New Zealand wins the America’s Cup regatta in the Red Sea

Emirates Team New Zealand won the inaugural America’s Cup regatta in the Red Sea last week. Opponent Luna Rosa lost by a huge margin in the finals stuffy nose, which resulted in the Italian team being abandoned as the entire cockpit was submerged. The regatta in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is the second in a series of three warm-up regattas ahead of the 2024 America’s Cup.

Regattas

Although the points scored in the preparatory regattas are not officially counted, the races are necessary to run up to 37^e version of the America’s Cup. The first regatta was held in September in Vilanova i la Geldreu, a town west of Barcelona. The US team then narrowly won against New Zealand.

Deadly stuffy nose Final

The Italian team appeared in the Red Sea last week with an entirely new crew except for one sailor. The team is looking for the right setup for the 37-man^e America’s Cup and sail early rounds with a variety of experienced and junior sailors. The Italians reached the final in Jeddah and competed against New Zealand, who had already secured the final spot, on the third day of the tournament. Conditions in the Red Sea were ideal for the final with winds ranging from 16 to 20 knots, while the sea provided some challenge with a short wave.

New Zealand sailed well in the final, but it was a thrilling neck-and-neck race until the last float rounding. After the zip, the Italian team suffered a major defeat Nose dive sudden stop. The speed of the boat suddenly dropped from forty to two knots as the boat plunged nose deep into a wave. As the cockpit filled with water, the team had to evacuate. The fatal dive may have been caused by overheated systems on board, which prevented the boat from responding optimally.

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“It’s funny; because in light conditions you think nothing can go wrong, but most of the time you push the boat too much and most things go wrong,” Italian team captain Max Sirena told the organizers afterwards. Team New Zealand won the regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand groomer Blair Duke Summing up the regatta: “The last two days showed what the AC40 class can be like and we enjoyed it. Closely related speciesBeautiful conditions here and it was a great advertisement for our sport.

Spectacular pictures stuffy nose You can watch it here:

And the run-up

The third and final preparatory regatta will be held in Barcelona in August 2024. Teams will then switch AC40s to AC75s for the first time, with the actual trophy also being raced. The Challenger Selection Series will also travel there to decide who will eventually compete against defending champions New Zealand. Also, the America’s Cup youth and women’s teams will be playing in Barcelona for the first time.

Meanwhile at DutchSail

The Netherlands participates with two teams in both the Youth and Women’s Cups. DutchSail teams are now fully training on the AC40 simulator in preparation for the Cups. At the end of November They had already traveled Their first online matches were against Australian, American and Canadian teams. In the Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup Regattas, twelve teams compete for the title in each category. In addition to the teams participating in the America’s Cup, the Netherlands and Germany, Sweden, Canada, Spain and Australia also participate. The Youth America’s Cup will run from September 19 to October 2, 2024. The Women’s Cup will continue till October 16.

Cover image: (c) Ian Roman / America’s Cup

Last Modified: December 8, 2023