Prada Cup wind limits reduced and time-out restored for Challenger Final
by Prada Cup Media 10 Feb 22:04 NZDT
10 February 2021
Prada Cup - January 30, 2021 - Auckland - 36th America's Cup © Richard Gladwell / Sail-World.com
The Challenger of Record and the Defender, in consultation with the Regatta Director, have decided to amend the Race conditions for the Prada Cup Final and the 36th America’s Cup Match as follows:
Upper Wind Limit
After reviewing the performance of the yachts and the variations between the yachts’ wind measurement data and that of Race Management due to differing measurement heights, it has been decided to leave the current upper wind limit at 21 knots for the Prada Cup Final and the Match and not increase it to 23 knots as originally specified in the Race Conditions.
The lower wind limit of 6.5 knots remains unchanged.
The Regatta Director, after consulting with the Challenger of Record and the Defender has also changed the Sailing Instructions for the Prada Cup and the 36th America’s Cup Match as follows:
15 Minute time-out
Similar to the rule that was used in Round Robins 3 & 4 of the Prada Cup, a competitor may on one occasion ask for a delay of 15 minutes of the start of a race. Should that race be abandoned on that day or the request of delay prove that it was due to a failure of the systems independent from that competitor’s responsibility, the “15 minutes card” will be reinstated and may be used again by the relevant competitor.
This provision applies both for the Prada Cup Final (one “card” per competitor) and the 36th America’s Cup Match (one “card” per competitor).
In the final two Reserve Days of the Prada Cup Final, the “card” cannot be used in the last 60 minutes available for a start.
SW: presumably as no race can be started after 1800hrs this rule means that a "card" cannot be used after 1700hrs. The decision to reduce the upper wind limit is not particularly surprising as the upper limit has not been triggered in any of the racing to date. Note that all wind measurements are taken on a rolling boxcar average over a 30seconds period between the 9th and 4th minutes before the scheduled start time.