America’s Cup: Italians answer to New Zealand team for missed routes

Italian challenger Luna Rossa has responded to the defending New Zealand team for the loss of the two main fields of the America’s Cup in Auckland.

A decision by the refereeing panel has ruled that because the two courses, located near North Head and Takapuna Beach and offering good public visibility, cannot be used for the entire regatta, they should not be used at all, essentially supporting the “All or nothing” argument.

“The paranoia is evident in the app, particularly from Luna Rossa, that while they’re racing we could be sailing in an area that you can go to any other time, five days a week,” said the New Zealand team boss. , Grant Dalton, to Stuff as a decision. It was announced.

Eliminate the two fields that the Kiwis had a preference for navigating the America’s Cup match in March due to their “stadium effect.”

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Luna Rossa, the record-breaking challenger tasked with safeguarding the interests of the three rivals, strikes back in a tense war of words so typical of the Cup.

“The attacks by Emirates Team New Zealand are solely aimed at discrediting the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team with populist pretexts that tend to mask the attempt to gain an unfair advantage over the challengers who, we repeat, unanimously supported COR 36 by each presenting a theirs. independent submission, “Luna Rossa said in a statement.

Luna Rossa claims that the New Zealand team had kept these details hidden since late January and early February.

“The America’s Cup is governed by a set of rules accepted by all challengers and the defender: protocol. This guarantees the sporting fairness of the event.

“A fundamental rule of protocol (3.1) specifically states that all regattas in the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series must be conducted ‘within the match course areas.’

“At the beginning of September, the record challenger discovered, without having been previously involved or informed by the defender, that the round robins and semifinals of the challenger selection series, the Prada Cup, were unable to navigate the B and C pitches. C designated as preferred fields for the final match “.

But Nick Hill, independent chairman of joint CEO group AC36, questioned that timeline, saying the courses were agreed to by all parties, including the official challenger and the advocate last February.

Hill now heads the Auckland Council Event and Economic Development Agency, a merger of the former ATEED (Auckland Tourism, Event Economic Development) and RFA (Auckland Regional Facilities), and wants the matter resolved quickly.

“We have made it clear that the parties must work together to resolve these issues as quickly as possible,” Hill said in a statement.

“The uses of the fields and the parameters around their use were agreed upon by all agencies, including the challenger of the record representative and the defender in February.

“We look forward to seeing an event where Auckland locals and visitors can share the experience, an event that will show Auckland to the world, and we will work with the parties to help achieve that result.”

The arbitration panel’s decision was a 2-1 majority and there appears to be no availability to appeal, but there is a provision for teams to move around a table and face each other.

How successful that can be remains to be seen.

The stakes are high and, as Luna Rossa captain Max Sirena said earlier in the week: “There are no friends at the America’s Cup.”

Tensions are high.

“Frankly, we are outraged by this decision, it has gone against everything we have been trying to achieve for the last three years, regardless of the effect this has on the public in New Zealand and the city of Auckland.” Dalton said. .