Cup Spy – Day 20: Louis Vuitton Cup – Finals Day 6 – Preview
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 2 Oct 02:08 PDT
2 October 2024
American Magic Women’s AC team – PUIG Women’s America’s Cup, Official Practice. October 1, 2024 © Ian Roman / America’s Cup
Sail-World’s preview for Day 20 of the Louis Vuitton Cup – Finals Race Day 6 – October 2, 2024. A new story will launch once racing begins, featuring comprehensive coverage, reports, commentary, and images from all days.
While you wait, check out our podcast at the bottom of the page with North Sails’ Ken Read, a former America’s Cup skipper and competitor, as he poses insightful questions to Emirates Team NZ co-helmsman Nathan Outteridge, Tom Whidden, and Bruno Dubois.
Weather Forecast:
America’s Cup Weather Partner PredictWind has established a specialized Race Weather Center providing fans with detailed daily weather analyses, live webcams, and historical weather data, along with daily breakdowns created by meteorologists.
Provisional Forecast for Race Day 19:
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
The wind pattern will shift on Wednesday morning with a light Northeasterly breeze influenced by a strong Northerly gradient offshore. By midday, the wind is expected to shift right and gain speed, though some uncertainty remains in the forecast.
For the afternoon, the wind direction should be around 90-120° (East/East-Southeast), while wind speeds may vary significantly from 10 to 17 knots, with possible gusts reaching up to 23 knots.
Sea conditions are forecasted to worsen throughout the day, expecting 1.2-meter waves from the East at a 4-second interval, creating challenging foiling conditions. The sky will become fully overcast during the day, with rain anticipated in the evening or night.
Course Location:
Race Schedule – Finals Matches 9 and 10:
Final – Match 9: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) (Port Startbox Entry) vs INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: 1210 hrs UTC
Final – Match 10: INEOS Britannia (GBR) (Port Startbox Entry) vs Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) (Starboard Startbox Entry) Start: 1315 hrs UTC
While you’re waiting…
As you await race coverage, you can catch up with the latest:
INEOS Britannia’s Dock Walk, just recorded in Barcelona, features Georgie Ainslie speaking with various team members from INEOS Britannia.
Inside Tack
In the leading team-produced show of the 2024 America’s Cup, the INEOS Britannia inner circle, comprising Freddie Carr, Giles Scott, and Iain Jensen, covers key topics of the day, including race discussion, events during the day, observations on and off the water, Giles Scott’s “haircut,” Freddie Carr’s grooming of his legs post-cycling, and other pressing issues facing the British team.
North Sails Loft 57 Podcast
North Sails’ Ken Read interviews Emirates Team NZ co-helm Nathan Outteridge, a veteran Cup sailor, alongside tactician to Dennis Conner, Tom Whidden, and Orient Express Racing Team’s super-manager Bruno Dubois.
Virtual Eye
Post-racing, you can relive the highlights or the entire race using Virtual Eye from ARL. This tool is utilized in Inside Tack to illustrate various points utilizing the actual AC75s’ tracks.
You can access the Virtual Eye America’s Cup coverage by clicking here, then selecting “Watch Previous” to choose the race you want to watch. Virtual Eye offers a 3D perspective, allowing you to zoom in, out, and around, simulating a helicopter view.
Crew Lists
Format and Points:
The Finals replicate the America’s Cup format – 13 races are planned, with the first team to score 7 points declared the winner. Typically, this means the first to win seven races; however, the International Jury may impose point penalties for rule violations, both on and off the water, adjudicated by the Umpiring team.
Two races are scheduled each day. The same wind limits apply as in the earlier rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup, with a minimum of 6.5 knots and a maximum of 21 knots, measured at both the top and bottom of the course (start line) using recording devices at each gate. Four devices will be used, with readings averaged over 30-second intervals during the five minutes leading up to the start. If the wind remains within the allowed limits, the Course Director will announce via radio (heard on TV commentary) that racing will proceed.
If the race is approved, it will continue regardless of wind conditions after the go-ahead. The only limitation is that teams must complete the first leg within 12 minutes and finish the race within 45 minutes. The race committee can modify leg lengths, compass directions for the next leg, and the number of legs during the event.
Thus far, no race has exceeded 25 minutes in duration.
The race director has the authority to cancel racing (even if winds are within limits) if he believes the sea state is unsafe. He can also call off a race for safety reasons, which he nearly did during lightning strikes on Day 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. However, Emirates Team NZ’s choice to withdraw from their race by sailing past the 100-meter boundary line led to their disqualification and automatically awarded the race to Luna Rossa, preventing any potential safety-related interventions by the Race Director.