America’s Cup: New Zealand team denied grand finale by abandoning Christmas race

When the wind blows, these AC75 foiling monohulls are known as the Formula One of ocean racing as they break around the 50 knot mark. When it isn’t, it can be like watching a pair of snails face off.

The latter was the case on Sunday when the four yachts that will compete in next year’s Copa America, the blue sailing event, attempted to participate in the Prada Christmas Race that followed the three-day World Series regatta that concluded on Saturday. .

Unfortunately, a gloriously good day, but with almost no wind in the City of Sails, it left them unable to complete even one of the four scheduled races.

It was supposed to be a glorious end to the pre-America’s Cup showdown between the defenders of Emirates Team New Zealand and the three defiant unions, Luna Rossa Prada PIrelli of Italy, American Magic of the New York Yacht Club and INEOS Team UK. The last chance for the champions to compare themselves to the chasing group before things get very serious in the new year.

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Instead, it became something of a sham in the Hauraki Gulf, as a hot summer day in Auckland left the last afternoon of this four-day celebration of ocean racing effectively high and dry.

They tried. The New Zealand team and the British went out on the water for their first semi-final (they decided the final places in the world series), but a one-sided competition turned into a sham when even the skilled ship Kiwi failed to finish the shortened course within 45 -One minute time limit.

When Team NZ’s next-generation Te Rehutai boils down to the gentle drag of a wallowing whale, you know something’s not quite right. And it was not on Sunday when the Kiwi participant, two full sections of the course ahead (more than 5 km), remained calm in the final section and could not beat the clock until the finish line.

It was no one’s fault. Well, you could blame mother nature, but it wouldn’t do you any good.

These foiling monohulls are designed to compete in the wind (6.5-21 knots is the prescribed limit for this event), and the problem was that during Sunday’s opening semi-final there simply wasn’t enough to lift anyone up and put on their foils.

Everything looked very promising for Peter Burling and the Kiwis, with light winds of around 7 knots, when they won the pre-start maneuvers decisively, forcing the British to turn to starboard which saw them fall off their foils and effectively get stuck in the mud.

The New Zealand team ran away and appeared to be a procession as they charged up and down the field as the British threw crabs from side to side and repeatedly out of bounds, seeking the necessary wind to lift them out of the water.

But when the Kiwis rounded the third mark, at this point having overtaken Sir Ben Ainslie and his team in distress, they too finally fell off their foils, leaving us with that painful snail race to the finish that saw the clock win the day. . Abandoned career.

There was hope that the wind would pick up to allow the second semifinal between American Magic and Luna Rossa to go ahead. So the New Zealand team and the British would also have had to race again.

But when the wind didn’t budge, the races were finally abandoned just before 6pm. The New Zealand team was probably the most disappointed of the four unions. This was his last competitive hit before The Match in March. And they would have loved to save another shiny trophy to show their readiness.

The other trio will have the January Prada Cup Challenger Series to continue to measure and refine their racing capabilities. For defenders, now it’s about what they can achieve in training and within the four walls of their enclosure. The competitive element of your development is over.