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COR 36 | Borlenghi study
Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena and his team will be as attentive to the British ship as they are to theirs as they battle for a spot in the America’s Cup match.
OPINION: Just in time, the dark side of the Copa América intensifies.
It’s the Prada Cup Challengers final and the stakes are increasing.
The Italians have the British in a corner before a race begins, and they will seek to maximize that.
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Dean Barker and Terry Hutchinson believe that the talent and momentum are there to build on from the painful defeat in Auckland 2021.
They’ve already caught INEOS Team UK once with a technical protest that has Sir Ben Ainslie sitting on a yellow card and knowing another will result in a race disqualification.
READ MORE:
* America’s Cup: Ben Ainslie cannot avoid the risk of yellow card disqualification for the Prada Cup final
* America’s Cup: Carl Whiting – leadership is crucial, American Magic got it wrong
* America’s Cup: Jimmy Spithill, excited, wants revenge on the British
Getting a win and a point without even competing is absolute gold at this level. The two teams look fairly even ahead of their final series that requires seven wins to win and a chance to compete with Emirates Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup in March.
Expect Luna Rossa’s recognition of the British to be relentless from here. They’ll put the microscope on Britannia every minute you’re out of the ship’s shed, looking for a feature that may be pushing the rules on these incredibly technical ships.
COR 36 | Borlenghi study
Sir Ben Ainslie and his team will be wary of Italian eyes on them.
As Ainsle puts it: “There is a bit of a game there in terms of skill for the classic America’s Cup game, in terms of ‘can the Italians use it against us?’ I do not know.”
The gloves are already out, millions and millions of dollars and almost four years of work are at stake.
This America’s Cup has been noted for its true sportsmanship with the way the small fleet came together to help American Magic.
That was genuine and an absolute pleasure to watch, just like the grace shown towards them in defeat.
But it’s easy to be humble when an opponent is mortally wounded. The real America’s Cup resurfaces, a game where you do what you can out of the water to beat your opponent.
The measurement committee faces a steamy few weeks keeping things under control, just as the rules committee will likely come under more pressure with interpretations.
THE BIGGEST The disappointment of this Cup cycle is the long periods of racing downtime that are chasing the calendar.
The regatta is exciting and captures the imagination of sailing enthusiasts.
But there is simply not enough.
The small fleet of three challengers and the defender meant this was going to be a fight.
They should have gotten more into the round-robin series.
The organizers have greatly lengthened the summer with this two-week wait between the Prada Cup semi-final and the agonizingly long final.
COR 36 | Borlenghi study
Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK are ready for an exciting Prada Cup final.
The America’s Cup is still a month away and only the challengers final remains.
The teams haven’t gotten much for their money in terms of racing and crucial exposure for their loyal backers.
The Americans sailed just eight Prada Cup races at the end, not the kind of return on investment any sponsor would enjoy.
THE LIMITED QUANTITY of the racing action will not worry the New Zealand team.
From a relative performance perspective, they will be delighted that Luna Rossa only needs four runs instead of seven possible to beat the wounded Americans and the non-competitive nature of that one-sided series will please the defenders as well.
The Prada Cup final could last until February 22, which means another hiatus of about two weeks before the Copa América match begins.
Whoever wins the Prada Cup should have a pretty smart crew to go with their boat. But will it be enough to beat the defenders?
COR 36 | Borlenghi study
Te Rehutai of the New Zealand team in flight.
In the old Cup equation of career time versus development time, you’ll hear talk from both sides, especially among challengers eager to increase the Kiwi mind games.
The reality is that the New Zealand team has no choice but to try and train on their own, waiting for the best challenger to arrive.
The Team New Zealand boat Te Rehutai is rumored to be very fast and that has always been the main ingredient in this competition.
A fast boat denies any doubt that the crew is ready to race at this level, the pinnacle of sailing.
There is too much class in the Team New Zealand sailor lineup for that to be a real concern anyway.
They know about this situation long enough to plan accordingly.
