Prada Cup: Friday racing dropped in compressed racing schedule

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Round Robin 2 - Hauraki Gulf - January 17, 2021 - Auckland - 36th America's Cup © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com / nz

Following New York Yacht Club's team American Magic informing the Regatta Director that they will not be racing in Round Robins 3 and 4 of the Prada Cup this weekend, the racing schedule has been revised as follows:

Saturday 23rd of January 2021:
Luna Rossa Prada Prada Pirelli vs INEOS Team UK – Start at 16:00 NZT

Sunday 24th of January 2021:
INEOS Team UK vs Luna Rossa Prada Prada Pirelli – Start at 16:00 NZT

In order to comply with the formality of the Regulations, after finishing the above races both competitors will have to take the start of a “ghost race” vs New York Yacht Club American Magic to allow the Regatta Director to award the point to the relevant team. The “ghost race” will then be suspended just a few minutes after the start. The rule of 25 minutes between the two starts will not apply to these “ghost races”.

Should INEOS Team UK win the Saturday race, the Sunday race result will be redundant as INEOS Team UK would be the first classified team of the Round Robins and, as such, will go directly through to the Prada Cup Final. In that event the two teams will have the choice whether or not to race on Sunday.

The leaderboard effect of the announcement is that if INEOS Team UK win one of their two races against Luna Rossa, then they will progress to the Challenger Final.

Luna Rossa have to win both their races against INEOS Team UK. If they do so, then they become the first Finalist, as both boats will be tied on four points, and under Appendix 3 of the Yacht Racing Rules, a tie will be broken in favour of the winner of the last race between the two yachts.

The requirement to at least start a race when there is a multi-race withdrawal is standard practice under the Yacht Racing Rules, as a yacht must at least participate in a race to be awarded points for that race.