Rules of engagement
The syndicate that eventually takes on ETNZ for the America’s Cup will be competition-hardened, after the release of race conditions that will make for an exhausting challenger series.
Written by Scott Alle
Photography by C Gregory
22 July 2020
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The Prada Cup challenger series will consist of four round robins of three races each, starting on 15 January 2021.
The winner of the PRADA Cup will challenge the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup presented by PRADA Final Match, scheduled from 6–21 March 2021.
But if you are a challenger, in order to win the America’s Cup, first you have to win the PRADA Cup.
Easier said than done, of course, as Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli must do the same as the New York YC’s American Magic and INEOS Team UK, before facing Emirates Team New Zealand in the sail off for the Auld Mug.
Prada Cup challenger series will run from 15 January through to 22 February to determine who will actually compete for the America’s Cup.
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It will be followed by the Cup regatta itself, which begins on 6 March; first to seven wins, with a pair of starts scheduled for each race day. Best case scenario, that is a competitive regatta going a full 13 races, would see racing end on 15 March.
The Prada Cup will consist of four round robins three races each; a seven-race semi-final and a 13-race final between the two leading teams. Each win scores 1 point.
The Challenger with the highest score at the end of the round robins advances to the Prada Cup Final; the remaining two teams will race again in the semi-final and the first to win four races enters the final.
The first team to score 7 points in the final wins the Prada Cup and will challenge the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the Match of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada.
At present, there are just three confirmed challengers: Luna Rossa, INEOS Team UK and American Magic.
According to Facebook posts from the past few days, INEOS Team UK has been making the most of the fickle summer weather, logging “long, fast days on home waters” in Britannia, the syndicate’s first AC75.
On their home waters, Italy’s Luna Rossa or Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team to give them their full title, have also been utilising training time, posting “nothing quite like a weekend spent foiling.”
There’s been no update from American Magic since AC75 Defiant arrived in Auckland on June 30 and the promise it would be out training “soon” on the Hauraki Gulf.
Sadly, while still listed as a challenger, the other US campaign, Stars and Stripes Team USA, has been not been heard from since 20 March 2019, the last time any news was posted on their website. We are trying to get an update on their plans.
During the five months since the pandemic forced the shutdown of international sport, the four campaigns have had to fly blind, forced to gauge the effectiveness of their four very different AC75s from afar. Within the next few weeks at least, we should start to get a reading on how at least two of the contenders are shaping up.
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