Prada Cup
Rounds Robin 1, 2, 3, 4: Auckland, NZ, January 2021

 

 

Today's performance from INEOS is a dramatic improvement from their light air difficulties in the preliminary regatta last month

American Magic has been coming out on the wrong side of the starts and wind conditions these last two days. Admittedly light air races can be a roll of the dice, but racking up three losses in three races is a dramatic shift for a team that looked solidly ahead of the game in December. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won today's slog, and looked competitive yesterday even if they ended up on the losing side of the course.  The sailing conditions for these opening races make it hard to gauge performance, but the Semis, Finals, and the America's Cup match could end up being just as vexing for the AC75s and their crews. 

Sunday's Preview:
RR2 Race 2: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. INEOS Team UK
RR2 Race 3: American Magic vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

 

Prada Cup:
Day 3, RR2
Sunday, Jan 17

Sunday's Races: 

RR2 Race 2: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. INEOS Team UK
RR2 Race 3: American Magic vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

First race start is scheduled for 1515h. 

Conditions:
Winds WNW becoming NW, 10-13 kt range increasing to 13-16 kts, then easing and backing to W. (see more weather background at left.)

Sea slight. Low Tide is 1731. Current will run South to North and Course A has strong tidal flow, so will help foiling downhill but with stronger breeze (already evident here at AC Village) this shouldn’t be an issue.

Race 2: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs. INEOS Team UK
INEOS Team UK had an aggressive start, trying to push LR, but got a boundary penalty and trailed at the start by 2 lengths, they sailed to the port layline, with Ben Ainslie preferring to make it a drag race rather than split. The lead for ITA was about 200m, 0:11 at the first gate. The lead staying in the 150-300m range downwind. Upwind the second time, ITA gained as rain and wind came in from the left, rounding 45 seconds ahead. GBR closed up the gap significantly downwind, but winds shifted nearly 90 degrees as the front crossed the course.

Off to a flying start with wind building, but predicted squalls come early, winds rising into the mid-20s or beyond, and the INEOS/Prada race is abandoned on Leg 3. An abandoned race can be re-sailed. A start is expected in the re-sail of Race 2 at or after the bottom of the hour.

Race 2, Attempt 2: Underway at 1435h.
Winds have settled back down, into 12-15 kt range. A nearly even start at the starboard end of the line, both on starboard, INEOS to windward, but up the course Luna Rossa edges ahead and outpoints INEOS, creeps into her air, and forces her to tack away. Luna Rossa leads around gate 1, and hold on into Leg 3 with a nice position into Gate 3. But finding more speed, INEOS steadily runs away with it as the race goes on, stretching a 200m lead in to 300m, solidly in control. INEOS wins Race 2 by a delta of 18 seconds!

Race 3: American Magic vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Start expected at the bottom of the hour. Luna Rossa starts ahead and to leeward, both on starboard tack.. After the line American Magic is consistently showing more speed, they trade a few tacks, but American magic leads by 6 seconds at the first gate. Downwind the two are neck and neck, LR tries the AC75 version of a luff, but American Magic still leads around the next gate by 12 seconds. Upwind on Leg 3, American Magic is showing better VMG and boatspeed both. Her lead extends slowly, a boundary penalty on Luna Rossa makes it worse. 500m lead on Leg 4, 600m lead on Leg 5.

Capsize: Rounding Gate 5 American Magic roars out of control, heeling far over as the nose pitches skyward, the stern drops, she careens along for several seconds, nearly shooting out of the water entirely and then capsizes.

First reports are the crew is safe and accounted for, confirmed by the team and the Prada media center. A second squall was moving in from the left side of the course, and may have caught American Magic with more wind than they were ready for. There also may have been an issue releasing the running backstay, which would then prevent easing the mainsail. Boatspeed was about 37 kts at the time of capsize, typical for rounding. As wind hit, Patriot then accelerated to about 45 kts.

The yacht has been uprighted, and the crew rescued, but the boat is low in the water and may be at risk of sinking. Flotation bags have been put on board, and reports are that large yellow floats are under the foils, divers are in the water, pumps are onboard, and army of people is providing help. Team NZ and Luna Rossa chase boats are assisting, too, but there is a real prospect that the boat could sink.  It is 15-20 meters deep off there with sandy bottom so would be retrievable, but clearly not a good situation.

The AC75 Class Rule requires a flotation volume within the hull of at least 40 cubic meters, which may be subdivided by watertight bulkheads, compared to the minimum hull volume of 70 cubic meters. The amount of flooding suggests structural damage is involved. The yacht has been stabilized, but with her hull essentially underwater, and her mast upright, and by 1900h, pumping begins to show her deck slightly awash again. A large vessel with derrick capabilities may be necessary to secure the yacht. The Course A race area is approximately 10 miles from the base. The sun will set before she can return.

The Rounds Robin are set to resume on Friday, January 22. However, the scoring of the RRs only seeds the Semis and Final. The RRs are not elimination rounds. American Magic would need to be ready to race again for the start of the Semi-Final on January 29. That date also includes measurement logistics, so the American Magic team would have about 9-10 days to get the boat ready for racing, allowing for measurement.

Hopefully the morning will bring an initial assessment of the damage and some good news about Patriot's chances to return to competition in this regatta.  In any case, this is a shocking and disheartening setback for a team that many have pegged as the strongest of the challenger candidates in this edition of the America's Cup. 

Prada Cup:
Day 4, RR3
Saturday, Jan 23

Saturday's Race:
RR3 Race 2: INEOS Team UK vs. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

Start scheduled for 1600h.
Course C

Conditions: Winds SW 12-15 kts. Flood tide preceding racing, high tide at 1604h, expected to produce a slight chop.

If ITA wins this race, then they will have the chance to tie the RR standings with a win again on Sunday, and ITA wins the tie break. If GBR wins on Saturday, they will finish first in the RR standings and advance to the Prada Cup Final.

Outlook:
Medium conditions are perceived to likely help INEOS. Steady wind should make it less a contest about who gets up on foils first and more a question of differentials in speed and boat handling. Both teams are still sorting out and tuning as they learn to sail these boats and prepare for the Finals and the America's Cup match. How aggressive will they sail against each other in terms of tactics? All challengers have been showing more confidence in engaging the opponent in the starting box, and look for that to continue. These races count, but after Sunday races will be on elimination basis, and as few as 7 more races until they meet Emirates Team New Zealand in the America's Cup Match. There is a lot left to learn for everyone, and not much time to do so.

Race 2:
1600h start postponed to reorient course for wind. Start expected about 1635, then slips to 1645, 1655, 1700, as wind takes time to settle on direction. It's swinging from W to SW to SSW. Bouncing between 16-18 kts and 12-14, sometimes lighter. INEOS requests a 15-minute postponement, they are having gear issues, apparently with their Cunningham. They apparently will be able to race with it, but not adjust it as they normally would during racing. Performance may be affected.

Start at 20 after the hour. It's a drag race upwind, INEOS looking a little faster. A small split, and as GBR comes back on starboard, ITA tacks ahead and just to leeward. INEOS looks like they have the speed to roll past, but Luna Rossa throws several luffs at them until they drop back and have to tack away. It's only a two second delta at the first windward gate, to GBR, as INEOS gets the inside and they both round to the left.

Drag race downhill, Luna Rossa is slightly faster, both boats over 45 kts, ITA notching 48. GBR gets better position and rounds ahead again at the downwind gate. GBR turns right and leads by 9 seconds over ITA turning left.

Luna Rossa does well on the upwind, though, and leads by 19 seconds. Downwind again, GBR cuts the distance greatly, and is only back by 10 seconds at the 4th gate. Upwind GBR is sailing much better angles, sails from behind to in front, aided partially by timing a lift with better pressure to boot. But INEOS tacks late for the layine and they round opposite sides of the gate, even on time. One leg to go.

INEOS finds slightly better speed, but does much better on course positioning nearing the finish, saving a gybe and finishing with speed. ITA protests after the cross, but no flag. The delta will be 33 seconds, though the race was an exhausting neck-and-neck duel until the last few hundred yards. INEOS Team UK wins Race 2 of RR3!

With this win, they clinch advancing to the Prada Cup Final, just seven wins from challenging for the America's Cup. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will face American Magic in the Prada Cup Semi-Final starting January 29th.