New Zealand dominant on opening day of America’s Cup preliminary regatta

ByEurosport

Published 30/11/2023 at 19:10 GMT

Team New Zealand have taken an early lead in the standings after the opening day of the America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Jeddah. New Zealand won the opening two races, but finished down in fifth in the third with Italy securing a resounding victory. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are in second with Alinghi Red Bull Racing in third. Highlights of Day 1 will be on Eurosport 2 on Friday, December 1.

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Team New Zealand were dominant on the opening day of the America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Jeddah, winning the opening two fleet races to lead the standings on Friday.

Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge put on a masterclass as they secured a early lead continued which continued to stretch.

Trimmer Andy Maloney, who was behind Burling in the starboard pod of the AC40, said: “It was light winds so the difference between a good race and a great race was pretty small.

“Good day for us with two wins and then unfortunately we had an unforced error in that last race and didn’t get a good result. We were fortunate to get two great starts in those first two races and execute well from there.”

However, the third race saw New Zealand finish down in fifth and it was won by Luna Rossa starting Olympic gold medallist Ruggero Tita and 19-year-old Marco Gradoni.

New Zealand fell off their foils downwind and dropped out of contention. Orient Express Racing Team from France took second and Alinghi Red Bull Racing from Switzerland sealed third.

Ruggero Tita, helmsman for Luna Rossa, said afterwards: “We are super happy about this last race win. Of course, it was a super-tricky race, but we managed to arrive at the end on the foils which means that we did a really good job. The first two races were not so good, we did some mistakes, but we kept on pushing and were able to gain some positions so happy about the day.

“To be honest we know that it’s going to be two more hard days, but we will try to push hard to do our best…Jimmy (Spithill) told us that ‘everything is possible’ but we stay low profile and try to do our best day by day and race by race.”

Team New Zealand hold a four-point lead over Luna Rossa heading into the final two days in Saudi Arabia.

American Magic are bottom on one point after two disqualifications for repeated infringements.

Highlights of Day 1 will be aired on Eurosport 2 on Friday, December 1.

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1

1. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) – 22 points

2. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA) – 18 points

3. Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI) – 15 points

4. INEOS Britannia (GBR) – 15 points

5. Orient Express Racing Team (FRA) – 11 points

6. NYYC American Magic (USA) – 1 point

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