America’s Cup: More races are being considered after the Christmas Cup was abandoned

The possibility of more official Copa América races or practices has been raised before the challenge series begins in mid-January, after light winds forced a abandonment of Sunday’s Christmas Cup.

The New Zealand team and the UK INEOS team were unable to finish the opening race within the 45 minute time limit as they struggled with their foils in winds well below the 6.5 knots required on Course A ahead. to the bays of the east coast.

It was a frustrating finish to a magnificent opening regatta that marked the first time the radical AC75s were raced after the world series events in Italy and England were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regatta Director Iain Murray has now raised the possibility of a two-day practice race session on January 7-8 or January 11-12 to give his race day operation more time to soften their performance before the January 15 outing for the Prada Cup series that will involve the three challenging teams.

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Luna Rossa’s Challenger of Record representative, Francesco Longanesi Cattani, went further. In a surprise move, he suggested that they would be eager to see the Christmas Cup up for grabs in some royal races.

He noted that an agreement between challengers and defenders would be needed for that to happen.

The harbormaster and maritime authorities should also agree, with these ships attracting large fleets of spectators.

The small fleet has lost nine days of official racing this year and also several days of practice due to unexpected events.

All teams have already worked out their tight Christmas and New Year schedules in terms of developing their boats and crews in testing and training, and adjustments would be needed.

The New Zealand team, which is now not scheduled to compete until the America’s Cup match begins on March 6, would view any form of racing as an opportunity to get a better gauge against rivals after winning the held world series. from Thursday to Saturday.

Patron Peter Burling certainly didn’t back down, seeing it as another opportunity to test systems under pressure and gauge his worth against challengers.

“We haven’t talked about it as a group. But we really enjoyed sailing this boat against other people and this period has obviously been a great opportunity for everyone … I’m sure if there were more practice races, we would participate, ”Burling said.

American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson seemed surprised by the unexpected development and said they would have to see how it fit into their plans, “but at the end of the day we are runners.”

British skipper Ben Ainslie is in charge of the most under pressure after four disastrous days. They need to make major modifications to improve Britannia’s performance, which is like a slug in the light conditions, as the New Zealand team passed them before Sunday’s race was canceled.

The boat will be in the shed for some time, although they also need to balance the time out of the water with their set-up and ready for the Prada Cup.

Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa and American Magic plan to have their ships sailing for the next few days before a short Christmas break.

There’s a lot to work on, notably lightweight air performance at the lower end of that range.

Murray said there was no problem starting Sunday’s race, nor did he have a problem with the 6.5 knot limit.

“I think the problem is when the wind goes below the limit during the race,” said Murray.

It was a problem to get the consistency of the wind throughout the course at all times, which was nothing new for racing.

With the New Zealand team coming up with the design and accepting the wind range after difficult negotiations with Luna Rossa, Burling was backing the AC75 in that lower zone.

“It has been no secret that we have tried to design a boat that can cut through the wind range,” Burling said. “As Iain said, we were just above wind range when the race started.”

They felt they had done it and proved their worth in the first three stages, where they performed better in light winds than similar conditions in their gripping victory over Luna Rossa on Saturday to clinch the world series.

Overall, he had found the weekend invaluable to his team’s schedule.

“It has been a long time in the making. To really see these boats come together and to be able to compete in regattas, to be able to turn and maneuver in closed races with changes of leader, is something we ask for ”.