America’s Cup: double disaster for the British in practice races

Another day, another disaster for the British America’s Cup union.

The INEOS UK team suffered a double disappointment when they finally met practice races in the Hauraki Gulf on Monday.

Having missed all three practice opportunities last week as they battled ship damage, Sir Ben Anslie’s team had the frustration of light winds erasing their first practice run against defenders Emirates Team New Zealand.

They then pulled out of the second race during the pre-start as the Kiwis raced down the track.

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The New Zealand team did a couple of stages of the field by themselves before retiring.

The Kiwis will not have been happy either, as the rare opportunities to compete against opponents never materialized.

The Challenger of Record Luna Rossa proved too strong for American Magic in the only race of the day as conditions frustrated teams and race officials.

With light winds from the north, race director Iain Murray led the four unions to the northernmost location on Camp A, located off Long Bay and within the Whangaparaoa peninsula.

The new scenario did not change the fortunes of the British and Monday’s efforts will put more pressure on the union backed by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

They are under increasing scrutiny at home, as the well-funded campaign falls short of its goal. They talked about a good game and even got some advice on how to deal with pressure from the All Blacks great Dan Carter.

But they have nothing to show so far in terms of lining up against another ship.

A new round of practice races is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon after the official opening of the America’s Cup Village at Auckland’s Viaduct Basin. But the expected light winds could again hamper that.

On Wednesday, the four skippers and the regatta hierarchy face a press conference ahead of Thursday’s start of the World Series and the Christmas Cup regatta that runs through Sunday.

The teams will then split up with the three challengers preparing for the Prada Cup qualifying series that begins on January 15 and ends in February.

Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand will train on their own during that period, waiting for the main challenger to emerge for the America’s Cup match, a best of 13 races event, which begins on March 6.