The third and final day of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will feature two final fleet races and a one-on-one, one race, match-race final on Sunday.
The top two boats with the greatest number of points after the fleet racing in this high-scoring regatta, will contest the single match-race final.
The good news is that there will be a full fleet of eight AC40 racing Sunday, with the return of the British senior team GB1, the hydraulic system problems apparently fixed.
Iain Murray, Race Director is expecting around 12-15 knots so the teams will be faced with difficult jib selection. Yesterday, all the teams went through all three of their jib codes, (J1, J2 to J3 – big to smallest) and they are expecting potentially the same again today.
It’s going to be all about boat handling and wind pressure spotting on the water.
Note that the winning boat overall in the fleet racing will have the option as to which end of the starting line they would like to approach from in the match-race final. This could be a critical decision as in match-racing, if a boat comes into the starting box from the port (left) side, they do so at 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
The starboard hand entry comes in at 2 minutes but with the right of way, being on starboard gybe. Depending on the wind strength, the teams may well have differing strategies depending on the number of manoeuvres they wish to perform, so it will be interesting to see which end of the line the winning boat selects.
Racing gets underway at 14:10 BST, with race 7 and the second (final) fleet race of the day at 14:46 BST. The match-race Final is scheduled to start at 15:27 BST – all times subject to change. The winner will take home the title of the Preliminary Regatta Sardinia.
Post race reports will be posted here as soon as possible after the winning boat crosses the finish line.
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