America's Cup: one month to go to the final Preliminary Regatta

The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup is now just one month away from exploding into life with the start of the third and final Preliminary Regatta, starting on Thursday 22nd August 2024 and running through to Sunday 25th August where the talking stops, for a few days at least, and it’s down to business as the AC75s go head-to-head for the very first time.

All the hours of training, the work in the simulators, the designer’s theories and the sailor’s skills and prowess will be tested to an extent. No-one wants a bad regatta, and despite the fact that the Preliminary Regatta points do not count towards progression or elimination, everyone will be eyeing everyone else to define the pecking order ahead of the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup on the 29th August where there is simply no hiding place.  

As America’s Cup fans are we finally going to get answers to our questions: Who is fast, and in what conditions? Who can manoeuvre best in the starting box? What will the top speeds be? Who has the racecraft and skills to deliver their platform to the winning line?

Right now, as it stands today, nobody knows, and everyone is guessing. Will we see sand-bagging with teams holding back technology (and outright speed) to spring a surprise when it really matters – and will we, as spectators, be able to recognise it? These are the questions on everyone’s lips and the hopes of fans from New Zealand, Great Britain, Switzerland, Italy, America and France hang on the foils and the spills and thrills of the most fascinating Preliminary Regatta in the 173-year history of the America’s Cup.

What we know for sure is that every team will be operating at their highest level at this given point of their campaign, all eager to take scalps and speed test relentlessly. There is little time to make dramatic improvements but enough time to work on the finest of details. The format will be one-on-one match racing with defined, boundary courses and rounding gates where the side of course can be selected. Conditions may well play into the overall standings with many of the boats having a sweet spot defined by the design teams whilst others are angled as all-weather AC75s, able to be moded at will. It’s a fascinating design conundrum and even the most experienced America’s Cup commentators, those who have watched the boats and the training day-in, day-out for years make it too close to call.

Kevin Shoebridge, Chief Operating Officer of Emirates Team New Zealand and one of the most experienced campaigners in America’s Cup history – this is his tenth Cup – gave his assessment saying: “From what we have seen so far- all teams look strong. We will be looking at all of the teams closely as they all have some interesting design aspects. It is far too early to make assessments one way or another because all teams will be focused on their own programs. So, we will wait and see but, obviously, as the intensity and progress of the event increases our specific focus will become a lot more narrowed! We’ll be looking to take as much as possible from across the board in the Preliminary Regatta - racing practice, performance analysis on ourselves and relative to our competitors, and really for all teams I am sure it will be a very clear look at where teams are sitting relative to each other.”

For Quentin Delapierre, skipper of Orient Express Racing Team, there’s a very clear focus on who they will be monitoring at the Preliminary Regatta and into the Louis Vuitton Cup: “The team we will be looking at will be, for sure, the Emirates Team New Zealand because we have nearly the same design package. I believe that if we close the gap between boat handling and straight-line speed, it will be really nice for our performance so we will inspire the team and improve our technique and our boat handling.I am keen to see our performance compared to Alinghi Red Bull Racing and NYYC American Magic. As I look in Barcelona, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli is probably the toughest challenger at the moment, and they look pretty steady and fast on the water. We will wait and see.”

Silvio Arrivabene, co-General Manager of Alinghi Red Bull Racing is looking forward to lining up with all the competitors of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup saying: “We can’t wait. It’s been three and a half years since the AC75s last sailed and we’re pretty confident, Barcelona has been a great training venue for us.” The Swiss are very much looking at the fine details now and, “a comparison against the competition and feedback for some final adjustments. Probably most of the development will be on the sailing side, but certainly the class is far from being fully exploited yet,” Silvio added.Terry Hutchinson, Skipper and President of Sailing Operations at NYYC American Magic is eyeing the Preliminary Regatta as a learning experience, saying: “It will be good to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Patriot against the fleet.  Learning what mode to sail off the line and how to use Patriot’s speed.”

Terry is acutely aware that everyone is dangerous at this stage of the competition saying: “All teams are our competitor.  Each team has clever thinking and so we will look to see what we can learn and how we can improve from the fleet not just one team. There is a lot of development for every team between now and the start of the Preliminary Regatta.  The true test for all the teams is to be learning as much as they can between now and the start of this test event.”

Whatever the outcome in the Preliminary Regatta, for sure the summer season of racing in Barcelona will start to reveal some answers. Although with a month still to go before racing starts, that's a long time in the America's Cup world and plenty can happen.  

It promises to be a thrilling long weekend of racing from the 22-25th August, with spectators able to revel in the atmosphere at the free-entry Port Vell Race Village, ahead of the white-hot Louis Vuitton Cup and then the way-too-close-to-call Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match. What a summer of racing we have in store. Barcelona is ready to welcome the world.