The mayor asks to rethink the controversial decision of the course

America’s Cup: Mayor asks to rethink controversial course decision

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com 22 Oct 03:05 UTC
October 22, 2020

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was quick to speak out on the controversial Refereeing Panel decision which reduced the available fields from five to three options and eliminated the two fields from the Stadium.

“We want the America’s Cup to be as accessible as possible to as many Aucklanders and New Zealanders as possible. I would encourage all parties to work together to find a better solution,” was Goff’s response to a decision that would push racing away from to be seen from the shore by Auckland locals and visitors from outside the City of Sails.

The majority decision of the three-man Refereeing Panel goes against the proposals of the Clerk of the Course Iain Murray (AUS). The Panel asked for his opinion on October 3.

In addition to being the Clerk of the Course for the 2013 and 2018 American Cups, Murray competed on the stadium fields in the 12-foot and 18-foot skiff classes as a teenager, winning an 18-foot world skiff title and a Interdominion (Australia and New Zealand). title in the Waitemata.

The stadium fields located between North Head, Bastion Point and the southern half of Auckland’s North Shore provide protected water for the foiling monohulls expected to sail at more than 50 knots during the America’s Cup.

Additionally, they have natural spectator bleachers at North Head and Bastion Point that offer great views of the fields.

Bad weather courses are now used

The Arbitration Panel’s Ruling, with Graham Mckenzie (NZL) disagreeing, allows running only on Field A – in front of Takapuna Beach, Field D between Rangitoto Island, Brown Island and Motuihe Island, and Field E across from Eastern Beach and Waiheke Island.

The last two fields were only originally in the field area as strong wind field options.

In an America’s Cup that has been hit hard by COVID-19, the decision eliminates the spectacular funding provided by the City and the surrounding white sand beaches, along with the forested Rangitoto Island of Pohutukawa.

Previous American Cups have been organized in the Hauraki Gulf, almost invisible from land, except for those who own property overlooking the race area. On the stadium fields, the America’s Cup AC75s can pass, and pass within 50-100 meters of spectators on shore, and the AC75s can easily be seen without binoculars.

The Refereeing Panel’s decision appears to hinge on a request from Ports of Auckland and the Harbourmaster requesting that “Prada Cup free-for-all races be restricted to races A, D or E. Racetracks B and C may not be use for these races. ”

The full content and rationale for the comment were not disclosed in the published decision. The proposal requested by the Refereeing Panel to the Clerk of the Course accommodated this stipulation from the Harbourmaster and often controversial port company, which is 50% owned by the Auckland Council and its contributors.

Normally Auckland would have heavy cruise ship traffic in the summer season, and larger ships can only come and go at high tide. However, due to COVID-19, cruise ships are prohibited from entering Auckland Harbor or New Zealand waters. The only port traffic currently traversing the racecourse areas are infrequent visits and departures from container ships, smaller container freighters, and ferries. Their movements can be handled with reprogramming if necessary, or provision of transit lanes for ferries if necessary.

The port was closed for 13 days in 2009 during the race days for the Louis Vuitton Trophy.

The free-for-all phase of the Prada Cup was only scheduled to sail on four business days of the week, with the other six days being on weekends, when there would be no disruptions to commuter ferries.

The loss of the stadium fields will not move fans to the America’s Cup Village, where fan capacity is limited to 27,950 people. America’s Cup Village is a free non-ticketed event for the public.

The charter from the ports of Auckland and Harbourmaster has been collected by the Challenger of Record organization and the three challenging teams.

They have adopted the lines that the Protocol that the Prada Cup and the America Cup must be held in the same place and areas of the field that are used for the America Cup, and that access to the field areas must be unrestricted.

By convention, the America’s Cup Defenders and Challenger have always shared time spent using areas of the field, whether for selection or training. It is not known how this would have worked specifically in Auckland, but it is a matter to be determined by the Director of the Race.

The Arbitration Panel in making its decision has taken up these three points and made reference to the comments of the Harbourmaster.

“Decisions issued by the Harbourmaster have the effect of restricting the use of part of the field area advertised in Notices 7 and 27. In particular, field locations B and / or C cannot be used during the Robin round and the semi-final stages of the Prada Cup / CSS. This therefore constitutes an “access restriction” to the field area and consequently any area of ​​the field which is subject to such restriction cannot be used even in the Prada Cup / CSS nor in the Party “.

Hollow victory

The outcome of the decision, if left unchanged, could well affect the Challengers.

The course most likely to be used is Course A in front of Takapuna Beach. The coastal area is riddled with Transpac and other cables that generally force races to take place further offshore.

A 15 knot sea breeze, and particularly one that has been blowing for several days in a row, causes a significant blow. While it is excellent for Olympic and international class sailing world events, it is not ideal for thwarting the AC75s and was indeed what ETNZ decided not to stick with the AC50 class used in the last America’s Cup.

Heading D cannot be aligned for NE / SW winds due to the influence of 800-foot-high Rangitoto Island on one side and the presence of reefs on the south side.

The likely outcome is that much of the racing will take place on Field E, also known as “The Paddock” and Emirates Team New Zealand’s preferred training ground in preparation for the America’s Cup 2017 and will also be used extensively. In the preparation. for the current event.

While racing can take place largely out of the sight of fans, the Refereeing Panel’s decision and the action of the Challengers appear to have given the Defenders a huge home advantage in sailing waters. Additionally, the Defender has access to several years of weather data for the area that they have collected from previous campaigns.

Ironically, the areas in which the Copa América Defenders have trained the least are the two areas of the field that have been eliminated by the Refereeing Panel.

Two of the Challengers, INEOS Team UK and Luna Rossa, have yet to sail Auckland and experience some of the proposed racing areas using their AC75s. Emirates Team New Zealand has sailed their AC75 primarily on Course A and Course E for over a year, and American Magic similarly since July 2020.