The 37th America’s Cup first Preliminary Regatta, sailed in AC40 monohulls, starts in Vilanova i La Geltrú, Spain on Wednesday 13 September 2023.
The Vilanova regatta will be the first time the America’s Cup teams will be racing against each other.
Following two days of practice racing, fleet racing will start on Friday 15, completing on Sunday 17 September.
All six AC40s in One Design equipment line up for eight fleet races that will decide the top two boats to proceed to the match-race final – winner-takes-all.
Vilanova Preliminary Regatta Format
The first two days will comprise of three fleet races each day.
The third day will have two fleet races making a possible total of eight fleet races.
The top two teams from the fleet racing will progress to the winner-takes-all final match race to decide the ultimate winner of the event.
Sailweb.co.uk will carry full coverage of the Vilanova Regatta as well as YouTube coverage in most territories.
The America’s Cup races will be live-streamed across the official America’s Cup website but it is not clear what other arrangements are in place at a national level.
The second Preliminary Regatta is scheduled in Jeddah from 29 November through to the 2 December 2023.
While the first two preliminary regattas are in AC40s, the third will be held at the 37th America’s Cup venue, Barcelona, in August 2024 in full-on America’s Cup AC75 boats. The first time the teams will race each other in their 37th Cup boats.
