Wake Up Call for America’s Cup Competitors and Sailing Fans - Watch the Preliminary Regatta 8 a.m. Thursday
Wake up early Thursday, August 22, at 8 am EDT time and tune into ESPN+ or the America’s Cup website to catch all the action as the next generation of America’s Cup boats takes to the water in Barcelona for the last of the storied Cup’s Preliminary regattas, this time pitting the six actual Louis Vuitton AC 75’s against one another in a series of match races certain to answer some questions about who is the fastest, most accomplished crew on the water.
The New York Yacht Club entry, American Magic’s Patriot, will line up against Challenger of Record Ineos Britannia in a critical test of man and machine starting at 8 a.m. Annapolis time, Thursday.
The following day, Patriot will square off against Alinghi Red Bull (Switzerland) and Luna Rosa Prade Pirelli (Italy) in two highly-anticipated match races.
On August 24, American Magic is scheduled to face off against France’s Orient Express, and on August 25 she will race against the Defender Emirartes Team New Zealand. The two teams with the best records will go head-to-head in the finale on August 25.
American Magic president of sailing operations and Annapolis native Terry Hutchinson sees this final regatta as a perfect opportunity to see how well each team has developed their boats and crews.
In commenting about the upcoming regatta, Hutchison said, “It will be good to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Patriot against the fleet. Learning what mode to sail off the line and how to use Patriot’s speed.”
Hutchinson is acutely aware that everyone is dangerous at this stage of the competition saying: “All teams are our competitor. Each team has clever thinking, and so we will look to see what we can learn and how we can improve from the fleet not just one team. There is a lot of development for every team between now and the start of the Preliminary Regatta. The true test for all the teams is to be learning as much as they can between now and the start of this test event.”
All the hours of training, the work in the simulators, the designer’s theories, and the sailors’ skills and prowess will be tested to an extent. Noone wants a bad regatta. Despite the fact that the Preliminary Regatta points do not count towards progression or elimination, everyone will be eyeing everyone else to define the pecking order ahead of the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup on the August 29 where there is simply no hiding place.
In chatting with some of the more junior members of the American Magic team earlier this week, there was a quiet determination among the participants as “all hands on deck are required to fine tune Patriot and her crew for their first on-water test”
PUIG Woman’s America’s Cup American Magic sailor Sarah Stone put it this way: “Things are tense. This is where all the hard work will shine. Can’t wait to see how we do against the competitors.”
Grab some breakfast Thursday through Sunday or your favorite pre-race libation and tune in for the start of the frenzy that is the 37th America’s Cup. It promises to be quite a show. Be sure to check listings for exact start times. You can catch the action on ESPN+ or on the America’s Cup website. The racing starts at 8 am Eastern time.
~By Craig Ligibel
