In the first race of the Prada Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, there was no magic for the American America’s Cup challengers.
Despite what appeared to be a good start in the first race of the Prada Cup, the American Magic AC75, Patriot, was beaten by the surprisingly fast Brits.
The British boat, steered by Sir Ben Ainslee, one of the world’s winningest sailors, had gone 0-6 in the America’s Cup World Series in December. But since then, the Brits made adjustments to virtually every aspect of their boat, which seems to have cured what ailed them. The American team went 4-2 in the December series, which was won by New Zealand with a 5-1 record.
The Prada Cup will determine who will race against the New Zealand defenders in the America’s Cup in March. In the second race of the day, the Brits beat the Italian challengers to go 2-0, leaving the Americans and Italians sitting at 0-1, for now.
It’s early in the game. This was the first of six days of round robin races, which will be followed later this month by four days of semi-final racing. There, the second and third-ranked boats will vie to see who will race against the first-ranked boat in the Prada Cup finals in February.
Patriot, will race twice today, so it will be interesting to see if the first race was a fluke, or if the American Magic team needs to make significant adjustments.
More information is available at the America’s Cup website or go here to see how you can watch the races.
