New Zealand, Italy Ready for Race One
Months of mystery will end Saturday when Team New Zealand takes on Italian challenger Prada in the first race of a historic 30th America’s Cup match.
Prada’s defeat of Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne in the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers’ final two weeks ago ensured no American boat would contest the Cup for the first time in its 149-year history.
No European boat has won the America’s Cup.
Team New Zealand in turn is seeking to become the first successful non-American Cup defender after it beat Young America off San Diego in 1995 to join 1983 winner Australia II as the only other foreign boat to claim the Cup.
Prada’s superior boat technology and crew skills saw the Italians survive a grueling challengers’ series which began against 10 opponents from six other countries back in October.
Yet the two syndicates know little of each other. Cayard acknowledged that Prada had “set the bar” for other challengers but the Italians have yet to test themselves against the New Zealanders, who set high standards of their own in a one-sided 1995 Cup.
“On the one hand we know very little about them, but on the other hand, they know very little about us,” Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts said.
“It adds to the intrigue of it and we’ll all know in a few days how things are shaping up.”
Weather will influence the outcome of the best-of-nine series in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, with Prada thought to have a small advantage in lighter conditions and New Zealand expected to do well in heavier weather.
Very light southerly winds of about 10 knots were forecast for the scheduled start of the the first race Saturday.
Race director Harold Bennett said there were no upper or lower wind limits for races, although safety concerns would be paramount in heavy conditions. Races would also not start if the wind was too light or too unstable.
The high quality of both syndicates means tactics will play an important part, with pre-start maneuvering likely to be critical as each boat seeks to gain an early advantage.