Italian America's Cup challenger Luna Rossa launch their second boat in Auckland.
Italian Challenger of Record Luna Rossa claim to be ahead of the pack in one key area as the America's Cup World Series looms.
The warm-up regatta, which will be raced between December 17-20, will be the first time all four teams go head-to-head before next year's America's Cup.
All teams have now launched their second AC75's, with Luna Rossa co-design co-ordinator Martin Fischer acknowledging that it's hard to tell which boat is the best, having not lined up against the other teams yet.
Howevr, he believes his team have an edge in the only area they can currently control.
"The only thing we have seen is the quality of manoeuvres and I would say for the moment that we have an advantage. Our manoeuvres are carried out perfectly," Fischer told French yachting site Tip & Shaft.
"That is very important, as if you are clear about your manoeuvres, you can afford to change tack for tactical reasons, while if you find it hard, you avoid that as much as you can.
"The ACWS will be very important as will the few days of training before the event. I think everyone will be doing their utmost to find out where they are, because if you have a deficit somewhere, you need to know as soon as possible to try to correct that before the Prada Cup."
Luna Rossa. Photo / Photosport
Going on to discuss the technical reasoning behind the teams varying foil designs, Fischer said they would play a huge part in the boat's manoeuvrability.
Teams have held back on their final foil and rudder choices, with each allowed six sets of foils and four sets of rudders.
"The size of the foils is chiefly determined by the speed at which you want to take off. If you want to take off at a very low speed, you need a bigger foil, but once you have taken off, this means extra wetted surface, so that is a negative, but you do have a higher safety margin when carrying out manoeuvres," he said.
"With a small foil, your wetted surface is reduced, but if you fail during a manoeuvre, you are likely to begin another take-off, which can cost you dear."
Grant Dalton (CEO ETNZ), Steve Mair (Commodore RNYS), Agostino Randazzo (Commodore of Circolo Della Vela Sicilia) and Patrizio Bertelli (President of Luna Rossa Challenge). Photo / Photosport
Team New Zealand have been cleared to race in the upcoming regatta after a late entry fee put them in doubt.
Team NZ and the Challenger of Record were understood to have been at odds over the format for the events, but agreed that the first three days of the World Series will see four races per day of round-robin competition when all of the four teams will race each other twice.
The fourth day (Christmas Cup race) will be comprised of two knockout stages, the first consisting of two head-to-head matchups, with the winners of each progressing to the final and the losers to a third/fourth match which will help decide the final rankings. The pairing for the Christmas race semifinals will be decided by the results of the World Series double round-robin.
The Prada Cup, contested between the three challengers, starts on January 15 with the winner advancing to the America's Cup match - and the chance to dethrone Team NZ from March 6.
