Team New Zealand will go head-to-head against Luna Rossa Prada Pirrelli in their first race of the Challenger Series round robins. Photo / Job Vermeulen, America's Cup
Team New Zealand will go head-to-head against Luna Rossa Prada Pirrelli in their first race of the Challenger Series round robins. Photo / Job Vermeulen, America's Cup
After more than three years of planning, it all comes down to this.
On August 22, the six America’s Cup teams will take to the water in their new AC75 race vessels for the third and final preliminary regatta before the moments that truly matter.
That’s not to say the pre-Cup hit out is merely practice, though. Instead, it’s a vital piece of the puzzle which - for one team - will ultimately see them hoisting the Auld Mug when it is completed.
The regatta is the first time the teams will go head-to-head on their new race boats in a proper race setting. For Team New Zealand, it’s a chance to get a good look at their challengers and refine their playbook.
“This is a big focus from now until race one of the America’s Cup,” coach Ray Davies told AmericasCup.com.
“As we are just getting to a point when the challengers will be locked into their configurations, and we will see how they race their AC75 in anger. We will have notes in our playbook for each team.”
The preliminary regatta in Barcelona also gives limited time for reaction, with the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series round robin stage beginning less than a week after its conclusion.
Unlike the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland, Team New Zealand will sail in the round robin stages of this year’s Challenger Series, with two rounds beginning on August 30 (NZ time) and going through until September 9.
The round robin stages will see four races per day, with teams alternating which two have two races on a day.
Team New Zealand will start the round robin against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - the same team they meet first up in the preliminary regatta - before racing Ineos Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team (double race day), Alinghi Red Bull Racing and American Magic.
When the semifinals begin on September 15, Team New Zealand will become observers, while another challenger will be eliminated at that point. The semifinals will then divide the field in half through two first-to-five series’, before the final of the Challenger series - a first-to-seven series - begins on September 27.
The winner will challenge Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup Match, with the first-to-seven series beginning on October 13.
Among all of that, the Youth America’s Cup - featuring the six America’s Cup teams and six invitation crews from around the world - will run from September 18 to 27. The same 12 teams will also have boat in the first-ever Women’s America’s Cup, which takes place from October 6 to 14.
Those two regattas will be contested on one-design AC40s, and will feature mainly fleet racing but will be decided in a winner-take-all match race.
The women's and youth America's Cups will be contested on AC40s. Photo / Emirates Team New Zealand
America’s Cup key dates
Barcelona preliminary regatta: August 23-26
Louis Vuitton Cup round robins: August 30-September 9
August 30 v Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. August 31 v Ineos Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team. September 1 v Alinghi Red Bull Racing. September 2 v American Magic. September 4 v Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. September 5 v Ineos Britannia and Orient Express Racing Team. September 8 v Alinghi Red Bull Racing. September 9 v American Magic.
