Published on : Monday, September 24, 2018
As the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand will race the winner of the Prada Cup challenger selection series in a best of 13, first to 7-point America’s Cup Match race series.
Racing will be centred on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf which offer a variety of race course options with a full range of wind directions and conditions.
The harbour and gulf are surrounded by geographical landmarks that provide a variety of vantage points for spectators.
The official race zone encompasses a wide area running south along Auckland’s North Shore beaches around the volcanic headland of North Head incorporating the inner Waitemata Harbour reaching as far as Auckland’s iconic harbour bridge and downtown waterfront, across Auckland’s eastern suburbs and south to the vicinity of popular Waiheke Island.
Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said they needed to define a wide racing area to cater for all wind and tide directions and conditions.
He says there are places where the public will literally be able to hear the AC75 boats whistling above the water and see the wind shifts on the water without having to set foot on a boat.
March is a popular summer month for holidaying in New Zealand and consideration is being given to race timing to maximise weather conditions and suit audiences both in New Zealand and abroad. It is likely the racing will take place between 1600 and 1800 hours local time to take advantage of the typical March sea breeze.
The races are planned to last around 35-minutes including pre-starts and the courses will involve leg lengths between 1.3-2.2 nautical miles. They will be set to a typical windward leeward configuration with potential for a dramatic final reaching leg to the finish line.
Team New Zealand said consideration had also been given to minimizing race day cancellations due to too much wind or swell as was seen in AC34 in San Francisco in 2013.
The America’s Cup updates were met with approval from the three confirmed challengers.
Terry Hutchinson, executive director and skipper of the New York’s Yacht Club’s American Magic, and Sir Ben Ainsley team principal and skipper of INEOS Team UK welcomed information about the race course area, likely wind conditions, sea state, length of course and schedule for the build-up regattas as it would help teams set their strategy for building and launching race boats.