No wind for PRADA Christmas Race

Auckland, New Zealand (December 20, 2020) – No winner in Auckland today for the PRADA Christmas Race as the breeze dropped away after the start of race 1 and there was not enough to complete the four races scheduled for the day.

Race 1 between Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS TEAM UK, respectively the winner and fourth placed in the PRADA ACWS Auckland, started on time at 1512. Emirates Team New Zealand sailed fast around the course until during the second downwind lap when the breeze dropped and the Kiwis remained unable to foil downwind.

The clock counted down, the wind remained around 6 knots and the Defenders missed taking victory by around 1min as the clock ran out and the race was terminated. At 1745 the Race Committee called it a day and the last possibility to see the AC75’s racing was over for this year.

Today would have been a critical day for all the teams, but especially for Emirates Team New Zealand as this was their last chance to measure themselves against the three Challengers. The next time they line up on the race course it will be for real in the America’s Cup in March.

By then they will be facing the strongest of the Challengers in the fight for the world’s oldest international sporting trophy. A Challenger who will have undoubtedly raised their game during the PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series starting the 15th of January.

There is no time to rest. An intense period of de-briefings, data analysis, changes and improvements await the teams who are expected to be back training on the water very soon ahead of next year’s challenges.

The PRADA Christmas Race was comprised of two knock out stages. The first stage consisted of two head to head match ups, the winners of each would have progressed to the final, the losers to a 3rd & 4th match. The seeding of the PRADA Christmas Race Semifinals were decided by the results of the PRADA America’s Cup World Series Auckland double Round Robin with the first race being Emirates Team New Zealand (1st ranked) vs INEOS TEAM UK (4th ranked) and the second New York Yacht Club American Magic vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

The ACWS was held December 17-19, with the final result determining the initial pairings for the two stage Christmas Race on December 20.

America’s Cup details – December 17-20 details – Results – YouTube – Time converter

U.S. viewers can watch all racing live on NBC Sports Gold. NBC Sports Network and www.nbcsports.com will carry most of the racing either live or with a time delay, and all races will be available on replay (see schedule). International viewers can watch racing live and on replay via the America’s Cup website and the America’s Cup YouTube channel (see details).

36th America’s Cup
In addition to Challenges from Italy, USA, and Great Britain that were accepted during the initial entry period (January 1 to June 30, 2018), eight additional Notices of Challenge were received by the late entry deadline on November 30, 2018. Of those eight submittals, entries from Malta, USA, and the Netherlands were also accepted. Here’s the list:

Defender:
• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

Challengers:
• Luna Rossa (ITA) – Challenger of Record
• American Magic (USA)
• INEOS Team UK (GBR)
• Malta Altus Challenge (MLT) – WITHDRAWN
• Stars + Stripes Team USA (USA) – WITHDRAWN
• DutchSail (NED) – WITHDRAWN

Key America’s Cup dates:
✔ September 28, 2017: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
✔ November 30, 2017: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
✔ January 1, 2018: Entries for Challengers open
✔ March 31, 2018: AC75 Class Rule published
✔ June 30, 2018: Entries for Challengers close
✔ August 31, 2018: Location of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed
✔ August 31, 2018: Specific race course area confirmed
✔ November 30, 2018: Late entries deadline
✔ March 31, 2019: Boat 1 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ 2nd half of 2019: 2 x America’s Cup World Series events (CANCELLED)
✔ October 1, 2019: US$1million late entry fee deadline (NOT KNOWN)
✔ February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ April 23-26, 2020: First (1/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari, Sardinia (CANCELLED)
✔ June 4-7, 2020: Second (2/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth, England (CANCELLED)
✔ December 17-20, 2020: Third (3/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Auckland, New Zealand
• January 15-February 22, 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
• March 6-15, 2021: The America’s Cup Match

Youth America’s Cup Competition (CANCELLED)
• February 18-23, 2021
• March 1-5, 2021
• March 8-12, 2021

AC75 launch dates:
September 6, 2019 – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Boat 1
September 10, 2019 – American Magic (USA), Boat 1; actual launch date earlier but not released
October 2, 2019 – Luna Rossa (ITA), Boat 1
October 4, 2019 – INEOS Team UK (GBR), Boat 1
October 16, 2020 – American Magic (USA), Boat 2
October 17, 2020 – INEOS Team UK (GBR), Boat 2
October 20, 2020 – Luna Rossa (ITA), Boat 2
November 19, 2020 – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Boat 2

Details: www.americascup.com