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Auckland - America's Cup action warning

saxyjt

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For those who may be interested by flying saucers, sailing or just some exciting sporting events, the America's Cup 2021 action is about to start in Auckland, with the first races taking place on the 17th of December, weather permitting.

That's going to be challenging for me as the races starts at 3pm NZT, that is.. oh well easy, just 12 hours earlier here. So I'll have to wake up at 2:45 to make coffee (we're on cafésaxophone here aren't we?) and try to be awake for the action.

According to my sources (the official AC website) it will be possible to follow the races online in the Uk and in France. TV coverage is BBC and Sky in the Uk, Canal+ in France.

We (France) don't have any representatives this time. They didn't perform very well last time and couldn't get founding to participate in this rather amazing adventure.

The boats for this edition are simply mind blowing. The concept was radical and never really tried or tested at such a scale. Keel less 75' monohulls flying on foils!

It works and it is apparently very fast...

The teams are:

Defenders: Team New Zealand

Challengers :
  • American Magic - USA
  • Team INEOS - UK
  • Team Prada Pirelli - Italy

All well founded and packed with very experienced people.

They all built a couple of boats (they can't build more, of the 75' scale) and the second ones look really tuned for the job...

I will post more specific links here for that first phase of the competition.

I think both the Uk and the US are rather serious here, but we can't dismiss the Italians. They did prove in the past that they were very serious sailors and as I sailed on the Mediterranean for years, I can attest to their talents.
 
For those who may be interested by flying saucers, sailing or just some exciting sporting events, the America's Cup 2021 action is about to start in Auckland, with the first races taking place on the 17th of December, weather permitting.

That's going to be challenging for me as the races starts at 3pm NZT, that is.. oh well easy, just 12 hours earlier here. So I'll have to wake up at 2:45 to make coffee (we're on cafésaxophone here aren't we?) and try to be awake for the action.

According to my sources (the official AC website) it will be possible to follow the races online in the Uk and in France. TV coverage is BBC and Sky in the Uk, Canal+ in France.

We (France) don't have any representatives this time. They didn't perform very well last time and couldn't get founding to participate in this rather amazing adventure.

The boats for this edition are simply mind blowing. The concept was radical and never really tried or tested at such a scale. Keel less 75' monohulls flying on foils!

It works and it is apparently very fast...

The teams are:

Defenders: Team New Zealand

Challengers :
  • American Magic - USA
  • Team INEOS - UK
  • Team Prada Pirelli - Italy

All well founded and packed with very experienced people.

They all built a couple of boats (they can't build more, of the 75' scale) and the second ones look really tuned for the job...

I will post more specific links here for that first phase of the competition.

I think both the Uk and the US are rather serious here, but we can't dismiss the Italians. They did prove in the past that they were very serious sailors and as I sailed on the Mediterranean for years, I can attest to their talents.
SO pleased this is going ahead. I feared COVID would postpone it, and it’s a Big Deal for lovely NZ.
 
I was in Auckland in March this year and preparations were underway. There's a big store by the quayside with AC merchandise. Of course they were expecting this to be a huge tourism boost.... sadly that won't be happening.
 
First races results

Screenshot_20201217-185857.png


Not a good day for INEOS Team UK!

I didn't check, but I understood something went wrong onboard.

More details here.

Live feed and replay here.
 
Day 2 of the Christmas series.

The Italians took the best over the Americans in race 1, although they were dragging after the start. But as the Americans tacked to cover they failed to keep the boat balanced and flying, resulting in a waste of time speeding back up. The american boat managed to come back fast, sailing perfectly, but it was not enough to get to the next mark ahead. Luna Rossa kept going strong, controlling their lead on leg 5 to round the last mark ahead again. In the final leg to the finish line, American Magic never managed to catch up despite a good boat speed. Luna Rossa won by 12".

The next race saw team NZ against team UK with an agressive move by Sir Ben that didn't succeed. TNZ lead from then on and never felt threatened by TUK. The speed of the kiwi boat and their handling being perfect enabled them to stay in control all the way to the finish line. Te Rehutai, the kiwi boat, won by 1'32". Team INEOS knows they have a slower boat for now, so changes will need to be made between now and the big events.
 
Race 3 of day 2 has Luna Rossa facing American Magic again. This time the Americans made no mistakes. They lead the way from the start, but the Italians never gave up and kept the pressure on all the way to the finish. So they clearly have a fast boat. It looks like Luna Rossa is faster upwind while American Magic is faster downwind. Being so close in speed, the tactics and boat handling will be major factors. These boats are fast when they fly, but if you fail a maneuver then you're back to vintage floating speed and that hurts!

Race 4 sees Te Rehutai from NZ against Britannia from the UK again. I must admit I didn't follow the starting maneuvers closely, but Sir Ben pulled a great start! Team INEOS is leading on leg 1 rounding the first mark 12' ahead. That's not much! As expected, the kiwis showed better speed and came back on leg 2 already! But Britannia managed to come back and round mark 2 only 4" behind. 31" out around mark 3. No change going down to gate 4 rounded 47" late by Britannia. The kiwis won by 1'42".
 
The score after day 3:
Screenshot_20201220-102107.png


Not looking good for Team UK. They will have to work hard to catch-up with the other guys who generally speaking were not that far apart.

The Series are over now.

A Christmas Race was scheduled for today the 20th of December, but the first had to be terminated after 45', that is the time limit to complete the race course, and the wind was not strong enough to continue. So it's been cancelled all together! :(

That's a shame as it was the last opportunity to see Team New Zealand racing against the rest of the crowns until the Cup races in March.

Before that the Prada cup, starting Jan 15th, will see the 3 challengers racing against each other to determine who will face the defender.

That leaves less than 5 weeks to Team INEOS UK to sort out their issues and come back in the game.
 
INEOS have bought a third of Mercedes F1, maybe put a bet on Verstappen next year.
 
Only 5 days away from the next big event of the America's Cup:


By the I should be about done with my current job's project, so I will feel free to focus on that exciting event. At least it is to me! :D
 
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