The 36th Copa America is put into play this Wednesday (4:15 AM CET) in the waters of Auckland (New Zealand). The oldest trophy in the history of the sport, dating from the year 1851, will be defended by the local crew of the Emirates Team New Zealand who conquered this right after his victory four years ago off the coast of Bermuda.
On board the ship AC75 Te Rehutai, a flying hull measuring 22.90 meters above foils sailing at 50 knots, will rival the Italian challenge Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. In their sixth attempt to win the trophy, the Italian navy now enters a final for the second time. The previous occasion was in the year 2000 when he also faced the ship kiwi and I lost the trophy by a resounding 5 to 0 in favor of Russell Coutts’ crew.
The Hauraki Gulf is no stranger to a vs AC Match.
21 years ago, the 4th race of AC30 was underway between @lunarossa and @EmiratesTeamNZ.
When NZ wrapped up the series 5-0 the following day, they completed the first successful defense of the Auld Mug outside of America. pic.twitter.com/AHjawoFqWU
? americascup (@americascup) March 1, 2021
The first team to he adds seven victories, two races are held every day, he will be raised with the mythical silver ewer . The start of the competition was scheduled for last Saturday, March 6, but a temporary confinement in New Zealand due to Covid-19 postponed the official start. Thus the sports calendar was reorganized with new duels that will also return next Friday until Monday, March 15.
As is customary in each edition of the Copa America, the sporting potential of the trophy defender is virtually unknown. The last time the sailing All Blacks sailed with the rest of the teams was last December during the World Series regattas. The New Zealand boat won five races and lost a duel against the American union, but since then the configuration of the boats has been completely revised from bow to stern to gain more speed in the water.
Grant Dalton and Peter Burling’s Boat now has a new inventory of sails (with a striking Code 0), brand new mast and also a rudder for the final round. In addition, it is worth noting its particular design of the foils, closer to a T-shape than the usual Y-shape, which must certify their aerodynamic purpose.
Emirates Team New Zealand has made its preparation alone with its two AC75 boats. It has the hndicap in favor of knowing better than anyone the sailing conditions of the New Zealand coast, but it remains to be seen whether technically the eleven New Zealand crew members on board will respond with solvency at this key moment in the competition.
Experience what its like to cross the deck on Te Rehutai in full flight.#AmericasCup #AKL2021 #NewZealandsCup #TeRehutai #POV @GoPro #GoProANZ pic.twitter.com/9TgYfNACKZ
? EmiratesTeamNZ (@EmiratesTeamNZ) March 3, 2021
The weather forecast for this Wednesday advances winds of 15 and 17 knots. So it is expected that regattas result in more duels between boats, hull against hull, than high speed. Situation that equalizes the strengths of the two teams and could bring out some of the theoretical weaknesses of the defender.
In the preliminary phase of selecting challenging teams (the Prada Cup), the tycoon’s crew Patrizio Bertelli got rid of two clear contenders for the final triumph: the Ineos UK Team of Ben Ainslie (4-0) and also of the American ship NYYC American Magic (7-1) under the direction of Dean Barker. Of the 18 sleeves that I played, I won 14 and 11 of them were practically consecutive.
On the AC75, the Italian crew has also adopted a special configuration of its crew with fixed helmsmen, Jimmy Spithill (starboard) and Francesco Bruni (port), one on each side of the ship. A novel formula that is also very practical as it reduces the number of movements of the crew in the middle of the regatta and focuses the pre-start strategy on the caa Australian.
In the last official tests, the ship Luna Rossa has shown a very filmed navigation in each maneuver with light winds both in the exits and in the steps through the different gates of the race course. Spithill’s leadership, aka Bulldog, in moments of maximum tension it is unquestionable. And Francesco Bruni’s navigational teacher has allowed the Italian union to function like a true Swiss watch.
If the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crew finally wins the Copa America, the trophy will travel to Europe for the third time. In this way, the wake opened by the Swiss ship Alinghi, which having no sea to defend the trophy, organized the competitionsin Valencia in 2007 and 2010. But there is still a lot at stake and as the motto of this competition reads: “Your Majesty, there is no second [barco]”.
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