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EMIRATES TEAM NZ
The AC40 class, designed by Team New Zealand, will make its racing debut at Vilanova i la Geltru in Catalonia in September.
The first America’s Cup preliminary regatta has been confirmed for the Catalonian port of Vilanova i la Geltru from September 14-17.
The port is about 45km down the coast from Barcelona which will host the next America’s Cup in 2024.
The preliminary regatta will feature all six Cup teams racing in the half-scale AC40 foiling monohulls in fleet racing and match racing formats.
Emirates Team NZ
America’s Cup champions ramp up AC40 work with 2-boat program.
It will mark a year to go till the America’s Cup challenger series starts in Barcelona.
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All of the syndicates, including the late entry of French challenger Orient Express, are likely to be training in Barcelona during the looming European summer and will make the short hop down the Spanish coast to race each other for the first time.
All racing will be broadcast free-to-air through a dedicated America’s Cup television production with the regatta offering the first glimpse of what can be expected for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cups which will also be raced in the one-design AC40 class.
America’s Cup Event CEO and Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton said the development was a reflection of the Catalonia region’s commitment to the America’s Cup.
America’s Cup
Vilanova i la Geltru’s coast will come alive with America’s Cup action in September.
“Once we settled on Barcelona to host the America’s Cup, the regional government saw the value of what they’d done and were keen to expand on that,” Dalton told Stuff.
“Vilanova i la Geltru is a fantastic venue, and logistically it is great to be so close to Barcelona. The boats will be able to be towed there, and the regatta will be the first showcase of these boats and teams sailing in anger.
“Racing will be just metres from the port entrance and prime viewing places will be offered from the La Daurada alongside huge public areas for a great fan village. The magnificent facilities of Pendennis Vilanova and Vilanova Grand Marina will serve as the technical area which will host the team bases.”
A second preliminary regatta is in the pipeline for October with Luna Rossa’s home port of Cagliari in Sardinia keen to host it.
Dalton said there was a real willingness for this to happen but added bureaucratic hurdles still needed to be overcome. A backup option was available.
America’s Cup
Swiss syndicate Alinghi have been the first to sail the new AC40 in Barcelona.
That regatta would also be sailed in the AC40s which Dalton said had been received enthusiastically by the Cup teams that had already received them.
A third preliminary regatta would be held in Barcelona next year before the challenger series. That event would be sailed in the full-scale AC75 boats which are about to begin their building phase.
Dalton said Team New Zealand’s base in Barcelona was on track to house the champion syndicate in July when they would move north and begin a concentrated sailing block, eager to get accustomed to the tricky local conditions.
Team New Zealand have been busy training and testing in two AC40s in Auckland. But their preparations will step up with the expected relaunch of their 2021 Cup-winning boat Te Rehutai in Auckland next week.
It has been reconfigured over recent weeks and is expected to feature cyclor pods and a twin-helming set-up.
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