This Thursday in Barcelona, the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta gets underway with far more questions ahead of the competition than answers. This is the third Preliminary Regatta on the journey to the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup but is the first to be sailed in the latest generation AC75 yachts, and the final preparation ahead of the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup on the 29th August.
It’s a very simple fact that no team wants a bad, morale-sapping regatta at this stage but with the racing not counting towards points in the Louis Vuitton Cup, there could well be a number of different strategies at play and variances of approach team by team. Everyone will be eyeing the competition with interest with a focus on performance in specific wind ranges. The Performance Analysts and coaching teams will be working overtime to analyse every aspect of the competition’s yachts and tactics and for sure, the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta will start to reveal profiles and nuances un-seen before.
What we do know is that relative speeds are incredibly close across the fleet. At this stage there is simply no front-runner across all the conditions, and every team is more than capable of beating the others. The starts are key and the ability to sail a clean, powered-on race with great tactical and meteorological execution will, undoubtedly, produce results.
As spectators we are in for a delectable hors d’oeuvres before the main course. The ‘Primer Plato’ ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and we start with a mouth-watering day of competition on Thursday 22nd August.
First up is a fascinating opening encounter between Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Orient Express Racing Team where the well-drilled Swiss will be looking for success against a French team that clearly has a very fast boat – particularly upwind. Skipper of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Arnaud Psarofaghis and his co-helm Maxime Bachelin will be looking to use the high manoeuvrability of BoatOne whilst the French will be eyeing outright speed profile. This will be a close call but the form book from training would suggest a Swiss win.
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