New York Yacht Club American Magic declared the winners of the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltru.
After completing three races on the final day, making a total of five fleet races, the top 2, NYYC American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand qualified for the Final matchrace.
After on attempted start both teams failed to get onto the foils, and eventually the race was abandoned.
With no prospect of any improvement in the wind conditions NYYC American Magic was declared the overall winner by one point from Emirates Team New Zealand.
The concluding day was effectively an arm wrestle over the first three races between Emirates Team New Zealand and NYYC American Magic
But there were some superb performances, most notably from the Orient Express Racing Team who, after just 15 days of sailing the AC40, finished in third much to the delight of their supporters and sponsors.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli had an almost ‘private battle’ over the first two races but a gear failure for the Swiss ahead of the start of Race 3 denied the fans the spectacle in race three.
The only disappointing team were INEOS Britannia who found that their lack of time in the boat came back to haunt them – Ben Ainslie will be looking to address this ahead of the next regatta in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the end of November.
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