The first day of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta has concluded with winners and losers and lots of lessons for all concernedNearly four years after we last saw AC75s fighting it out on the water, today, Thursday 22nd August 2024 saw the foiling monohulls back on the water. The six teams taking part in the 2024 America\u2019s Cup were on the waters of Barcelona duking it out as the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta got underway.
\nToday also marks exactly 173 years since the yacht America won a race around the Isle of Wight on 22nd August 1851 and thus kicked off the America\u2019s Cup all those years ago.
\nIt was not expected to be an incredibly revealing event \u2013 with racing proper, the Louis Vuitton Cup, set to begin on 29th August, no teams were expected to be pushing too hard or revealing too much \u2013 but even with this in mind, it was something of an inauspicious start, with plenty to do from both the teams and the organisers to make this a real spectacle.
\nBarcelona itself, however, was delivering with a solid breeze in the early to mid-teens and a decent sea state providing some impressive conditions. Certainly we have heard a great deal from designers about the waves in the lead up to this Cup and the difficulty of the short, sharp chop for a foiling monohull was clear from the off.
\nKey takeaways from Day 1<\/p>\n
Worrying sense of D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu for the Brits as Ainslie seemed unimpressed with his team\u2019s speed
\nThe French have a long way to go and their inexperience showed here
\nTechnical gremlins on boats and broadcast dogged the opening day
\nEmirates Team New Zealand and American Magic probably had the best days<\/p>\n
Photo: Ricardo Pinto \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nRace 1 Alinghi Red Bull Racing Vs Orient Express Racing Team
\nSkippers
\nAlinghi Red Bull Racing: Arnaud Psarofaghis & Maxime Bachelin
\nOrient Express Racing Team: Quentin Delapierre & Kevin Pepponet
\nThe first race of the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta 2024 was, realistically over before it started with the French Orient Express Racing Team late into the starting box and picking up a penalty for their efforts.
\nThere was some debate in commentary that the team may have had an issue with their electronics, but this did not seem to be supported by skipper Quentin Delapierre. \u201cWe made too many mistakes and at this level that is not [good enough],\u201d the Frenchman explained. \u201cWe just gave the start to Alinghi. We missed the entry and after that we were not able to take the strategy of the start correctly. We just need to do things better.\u201d
\nAfter such a poor start it was always going to be nigh on impossible to overtake another boat unless you have a great deal of boatspeed in hand. Ultimately it was a relatively easy win for Alinghi Red Bull Racing who kept a close cover on their French competitors to cross the finish first.
\nWhat did we learn from the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 1?
\nThere\u2019s not a great deal that we can learn from this race. The French mistake in the lead up to the start renders the race essentially over before it\u2019s started. The French may well be able to draw heart from staying within touching distance of Alinghi.
\nUltimately this was a battle between the team with the smallest budget (Orient Express Racing Team) and a team who broke their mast 2 days ago and had to restep a new one (Alinghi).
\nPhoto: Ian Roman \/ America\u2019s Cup
\nRace 2 Emirates Team New Zealand Vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
\nSkippers
\nEmirates Team New Zealand: Pete Burling & Nathan Outteridge\u00a0
\nLuna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
\nThe second race of the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Series was a more tantalising prospect. The last time we saw these two teams racing was in the last race of the 2021 America\u2019s Cup, where the Kiwis bested the Italians to win the Auld Mug.
\nAnd for the first couple of minutes it looked as though the gloves were off with a bit of a fight in the startbox going the way of the Kiwis with Burling and Outteridge winning the pin end of the line and forcing the Italian\u2019s to tack away. The Kiwis followed and from there kept a tight cover on Luna Rossa.
\nHowever, immediately after a tack, early on in the race Luna Rossa suffered an electrical issue and needed to retire, the skippers calling on the onboard comms that they had \u201clost the boat\u201d before stalling.
\n\u201cIt must have been an electrical issue, I\u2019m 99% sure it\u2019s an electrical issue,\u201d explained Bruni after the team had regained control of their boat. \u201cIt was not ideal and a little bit scary as well as we suddenly had zero control of the boat.\u201d
\nWhat did we learn from the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 2?
\nIn the end this was such a short race, it\u2019s hard to walk away with any key pieces of information. Certainly the two boats looked pretty even for the couple of minutes of racing we saw.
\nLuna Rossa Prada Pirelli did get up and running again for the fourth and final race of the day. But the electrical gremlins will be a worry for the Italians, a total shutdown at another time could easily see the team in serious trouble.
\nPhoto: Ian Roman | America\u2019s Cup
\nRace 3 INEOS Britannia Vs American Magic
\nSkippers
\nINEOS Britannia: Ben Ainlsie & Dylan Fletcher
\nAmerican Magic: Paul Goodison & Tom Slingsby
\nThis was probably one of the most revealing races of the day with a close fight in the opening stages between the Brits and the Americans. It would also be interesting to see how two very different designs would go with the American team opting for a very aerodynamically efficient, small hull and the Brits opting for a more muscular powerful design.
\nIt was a pretty even affair at the start of this race, with INEOS perhaps a couple of inches ahead and just to windward out of the startline. However, American Magic demonstrated a good high mode to squeeze up to the Brits and force them to tack away early. Even with this, once the two teams came to their first cross INEOS were a boatlength ahead and to my eye looked to have a decent turn of pace upwind.
\nBut the Americans had certainly got the geometry of the course right and one less tack on the upwind saw them take the win at the first windward gate. From there they stepped away downwind, where they looked to have a decent edge all race and never really looked back.
\nFor his part, Ainslie did not seem impress with the performance of his team\u2019s boat, stating: \u201cThey sailed a great race and had the legs on us for pace. We had a nice start and had the first cross but they sailed around us\u2026 we\u2019re lacking some horsepower, so need to get the boat back to the shed and think about how we get more pace.\u201d
\nOn the dock after racing cyclor crew Ben Cornish added: \u201cIt was amazing conditions firstly, really really nice sailing in the boats. A decent start for us on Britannia, we were quite strong out off the line, strong at the first cross \u2013 and then I think the American boat picked up a nice bit of pressure and shift on the right, and just got nose ahead.
\n\u201cAs we\u2019re starting to see here, once a boat gets strong and has the choice route it\u2019s certainly hard to pass on the way back. I think we sailed the boat reasonably clean around the course. So baby steps, but moving in the right direction.\u201d
\nWhat did we learn from the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 3?
\nIt would be fair to walk away from this race with the view that American Magic had a slight pace advantage over the Brits. That the Americans looked a little more conservative in the manouvers may imply that they have a little more up their sleeve too.
\nEarly data suggests that the British boat sailed around 500m further than the Americans, and being out of phase in the shifts will have set them back with a big deficit. But the biggest worry for British fans will be Ainslie\u2019s comments at the end of the race. If genuine, they British team may be facing another uphill battle \u2013 at they did in the last AC when they needed to turn around a serious pace deficit.
\nPhoto: Job Vermeulen\/America\u2019s Cup
\nRace 4 Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Vs Orient Express Racing Team
\nSkippers
\nLuna Rossa Prada Pirelli: Jimmy Spithill & Francesco Bruni
\nOreint Express Racing Team: Quentin Delapierre & Kevin Pepponet
\nSometimes you have days on the water that you just want to forget about and this will be one of them for the French America\u2019s Cup team as they dropped off the foils trying to slow themselves down coming into the start box. Having dropped off the foil they were then late into the startbox and picked up a penalty as they had in their first race.
\nThe French team then picked up a second penalty by going out of the course boundary when trying to get foiling once again and ended up crossing the startline a good 12-13 seconds behind the Italians. As Jimmy Spithill said at the finish: \u201cIt was pretty much all over at the start.\u201d
\nWhat did we learn from the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta Race 4?
\nThese appear to be some serious gremlins onboard the French boat with issues in the start procedure in both races and issues throughout racing with foil height. Their design \u2013 purchased from Defender Emirates Team New Zealand \u2013 looks decent in a straightline, but this small team has plenty to do to be competitive.
\nLuna Rossa seemed to recover from their electronics issue in their first race of the day. And although Spithill says that \u201cIt\u2019s great to get the issue sorted now when it doesn\u2019t count,\u201d one imagines it would be better not to have the issue at all.
\nPhoto: Ricardo Pinto | America\u2019s Cup
\nCup TV Presentations
\nAs much as this is a test regatta for the six America\u2019s Cup teams it also serves as a testing ground for the America\u2019s Cup viewing experience too.
\nAnd here, like some of the teams, there is work to do. Audio mixing was pretty poor with music and comms from the boats often drowning out the commentary and lots of missed connections when speaking to teams. Generally the audio was far from a polished experience and a long way from the production standard we saw in the 2021 America\u2019s Cup.
\nThere were some cute little technical details on display including a live wind graphic, which overlayed colours on the screen to correspond with wind pressure. This seems a great innovation for the unfamiliar viewer and tallied nicely with boat speed each time I saw it used. But a dearth of graphics elsewhere will need sorting.
\nWhen there are series out there like SailGP delivering such an impressive viewing spectacle, as the pinnacle of the sport the America\u2019s Cup really should be, at the very least, at that level.
\nFollow all of our 2024 America\u2019s Cup coverage<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/p>\n
Yachting World is the world\u2019s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.<\/p>\n
Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.<\/p>\n
The post America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta Day 1 report: Lessons for teams and organisers alike appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first day of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta has concluded with winners and losers and lots of lessons for all concernedNearly four years after we last saw AC75s fighting it out on the water, today, Thursday 22nd August 2024 … <\/p>\n