Prada Cup 2021: Taking the next step

The official competition to select the Challenger to face Team New Zealand in the America's Cup match has reached its knockout stage as Luna Rossa take on American Magic in the Prada Cup semifinal.

Details: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/live-2021-prada-cup-live-americas-cup-challenger-selection-series-tickets-138858600813

With the round robins done and dusted, the two remaining challengers face off in a best of seven (first to four wins) race to determine who will take on Ineos Team UK, who booked their place in the Prada Cup final by being the top team in the round robins.

The losing semifinalist will see their America's Cup dream end.

The main story coming into the semis will be the state of American Magic's AC75, which underwent severe repairs after its dramatic capsize in the first week of Prada Cup racing.

The Americans will be a relatively unknown prospect, having only a few days of practice time after re-launching Patriot 2.0 on Wednesday.

Terry Hutchinson's crew were the top challenger in the World Series event in December and were the only team to beat the defenders Team NZ.

However, it was a different story in the Prada Cup round robins where American Magic were winless, including two losses to Luna Rossa - suffering a capsize in the second race to put them out of the water for nine days.

The Americans will be hopeful of regaining the speed they saw right before their capsize, where they were one leg away from a win before tragedy struck.

AC75 Class
If the AC75 Class is to remain, then I argue it needs to become a near one-design, allowing for some small modest design innovations. This will reduce costs significantly, allow more combined purchasing of expensive components, and most importantly, will democratise access to technology so that a new comers will have a chance of footing it with the established teams. It will also remove the need for the costs of a large design team.

Certainly, the yachts will need to be built “in country” to satisfy the Deed requirements, but this can be limited to the hull shell and not need to extend to other components.

The twin skin mainsail has been a nice solution to deal with the sometimes near unmanageable wings, but we need to be rid of pointless “grinding” simply to provide power – it’s not sailing but a gym workout. Put in a battery and pump and save on the employment costs. Let’s get the sailors out of their trenches so we can better see them.

12th Man
A way needs to be found to allow the team owners to be part of the team if they wish to do so. Find a way to make a 12th man position – not as a passenger – but as a fully-fledged member of the crew. Give those writing the checks a chance to play in the sport in a way they can never do so any other sport – the AC can make it happen making it a unique sporting opportunity. Bring back the Vanderbilts, Sopwiths, Kochs, Bichs, Bertarellis and the like.

Expenditure Limits
Perhaps a good idea, but it should start with a healthy upper limit combined with an annual audit from an international accounting firm. If you are found to breach the limit, do you lose the AC you have won it? I can see plenty of work for lawyers in this which is not a great start to a new rule proposal.

Team Size Limits
Another possible cost saving, but how do we count who is on the team? Sailors and shore crew might be easy to count, but what about contractors building components, giving advice such as an accountant or lawyer, the yacht club representatives helping out, or volunteers?

Pre-regattas, World Series, Acts at other venues
These are just too expensive, never generate a surplus, and are a drain on the cost to compete. Dump them in favor of a quicker Cup cycle. Require the teams to be at the venue earlier and hold a warm up regatta(s) at the venue. A better return for a selected venue.

Number of Races
Do we really need more races in the Match or the Challenger Finals? 1983 and 2013 aside, it seemed pretty clear that a first to win 4 or 5 races was more than enough. Why incur the extra cost?

Governance
The commercial aspects of both the Challenger Series and the Match need to be combined once again. This was key to the financial success of 2007 when, for the only time in Cup history, did all teams receive a dividend based on their performance. The splitting them again in 2021 has not been a success. It should be left to experienced professional international event management, with all the Teams having some kind of representation at board level. If the Deed creates a trust in the Cup – the any income derived from it is a trust asset.

Nationality
By all means keep this as an element of the Cup with a foreign sailor allowance, but allow new countries to come with a more generous foreign sailor allowance to allow national experience to build up. Measure it simply – a passport or use nationality rules from other sports such as the Olympics.

TV & Race Management
These appear to be working very well and need little change – but I would not allow broadcasters use non-sailor commentators – local TVNZ as prime example – as our sailors flock to the YouTube coverage for more expert international commentary