America’s Cup, the 2024 final between New Zealand and Ineos begins

After giving Great Britain their first success in the Louis Vuitton Cup, Ineos Britannia returns to the water in Barcelona to compete for the America’s Cup in New Zealand. It is another historic moment for the English who have not reached the final act of the most prestigious sailing competition for 60 years. The last boat to achieve this was, in fact, in 1964 the 12 Meter Sovereign which lost 3-1 in Newport against the American Constellation. Since then the official challengers have only been Australians, Italians (the Moro in 1992 and the two Luna Rossa in 2000 and 2021), New Zealanders, Americans and Swiss.

New Zealand with Taihoro to retain the cup

Holders of the trophy since 2017, New Zealand aims to retain the trophy for the third time in a row and raise it to the sky for the fifth after the triumphs of 1995, 2000, 2017 and 2021. To achieve this goal it relies on the AC75 Taihoro already admired at work in the preliminary regattas and in the two Round Robins of the Louis Vuitton Cup in which he always won when he completed the regattas (8 out of 8 with 2 defeats only due to disqualification, ndr). It is naturally considered by the technicians to be slightly favored also thanks to the further modifications that the team has worked on in recent weeks at the Port Vell pier.

A final between champions: 11 Olympic medals in 4

Whatever happens, it will be a challenge of the highest level. Ben Ainslie and his alter ego Dylan Fletcher on one side against Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge on the other. A total of 11 Olympic medals divided between the four wells (two for each AC75): Ainslie’s 5 (4 gold and 1 silver between Laser and Finn) plus Fletcher’s (gold in 49er at Tokyo 2021) for the British, the 3 from Burling (1 gold and 2 silver in 49er) and 2 from Outteridge (1 gold and 1 silver again in 49er) for the Kiwis.

The dates of the final, the best of 13 regattas

The final will be held as the best of 13 regattas. We start at the weekend then, after the double rest on Monday and Tuesday, we will return to competing on the 16th. Another day of break on Thursday 17th then, if necessary, 4 days in a row to award the trophy. This is the program with specific departure times:

Saturday 12 October: regatta 1 and regatta 2 from 2.10pm
Sunday 13 October: regatta 3 and regatta 4 from 2.10pm
Wednesday 16 October: regatta 5 and regatta 6 from 2.10pm
Friday 18 October: regatta 7 and (possible) regatta 8 from 2.10pm
Saturday 19 October: (possible) regatta 9 and (possible) regatta 10 from 2.10pm
Sunday 20 October: (possible) regatta 11 and (possible) regatta 12 from 2.10pm
Monday 21 October: (possible) regatta 13

Where to watch the final on TV and streaming

The 2024 America’s Cup final will be broadcast live on Sky Sport, on the dedicated Sky Sport America’s Cup channel (channel 205). All the regattas will also be available in streaming on SkyGo and Now.