Change of tack on more Cup warmup races
Plans to have more America’s Cup racing squeezed in ahead of the Prada Cup challenger series have been dashed.
The prospect was raised after the fourth day of the recent warmup regatta in Auckland for the Christmas Cup was abandoned because of light winds.
Regatta director Iain Murray raised the prospect of a couple of days of practice racing to help fine tune his on-the-water operations and keep the teams in shape given how little time they have had in action.
Luna Rossa’s Challenger of Record representative Francesco Longanesi Cattani took that further, saying they would be keen to see the Christmas Cup go up for grabs in some real racing before the Prada Cup starts on January 15.
But Stuff enquiries to the Challenger of Record about further action being held came back with the reply: ‘‘I inform you that no racing is planned before the Prada Cup.’’
Agreeing to a further block of formal racing would have required unanimous support from the four syndicates.
They had mixed reactions to the idea when it was surprisingly raised at the press conference following the warmup regatta. Lukewarm would best sum up the mood.
Team New Zealand appeared most keen for the prospect of a further chance to line out against the challengers and check comparative data, a bonus for the defenders.
Conversely, the challengers, having had Team New Zealand beat them for the world series title over three days of high-paced action, would see little benefit in giving their arch-rival another information opportunity.
Luna Rossa have been the only syndicate on the water since Christmas, with their rivals in their shedsmaking modifications.
While the challengers will spend January and February going through as many as 28 races to sort out their winning boat, Team New Zealand are now left to train by themselves for the next 10 weeks.