America's Cup 2021: All you need to know about today's Prada Cup news

Luna Rossa got their way with the resumption of the Prada Cup final. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The stoush over the scheduling of the Prada Cup final has been resolved - here's a blow-by-blow of how it unfolded today.

ACE back down

After controversy erupted on Wednesday, the Prada Cup final series was this morning confirmed to continue this weekend under Covid-19 level 2 restrictions, despite organisers America's Cup Events being opposed to the idea.

Challenger of Record Luna Rossa lead Ineos Team UK 4-0 in the series and were keen to get back on the water despite ACE requesting a delay until restrictions were lifted to level 1.

But ACE released a statement this morning saying racing would commence this weekend without fans, calling it a 'disappointing situation'.

Luna Rossa speak out

Luna Rossa got their way with the resumption of the Prada Cup final. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The ACE's statement came out just before Luna Rossa held a press conference to address the issue - here's how that press conference unfolded, while Christopher Reive was there and wrote about Luna Rossa hitting back against the ACE's claims.

What the clash meant

Team New Zealand and Ineos Team UK have been building a relationship. Photo / Brett Phibbs

According to the Herald's Secret Sailor, this was more than just the latest squabble in an event which has seemingly hardly gone a day without some off-water drama.

AUT's Sailing Professor Mark Orams agreed, writing that the battle over when the Prada Cup starts again was a symptom of the ugly divorce between Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.

Ineos respond

While noting that they were not consulted on the matter, Ineos Team UK released a statement saying that they will be ready to race this weekend, but think it's a shame that the event will continue without fans.

Schedule solved

Luna Rossa have been ahead of Ineos all Prada Cup final. Photo / Michael Craig

After all of that, the Prada Cup final between Luna Rossa and Ineos Team UK was confirmed to resume this weekend, with Race 5 and 6 of the series taking place on Saturday.

The challenger series finale was postponed this week due to the snap lockdown in Auckland following the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the community.

But after a long period of back-and-forth, the dates and times for racing were confirmed late this afternoon. The final series will now resume on Saturday, February 20 with Auckland now at alert level 2.

You can catch all the action at nzherald.co.nz.