The preparation and warm-up phase for the 2024 America’s Cup is in full swing. Team USA narrowly won the first preliminary regatta last weekend against defending champions New Zealand. The regatta is the first in a series of practice races for next year’s main event. The final Netherlands squad for the Youth and Women’s Cups will also be announced this week.
America won the first in a short period of time
The first race, known as the Preliminary Regatta, took place last weekend in Vilanova í la Geldreu, west of Barcelona. This is the first regatta in a series of three preparatory races. During the decisive match race between the American and New Zealand teams, the wind almost disappeared early last Sunday. The race committee decided to cancel the race as the teams were unable to sail the boats.
As a result, the US team retained its top spot, followed by New Zealand by just one point. Other teams to face New Zealand in October 2024 are France, Italy, Switzerland and Great Britain. Check out the summary of the last day of the tournament below:
Volgende preliminary regatta
The next regatta starts on November 29 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Teams will sail in both regattas in AC40s, with the youth and women’s teams sailing in the same boat. Finally, the third and final regatta will be held in Barcelona in August 2024. This regatta will be the first time teams will sail in AC75s. After that, the teams will travel to the rest of the America’s Cup tournaments in Barcelona.
Following the preliminary regattas, the Challenger Selections series will determine which team will eventually face defending champions New Zealand. Next year in Barcelona, the youth and women’s teams will also play in their own classes for the first time.
The DutchSail selection is almost known
Six other teams, including DutchSail from the Netherlands, are participating in the Youth and Women’s Cup. firm Selection from DutchSail Coaches will announce on September 26. Among the 25 sailors in the current selection are many famous names. For example, three-time 49er World Champion Bart Lambrix is in the mix, as are multiple 49erFX World Champions Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duets. Rosalyn Khyber, who was co-captain during the last Ocean Race, is also on the provisional list.
Sailors are scheduled for two intensive test days in the AC40 simulator this week before the trainers take the final test. Peter-Jan Postma is the coach of Dutchail said in a press release: “On AC40s you can’t see each other, the boat we travel on. So communication and coordination on board is very important. Two sailors are seated left and right behind each other, and the sail is in the middle of the boat so you cannot see the sailors on the other side of the boat. So everything comes down to oral communication. It is important to speak the same language and be clear about it. That is why we ask sailors to rate each other’s performance during these exam days. Ultimately, as practitioners, we gather this information and make our choices.
The latest news on the America’s Cup, including video reports of the matches See here.
Cover image: (c) Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup
Tags: America’s Cup Last modified: 19 September 2023
