OFF TO THE RACES
Team New Zealand set for four more races against challengers in next two days before Prada Cup starts
Some last-minute negotiating has seen two days of practice racing — that will include defender Team New Zealand — scheduled for today and tomorrow ahead of the start of the Prada Cup challenger series.
Regatta director Iain Murray indicated after last month’s America’s Cup World Series he wanted to stage additional races to allow officials to further test their equipment and race management ahead of the challenger series.
But while that was met by an enthusiastic response from Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling, who faced the prospect of spending the next two months without any competitive racing, it received a lukewarm response from challengers Luna Rossa, American Magic and Ineos Team UK.
However, American Magic chief executive Terry Hutchinson earlier this month told the Herald his team would be open to more practice racing.
“It would be a mistake to close any door,” Hutchinson said. “I think there is as much to gain for the competition out of an efficient race committee, so giving them more time to make the competition better, you would happily support that.”
Hutchinson added there would not be much motivation for the challengers to give the defender another opportunity to check in.
“But if the decision was made that it’s all or nothing, either you get to run the races but everybody has to be included, then I think we would consider any reasonable offer to it.”
A compromise has clearly been reached and the Herald understands all four teams will have practice races today and tomorrow before the challengers’ boats are officially measured on Wednesday ahead of the Prada Cup opening round robin starting on Friday.
It’s understood the practice races couldn’t be held unless Team New Zealand were included. Each team will have four practice races, news that will no doubt please the Kiwis, who will then spend the next eight weeks going it alone while the three others compete for the right to challenge for the Auld Mug.
With the one-day Christmas Cup race scrapped on December 20 due to lack of wind, Team New Zealand had only six races against the challengers, and the addition of four more practice races will benefit them.
Sir Ben Ainslie’s Ineos Team UK will also get the chance to see whether reported improvements in their performance after undergoing a number of changes bear fruit. The British challenger failed to secure a win in the three-day regatta before Christmas and have spent days in the shed overhauling Britannia.