Sailing Instructions for the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Naples included key changes from the first Preliminary Regatta in Sardinia.
One of the big changes is to the delay card system. In Sardinia, teams could request a single 5-minute delay ahead of the fleet races if they suffered any technical breakdown or issue onboard . . . But for Naples this option has been deleted.
The only time that a team can request a 5-minute delay is ahead of the final match that the top two boats compete in after a fleet race series of eight races. Chief Umpire Richard Slater said the change was to align with the broadcast window and spectator expectations more fully.
The official practice period will run from the 9 to 15 September when teams are permitted to line up against each other under the supervision of the Regatta Director. Whilst from 22 to 24 Sept there will be three days of official practice racing with Race Management on the water and the Umpires in their booth.
Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Naples competitive racing days are 25 to 27 Sept.
That means that the Race Management will run racing for teams wishing to take part in an ‘as live’ environment to thoroughly test all the software, broadcast and procedural aspects of the regatta.
The Sailing Instructions for Naples PR2 also confirmed that races will have a maximum time limit of 25 minutes, with all boats finishing within 5 minutes of the winning boat. In lighter airs, the time limit to the first mark remains at 7 minutes.
Racing will be conducted within the same weather window as defined for the AC40 class with the lower end of the True Wind Speed as measured over a 2-minute time period by the Race Management on the water being 7.5 knots and a 21-knot upper limit.
The Race Director also has the option to cancel racing if the sea state is unsuitable for foiling.
The courses are again defined as windward/leeward ‘gated’ courses that provide ‘optionality’ at both the top and bottom of the course. For Naples there are options for a short or longer course depending on the wind strength, and all races will be finished on a downwind leg. For a race to be scored, two legs must be completed.
The fleet racing will be a high-scoring series with 10 points for the winner of each race and cascading by one point incrementally down the nine-boat fleet with the ninth boat scoring 2 points as stated in the ‘Racing Rules of Sailing – America’s Cup Version 5’ published on the Official Noticeboard.
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