The weather appears to be under pressure in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), headquarters of the first preliminary regatta of the America’s Cup of Sailing, which will take place in Barcelona in 2024. It rained when it shouldn’t have rained and the wind died down when it was supposed to. The start of the top sailing competition ended this Sunday with a collective feeling of frustration. What could go wrong did go wrong: The lack of wind has forced the organization to cancel this Sunday’s expected final, two days after it had to cancel Friday’s opening day due to a thunderstorm. American Magic (USA) emerged victorious by achieving the highest score in the weekend’s five tests.
The American team and Team New Zealand (New Zealand), the first two in the qualifying rounds that gave access to the final regatta, were at the start, but the lack of wind was so obvious that the boats barely moved across the water. The image of boat crews barely able to start the march did not fit the spectacle that fans and organizers had expected. A few minutes after the start, organizers asked teams to return to the start line to restart in a more favorable scenario. The forecasts were not favorable and finally the Vilanova regatta ended with an “I want and I can’t”: When there were still three minutes left before 5:30 p.m., the scheduled time for the continuation of the race, the last message came: “There isn’t enough wind to finish the race.” Final Match Race. The regatta is over.”
A year before the start of the America’s Cup in Barcelona, this first pre-regatta was the first opportunity to see the six participants compete against each other: Team New Zealand (the current champion, known as Defender because it defends the throne), Ineos Britannia (Great Britain, The Challenger), Luna Rossa (Italy), Alinghi (Switzerland), American Magic (USA) and Orient Express (France). The teams will compete again between November 29th and December 3rd in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and in August 2024 in Barcelona. The outcome of these competitions will not affect the composition of the 2024 Copa del América, but may determine who is the favorite next year and who has the most work ahead of them.
Before the failed final, the two planned qualification regattas took place this Sunday in addition to the three on Saturday. Since the three scheduled races were suspended on Friday, the competition will be decided by the result of the five regattas held. American Magic scored 34 points to Team New Zealand’s 33. Orient Express, which came last and had a smaller budget, came third ahead of Luna Rossa, Alinghi and Ineos Britannia, leaving Vilanova feeling bad.
Vilanova’s disappointment comes on top of the La Vuelta fiasco in Barcelona: cyclists arrived on the first stage almost in darkness because the city’s street lights couldn’t be turned on in the middle of the storm.
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