlins in lighter winds might mean a large loss, but in the top end breeze they could very well mean another capsize or worse. 

The American team will deny it, indeed did deny it, but they looked tense onboard, more so than a team just racing to remain a part of an event in which they have invested four years and countless millions of dollars. “It all feels like a normal race day. Obviously it is quite windy and as you can see the boats are always on edge in these conditions. But I was not thinking about 12 days ago, I was just thinking about what I can do to help the team win,” commented team CEO and tactician, Terry Hutchinson, when asked if they had been nervy of the newly relaunched boat. 

Perhaps these words are down-the-line truth from the American leader, perhaps he fully believes that statement, or perhaps it’s the sort of answer given by someone with media training, batting away any possibility that his team might be at a psychological disadvantage. 

One of several big splash-downs for the US team. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

What we do know, is that there was certainly plenty of evidence of control issues today during the Prada Cup Semi-Final racing, with Patriot seemingly losing grip with the rudder foil just after bearaways and splashing dramatically down into the water. 

Just how hard can you push a boat that does 53 knots (Patriot’s top speed of the day) when you are unsure exactly how she will behave? The answer from today appears to be ‘not hard enough’. 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli dominate

But all this talk of American Magic, their troubles and difficulties is to do something of a disservice to their competitor, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

Article continues below…

Prada Cup Semi-Final: Who will win?

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Prada Cup Round Robin: Best pictures so far from America’s Cup qualifying

Before the start of the Prada Cup Round Robin, almost no one knew what the relative performance of each team…

The Italian outfit has made no secret of the fact that their boat has been at its best in the lighter wind ranges. They have been working hard on their systems and setup, and that seemed to pay off today. 

“In the past the boat has not been at its best in the strong winds, but we made some improvements. We saw that in the numbers in training, but it feels good to have it confirmed today,” so said one of Luna Rossa’s Helmsman, Francesco Bruni at the end of racing. 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli looked very composed throughout racing today. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

The team’s twin helmsman setup has come under increased scrutiny from observers in recent weeks. What once appeared an impressive development, allowing better manoeuvrability without the helms swapping sides each tack and gybe, had come to look something of a deficiency as they were outmanoeuvred by INEOS Team UK, who have taken a more conventional approach with a dedicated tactician in Giles Scott.    

Today, however, the communication between Bruni, other helmsman Jimmy Spithill, and mainsail trimmer Pietro Sibello was markedly improved and is clearly something the team has been working on. It might not be conventional, but continue to improve their comms and you suspect they will be a much tougher team to beat should they go through to the Prada Cup Final. 

The Italians were not without their struggles today, however, with a slightly sketchy bearaway at one windward gate and a big skid to leeward forcing them to crash off their foils during a leeward rounding. 

Luna Rossa did have their own difficult moments in the windy conditions. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

On that final note, it was interesting to see both teams often dropping their windward foil at the leeward gate roundings, to round with both foils down, in an attempt to stop this happening, something of which we are likely to see more if there are further windy races.

“We probably should have dropped the windward board [for the leeward rounding that went wrong] but it is hard when you are coming up at 45 knots, [dropping the board] does not feel good,” confirmed Bruni  “We skidded sideways and lost grip. And once you lose pitch on these boats, up she goes.”

The Prada Cup Semi Final opening races

To talk of both Semi-Final Prada Cup races in specifics would be to repeat more-or-less the same story twice. American Magic looked cagy in both starts and were easily outmanoeuvred by the Italian outfit. 

Trailing off the startline is not how anyone wants to start a race. 

In the very earliest Round Robin races, American Magic were criticised for not staying in contention with the other boat, by forcing a split on one side of the course or the other, slowly getting further from the lead by ending up on the unfavored side of the course. 

There was very little of that today as the Americans seemed content to follow the Italians round the course, trying to clutch onto the coattails of a boat that ultimately sailed away from them.  

There were few splits on the racecourse throughout the day. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Gate rounding after gate rounding saw Patriot slipping further and further behind before the conclusion that saw relatively big winning margins for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on both occasions. 

The forecast is for lighter winds tomorrow, which should favour Luna Rossa in pure pace terms, but perhaps with some more sailing time under their belts and winds that might allow a little more nuance than ‘get the boat around the course’ the Americans may yet come back into it. They will certainly be hoping that is the case. 

It should not be forgotten just how impressive it has been to get the boat back on the water and to make the starline today. But in Luna Rossa they are facing a fast team who care not for the Americans’ resolve and who simply want to go through to the Prada Cup Final in the quickest way possible. 

On today’s evidence it’s looking like a a case of when that happens, not if. But fickle are the winds of the Waitematā Harbour and in the America’s Cup (and events surrounding it) it is never over… until, of course, it is.

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The post Prada Cup semis: Luna Rossa totally dominant in big breeze appeared first on Yachting World.

With Sir Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK winning all five of their opening races and going straight through to the Prada Cup Final, now the event moves into its second phase as American Magic take on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the Prada Cup Semi-Final.

Following their capsize and damage, American Magic has managed to rebuild their AC75 and were able to get out on the water on Wednesday 27th January for some much needed training and fine-tuning ahead of the first two races of the Prada Cup Semi-Final on Friday 29th January.

How does the Prada Cup Semi-Final work?

The Semi-Final is a first-to-four wins affair and racing is scheduled to start on Friday 29th January with two races planned. Another two races will follow on Saturday 30th January. Should either team win all four of the opening races, they will go straight through to the Prada Cup Final.

Should neither team make it to four wins on Friday and Saturday there are a further two races scheduled on Sunday, with a last, winner-takes-all, race on Tuesday 2nd February should it be needed.

After this competition there will be a break in racing before the Prada Cup Final begins on 13th February, where the official challenger of the America’s Cup will be selected.

American Magic

Following the final race of the Prada Cup Round Robins, the teams held their usual Press Conference inviting questions from the media. Also included in this press conference was American Magic’s Terry Hutchinson, who was able to answer questions and provide an update on exactly where the American boat, Patriot, was in terms of her rebuild following their capsize and damage on the opening weekend of racing.

Terry Hutchinson (left) has been keen to praise his team’s hard work in getting Patriot back on the water. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Hutchinson was quick to heap praise on his own team and how quickly they have responded to such a potentially ruinous situation. “I’m not surprised by the quality of the work being done in our shed. Over the last three years, our team has always exceeded expectations and they’ve always delivered our gear on time and to a standard that is very high,” Hutchinson said.

Article continues below…

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America’s Cup: Schedule and how to follow the racing

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He was also quick to praise the well-documented help American Magic has received from both the other challengers and, in particular, the America’s Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand: “I think the thing that we are reminded of is really what the Defender has done for us, and what they’ve helped us achieve. Certainly without them, [a repair process of this speed] wouldn’t have happened. We have nothing but high thanks for Team New Zealand for what they did.”

In a fitting tribute to the other two challengers and the America’s Cup Defender, when Patriot as relaunched she features a pair of plasters (or Band-Aids) over the spot their boat had been damaged, with both plasters consisting of the various opponents’ colours and the words ‘Thank You’ written on them.

American Magic’s repair includes a nod to the other competitors who helped them get back on the water. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

It’s a fitting gesture and alongside the help offered by all the other teams, once again shows the sport of sailing off in the best possible light.

However, come Friday, you can be sure this sense of togetherness will be left firmly on the dock as the Americans and Italians begin their fight to see who will be the first to be knocked out of the competition.

It is impressive and encouraging that the Americans have been able to repair their boat in time for the Prada Cup Semi-Final, but questions will now turn to just how competitive they might be.

On the one hand, Patriot does seem to be fast, particularly in windier conditions. During the race in which the team eventually capsized, the American team was leading Luna Rossa and looked to be pulling away. This clearly shows the boat was not off the pace.

Although they will be unhappy to have failed to notch up a single point in the opening two days of Prada Cup racing before their capsize, these losses largely came down to race craft and decision making.

American Magic are back on the water and training. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

Though Patriot seems quick enough when the breeze is up, we have seen them struggle in lighter wind races, ultimately losing to both Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Team UK in light weather. The second of these two races saw the team really struggling to get onto the foils and it is hard not to view this as a weakness.

However, most commentators said the same of the Brits ahead of the Prada Cup itself, so one bad lightwind race does not an awful boat make.

The concern here is more the amount of time and resources American Magic have had to throw at getting Patriot back on the water. This is time, you imagine, they would like to have spent analysing and developing their light wind performance. Just how much they have been able to do alongside the repairs is a big question.

American Magic and INEOS Team UK both struggled to foil in a very light wind Round Robin race. Ultimately the American team struggled most. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

As we publish this piece the forecast does not look all that friendly for the American syndicate winds look to be fairly breezy on Friday, but look to then drop throughout the course of the weekend. There is a very real possibility of delays to racing on Sunday (if races are needed on Sunday) due to light winds, such is the outlook right now.

We must add, though, that the forecasts are not always that accurate for this time of year on the Waitematā Harbour.

If Patriot does have a light wind weakness then they could well be facing their worst conditions for the most important races of the event.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, and all teams for that matter, have been making improvements and we have recently seen them team out on the water with a what are believed to be a new set of foils (which would be their third and final pair as dictated by the rules). They have been out on the water over the course of this week gathering valuable data and making changes to their boat.

As such you have to argue that the Italian outfit have the best lead up to the Prada Cup Semi-Final and as a boat that has performed at its best in the lighter winds then they will be looking at the forecast for the coming weekend with wetted lips.

Luna Rossa has been looking to improve their medium wind performance. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

“It’s not a secret anymore that Luna Rossa’s strength is in light air,” explained Luna Rossa sailor, Vasco Vascotto. “I think that medium-light air is what we are looking for, so that is no real secret. I think the Americans will pray for more breeze.”

But Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is not without some weaknesses. In the Round Robin races, the Italians notched up two wins in total, both nominally against the Americans, but one of these wins was the result of the American Magic capsize and was a race in which they were being comprehensively beaten. With that in mind it is difficult to say at this stage which team is fundamentally stronger.

“I think right now there is a very dangerous situation for us because I am sure that the American Magic boat will be ready [for us],” Vascotto says. “They have worked three years in order to win the America’s Cup and [come] Friday they [will] still have that plan.”

Moreover, Luna Rossa come into the first race of the Prada Cup Semi-Final on something of a downward trend. They absolutely had the boatspeed to beat INOES Team UK in the Round Robin races – indeed the racing and boat speeds have both been far closer than most predicted coming into the event – but mistakes and bad decisions have seen them lose races.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli out training in light winds. Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

These are professional sportspeople so they will be at pains to note this means very little, but in the back of their minds they will also know they are now in a last chance shootout largely thanks to their own mistakes. Turning this into a positive frame of mind will be key for the team.

Specifically there has been a great deal of discussion about Luna Rossa’s double helmsman setup with Francesco Bruni and Jimmy Spithill steering on port and starboard respectively. This system means there is very little crossing of the boat to be done and theoretically should see them able settle onto a new tack quicker than their opponents. It does, however, rely on great understanding and communication between the two helms – who also take the role of tactician when not steering. To date there have been a number of moments where the team’s decision making has been slightly less slick than others such as INEOS Team UK.

Although the Semi-Final is a first-to-four-wins series, the opening race could well prove to be crucial. Should American Magic come out of the blocks working okay and manage to beat the Italian team, it would be a very tough psychological blow indeed.

As things stand, though, it does look as if this Semi-Final will be very much the Italians’ to lose. They will want to go out on Friday but even if they do not, they will know that the weather later in the weekend looks more likely to favour them.

Photo: COR 36/Studio Borlenghi

The broader Prada Cup picture

With only one spot remaining in the Prada Cup final and the losing team in the Semi-Final going home, we can assume that any upgrades the teams had ready to fit to their boats have now been added.

Of course, all teams will continue to develop throughout the course of the Prada Cup and America’s Cup, and some of those developments and upgrades might well still be in progress, so we might see further changes to whichever boat makes it through the Semi-Final. But this is not the time for either team to be holding any available performance enhancing upgrades back.

As for INEOS Team UK, they will be watching the Semi-Final closely to see who will be their competition come the Prada Cup Final itself. Ben Ainslie has already alluded to the fact that the team can now go through some developments in the weeks between the Semi Final and the final and they will be looking to making improvements too. The Brits will be hoping that the racing goes down to the wire, with each day of Semi-Final racing representing a bonus development day for the Brits, when their competition will be busy racing each other instead of testing new developments and systems.

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Before the start of the Prada Cup Round Robin, almost no one knew what the relative performance of each team was. We’d been able to watch some of the teams line up against each other and we had witnessed some competitive racing in the form of the America’s Cup World Series, but it was hard to know wether one boat might come out and prove dominant.

It was, then, a happy surprise for the neutral America’s Cup fan to find the three challengers to be incredibly close in terms of pure performance.

All three challengers (and the Defender, who will compete against the winner of the Prada Cup for the America’s Cup itself) have clearly taken significantly different design directions and we have seen four very different hull designs, with different foil, different crew setups, different sails and sail set ups. That they are so closely matched is surprising to say the least.

What this similarity in performance has provided early on is some incredibly close racing. During the Round Robin series of the Prada Cup, the racing has, for the most part, seen teams winning or losing based on their decision making on the water. In the America’s Cup, which is essentially a design and technical innovation race, this is not usually the case.

Ultimately it was INEOS Team UK who won all five of their races in the Prada Cup Round Robin to take their place in the Prada Cup Final. American Magic had a huge capsize where they sustained damage in the opening weekend and should make it back on the water in time to take on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the Preada Cup Semi-Final starting Friday 29th January.

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What a difference three and a half weeks make! INEOS Team UK have gone from being a team that were borderline embarrassingly slow in the America’s Cup World Series in December 2020 to a team that looked unstoppable, winning both races of the Prada Cup day one in Auckland.

The racing for the Prada Cup, which will eventually select the challenger for the America’s Cup itself, starts with a round robin series with each of the three challengers racing each other on four occasions.

Today, Friday 15th January 2021, saw the opening two races as INEOS Team UK took on American Magic in Race One and Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada in Race Two, both sailed in medium conditions with around 15-17 knots at the windiest, top end of the course.

How has INEOS Team UK improved?

The big question on everyone’s lips will be how has this team managed to go from zero to hero in such a short space of time? This being the America’s Cup there will be those that wonder if they were deliberately sailing slowly in previous events to throw other teams off the scent. But the answer is likely much more mundane.

It is no secret that the Brits have spent a lot of time and energy developing their AC75 in recent weeks, with their base in Auckland regularly seen with the lights on throughout the night as the shore team desperately made modifications to their boat.

The two wins, then, are as much down to the hours put in ashore as they are to the sailors onboard. Ainslie was quick to acknowledge this fact. “That race was for the rest of the team back at the dock, our shore team, our engineers and for our friends at Mercedes GP who have all worked hard to turn these things around,” the five-time Olympic medallist said at the end of Race One, repeating the dedication after their second win of the day. 

In Thursday’s press conference, Ainslie made no secret of the extent of the surgery that had been performed on their AC75 to get it to this stage: “The team has been working flat out since the World Series and we think we have improved a lot from where we were,” he said.

C GREGORY

“We have brought a lot of new parts online including a new rudder, new rudder elevator, new mast, new mainsail, and new headsails. Then alongside that we have made modifications to our foils, to the aero package on our hull and we have changed the systems inside the hull. We knew our development from the World Series would have to be significant and we have certainly been busy.”

However, hidden within this good news are some warnings for the future. These races were conducted in much stronger winds than we saw in the America’s Cup World Series.

Ainslie was keen to stress at all opportunities that they were quick in these conditions, but said they still have a lot of work to do in the lighter wind range. The wind should get ever lighter as the event progresses through the rounds of the Prada Cup and on into the America’s Cup itself.

Prada Cup: Race One

The course today was heavily favoured to the right hand side with much stronger winds all day making it the clear favourite option.

In race 1 INEOS Team UK and American Magic did not engage much. Both boats ended up in a drag race to the line, with INEOS getting the windward position and perhaps a couple of meters ahead of American Magic, steered by Dean Barker.

From this position the Brits were able to tack early to the right while Barker and his team went all the way to the boundary. By the time the two boats converged again INEOS had stretched out a decent lead, and proceeded to keep heading back to the right, protecting the favoured side.

Photo: Sailing Energy / American Magic

INEOS Tactician Giles Scott and Ainslie made solid calls all day to protect their favoured side and sailed a tactically flawless race to increase their lead at all mark roundings to eventually win by 1 minute 20 seconds.

American Magic, once forced to the unfavoured left, struggled to find any chink in the Brits armour with every split they made to the left losing them ground, but short of following the Brits round the course there were few other options for them.

“We were looking for a couple of opportunities, there are a couple of areas we could have got a couple of opportunities, but INEOS sailed well and shut down all the options,” confirmed American Magic helmsman, Dean Barker at the end of the race.  

“Nothing changes for tomorrow, we’ll look back at the key moments and try to understand how we might have executed better. There are a couple of key areas that ended up being the difference, but in these boats, you just can’t give anyone else any advantage,” Barker concluded. 

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Prada Cup: Race Two

With the first race confirming the clear favourite side of the course, the start sequence for the second race looked set for a battle royale between Ainslie and Jimmy Spithill (who sailed together to win the 2013 America’s Cup).

Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada has a slightly different setup to the other teams in this America’s Cup with Spithill helming when the boat is on starboard and Francesco Bruni when on port. As such the start is largely Spithill’s domain (rightly so as the Australian is known as ‘The Pitbull’ for his starting prowess and aggression).

Photo: Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada

With Luna Rossa approaching the startline on starboard, INEOS tacked dead in front of them and it briefly looked like the Italian boat might be able to get underneath the Brits, luff them and force them off their foils, but they never quite made it and with both boats now late for the start, the Brits were able to lead back to the start, tack and cross the line on port, leading out to the favoured right hand side.

“We were on time to the start and we thought we might have a shot at a hook, but then we had a big left shift,” explained Spithill of the start. “So we went from killing time, to racing, to being late and then they gave no opportunities to get past.”

This is as succinct a report of the race as it is possible to give. Once again the Brits perfectly protected the right, with Scott and Ainslie getting their tactics spot on. For their part, Luna Rossa managed to do a better job than the Americans had at staying in contention by finding space in behind the Brits on the right, but it was ultimately to no avail.

Having remained close for much of the race, they were eventually forced out to the left in the final lap in the hopes of finding some way past but this simply served to drop them from 13 seconds back at the final gate to 28 seconds behind at the finish.

Photo: Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada

More to come

There will be another two races on Saturday 16th January and then two more on Sunday 17th.

Saturday will see American Magic taking on Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada in the opening race and INEOS Team UK in the second.

Sunday’s racing will see Luna Rossa Pirelli Prada face the Brits in the opener and the Americans in the second.

Photo: C GREGORY

The forecast is for slightly lighter wind for Saturday, so we should start to get a clear idea of who’s fast in which conditions. Luna Rossa in particular are said to be quick in the lower wind range, so it will be interesting to see if Spithill and Bruni can make the most of any advantage.

As for the Americans, they have been spoken about as the strongest challenger in some circles for many months. They will have an opportunity on Saturday to get two wins on the board and Barker will be fired up to come back from today’s loss.

This is a long way from over…

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