Cup countdown

Over the next few weeks, all eyes will be on Auckland as the four teams for the 36th America’s Cup will – finally – assemble in the Cup venue

After cancelled World Series events (Cagliari, Sardinia, and Portsmouth, UK) so far denied the four America’s Cup teams the chance of any warm-up, boats and equipment were hastily rerouted and attention directed towards to New Zealand and 2021 instead. Not even the Kiwis were immune to pandemic disruptions, with their AC75 stuck on a needless voyage by ship to Italy and back. Now, with the sole remaining World Series event just three months away and the Prada Cup beginning beyond that, there’s no time to lose. We can certainly expect an exciting few weeks in store out on Waitemata Bay and the Hauraki Gulf.

Auckland action

The only boat so far to join the Defenders on their home waters in Auckland is American Magic’s first generation AC75. Having leftthe team’s training base in Pensacola, Florida on 28 May, Defiant arrived by ship at the end of June and the Americans wasted no time in getting afloat. Naturally, they haven’t been able to resist a couple of informal line-ups against the Kiwi Defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand's Te Aihe, giving us a tantalising picture of the competition to come.

However, these are unlikely to be the actual boats used in competition. With each team permitted to build two AC75s, the Americans' second boat was due to be flown from their construction base in Rhode Island by early September.

INEOS Team UK and Challenger of Record Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are taking a different approach. They are yet to arrive in Auckland, having so far remained in Europe to maximise training time.