2021 Prada Cup Explained

2021 Prada Challenger's Trophy
Type:	challenge race for 2021 America's Cup
Dates:	January 15 to February 21, 2021
Countries:	-->
Boats:	American Magic Ineos Team UK Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Host City:	Auckland, New Zealand
Winner:	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Previous:	2017 Louis Vuitton Challenger's Trophy
Next:	2024 Louis Vuitton Cup

The 2021 Prada Challenger's Trophy was a sailing competition held to determine the challenger in the 2021 America's Cup who would challenge Emirates Team New Zealand. The races were held from January 15 to February 21, 2021^[1] in Auckland, New Zealand and were preceded by the 2019–20 America's Cup World Series.^[2] Veteran sailor Iain Murray served again as race director. The team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat Ineos Team UK 7-1 in the final moving onto the 2021 America's Cup.

Teams

Three teams that competed for the title of challenger against defender Team New Zealand in the 2021 America's Cup.^[3]

Country	Team	Helmsman
		Dean Barker
		Ben Ainslie
	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	James Spithill Francesco Bruni

Rules

Boats

The Cup is sailed in AC75s, 75 foot foiling monohulls.^[4] The boats are expected to have requirements around the boats being "constructed in country".^[5] Teams are allowed to build two boats each.^[6]

Nationality

Twenty percent of sailors in each team must have passports from that country. The rest must meet a residency requirement: they must reside in that team's country for 380 days from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2020.^[7]

Competition format

The Prada Cup uses a quadruple Round-robin tournament to determine a seeding. The second and third seeds after all twelve races then compete in a seven-race series in order to advance to a 13-race final series against the first seed from the round robin. The winner of this final series will become the challenger for the 2021 America's Cup against defender Team New Zealand.

Round Robin

The triple round-robin series was held on the 15th till the 23rd of January. The UK was undefeated and therefore qualified directly for the final. America lost twice to each of the other competitors, and then in their fourth race the American team capsized and caused significant damage to the boat — forcing their withdrawal from the remaining races in the round-robin while they undertook repairs. Italy, having lost all their races against UK but won all the races against the US, came second. This forced the US and Italy to the semif-final knockout series, and the right to challenge the UK again in the final.

	Team	W	L
1		6	0
2	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	3	3
3		0	6

Round Robin 1 (January 15–16)

Race	Date!	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time		Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Finish
1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi0WDpe-zI8	January 15	+1' 20" (1,296 m)	American Magic		23'13"		C	6	-0' 01"	-0' 11"	-0' 18"	-0' 22"	-0' 52"	-1' 08"	-1' 20"
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qNSeBUiK0M		24'44"	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	+0' 28" (431 m)		C	6	-0' 03"	-0' 14"	-0' 22"	-0' 23"	-0' 22"	-0' 13"	-0' 28"
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYOlRFKy4iI	January 16	38'54"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	American Magic	DNF (3,341 m)		C	4	-0' 28"	-7' 38"	-1' 00"	-6' 03"	~	~	5' 00"

Notes:

• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli filed an official Claim of Non-Compliance (‘CNC’) against Ineos Team UK for use of a mainsail during Race 1 and Race 2 with an intentional opening in the skin in order to run an outhaul line through the opening, then covering up the hole with fabric so no air can pass through. The race committee inspected the mainsail and determined that the feature is an intentional opening through the sail skin that is not covered or closed whilst racing, but "determined that this non-compliance with the AC75 Class Rule has not (or could not reasonably be expected to have) improved the performance of the yacht or has not (or could not reasonably be expected to have) had a significant effect on the outcome of a race." Ineos Team UK was fined US$5,000, to be paid to the Sir Peter Blake Trust.^[8]
• Race 3 was shortened from six legs to four mid-race because of light winds.

Round Robin 2 (January 16–17)

Race	Date	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time		Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Finish
1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taYyLqy0e_A	January 16	42'44"			+4' 59" (2,865 m)		C	4	-0' 43"	-1' 49"	-8' 47"	-8' 40"	~	~	-4' 59"
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOV8AX2Qu_I	January 17	+0' 18" (228 m)	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	27'35"		A	6	-0' 00"	-0' 10"	-0' 07"	-0' 00"	-0' 26"	-0' 12"	-0' 18"
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO_vEu2sjqU		DNF (Capsized)	American Magic	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	22' 24"		A	6	-0' 03"	-0' 06"	-0' 13"	-0' 27"	-0' 42"	-1' 02"	Awarded

Notes:

• Race 2 was abandoned after 4 legs due to a wind shift causing the course to not have a defined upwind and downwind leg. The course was re-set and orientated more towards the west, with the race being re-run from the beginning.^[9]
• American Magic capsized while rounding Gate 5 when a gust of wind caught the sails causing the leeward running backstay to not release and preventing the mainsail from being eased. No crew were reported injured but the incident caused a large hole in the hull of the boat and for a time it was at significant risk of sinking. Per race rules, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli was awarded the victory.^[10]

Round Robin 3 (January 22–23)

Race	Date	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time		Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Finish
1	January 23	Awarded			DNS (Withdrawn)		C	6	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_3FcPXhGts		+0' 33" (200 m)	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	24'33"		C	6	-0' 00"	-0' 02"	-0' 09"	-0' 19"	-0' 10"	-0' 01"	-0' 33"
3	January 23	DNS (Withdrawn)		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Awarded		C	6	~	~	~	~	~	~	~

Notes:

• American Magic announced they would not compete in Round robins 3 and 4 following the damage sustained to their boat Patriot during the capsize in their round robin 2 race. In accordance with the rules, "ghost races" would be held. Those which were to have featured the teams would still take part on time and, given the American team failed to reach the starting gate, the race would then be awarded to the competitor by default.^{[11] [12]}
• Race 2 was set for January 22, but due to American Magic withdrawing from Round Robins 3 and 4, the race was moved to January 23.^[13]

Round Robin 4 (January 23–24)

Race	Date	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time		Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Finish
1	Cancelled	~	American Magic		~		Cancelled
2	Cancelled	~		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	~
3		~	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	American Magic	~

Notes

• Since Ineos Team UK has already qualified for the finals, the final races were agreed to not be held after discussions between Ineos Team UK and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. No points are awarded for these races.^[14]

Semi-final

The semi-finals were held from 29 January to 2 February 2021. The second and third-placed team from the round-robin competed in a best-of-seven series to determine who would sail in the final against the UK. As the higher seed, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli chose to have Starboard gate position as their preferred starting mark. They would win the series 4-0, making the USA the first challenger team to be knocked out of the competition.

Race	Date	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time	<	-- Blank -->	Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Gate 6	Gate 7	Finish
1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5uSCSa509o	January 29	+2' 43" (+3,044 m)	style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	style="text-align: left;" bgcolor="#BBF3BB"		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	26'42"	C	8	-0'10"	-0'18"	-0'22"	-0'33"	-0'33"	-0'58"	-2'25"	-2'33"	-2'43"
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERKg_SXXQNc		bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	26'57"	style="text-align: left;"bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli		style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	+3' 07" (+3,206 m)	C	8	-0'07"	-0'17"	-0'22"	-0'25"	-0'37"	-1'06"	-1'53"	-1'43"	-3'07"
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugT_WgPAAAk	January 30	bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	26’08”	style="text-align: left;"bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli		style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	+0'34" (+549 m)	A	6	-0'00"	-0'13"	-0'22"	-0'41"	-0'20"	-0'41"	~	~	-0'34"
4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBKhqb1zPU		+3'51" (+3,478 m)	style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	style="text-align: left;"bgcolor="#BBF3BB"		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	bgcolor="#BBF3BB"	23’30”	A	6	-0'03"	-0'45"	-2'01"	-2'42"	-2'36"	-3'51"	~	~	-3'51"
5	Cancelled	~	style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	style="text-align: left;"		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	~	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli wins Series 4-0
6		~	style="text-align: left;"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	style="text-align: left;"		American Magic	~
7	Cancelled	~	style="text-align: left;"	American Magic	style="text-align: left;"		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	~

Notes

• American Magic set a new AC75 speed record of 53.3 knots during race 1, nevertheless Luna Rossa won both first-day races.^[15]
• During race 4, American Magic suffered mechanical failure, with the boat's starboard cant arm becoming temporarily stuck in the raised position several times, resulting in significant loss of time and penalties from boundary infringement.^{[16] [17]}

Finals

The Prada Cup final determined the Challenger that will face the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2021 America's Cup, was raced from 13 to 21 February 2021 in a best-of-13 series.^[18] As the higher seed, Ineos Team UK chose to have Starboard gate position as their preferred starting mark. Coming into the finals, both teams were undefeated in the immediately proceeding series (the semi-finals for Italy, and the round-robins for the UK). Italy would eventually continue this streak by winning the first 5 of the finals races, and eventually the whole series 7-1.^[19]

Races won!Team / Race number!1!2!3!4!5!6!7!8!9!10!11!12!13!Total

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

~

~

~

~

~

7

Ineos Team UK

●

~

~

~

~

~

1

Race	Date	Time	Port Entry	Starboard Entry	Time	<	-- Blank -->	Course	Legs	Start	Gate 1	Gate 2	Gate 3	Gate 4	Gate 5	Finish
1 https://youtube.com/watch?v=yt8FA245Azs	February 13	26' 27"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	+1' 51" (+1,635 m)		A	6	-0'54"	-1'20"	-1'36"	-1'54"	-1'57"	-2'03"	-1'51"
2 https://youtube.com/watch?v=UfGzDhqkGGw		+0' 26" (+479m)	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	21' 44"		A	6	-0'00"	-0'11"	-0'17"	-0'19"	-0'18"	-0'26"	-0'26"
3 https://youtube.com/watch?v=wxYCcU1iBxA	February 14	+0' 13" (+186 m)	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	25' 40"		E	6	-0'08"	-0'09"	-0'06"	-0'18"	-0'11"	-0'10"	-0'13"
4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=-fO7YV4qw-k		25'01"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	+0' 41" (+781m)		E	6	-0'05"	-0'12"	-0'10"	-0'21"	-0'22"	-0'37"	-0'41"
5 https://youtube.com/watch?v=kgcJ8tzhp7g	February 20	28' 19"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	+1'20" (+1,150 m)		E	6	-0'00"	-0'15"	-0'20"	-0'58"	-1'01"	-1'19"	-1'20"
6 https://youtube.com/watch?v=fvt26Ujxs20		26' 20"	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	+0' 14" (+162 m)		E	6	-0'01"	-0'08"	-0'21"	-0'18"	-0'32"	-0'09"	-0'14"
7 https://youtube.com/watch?v=Pmgg9i41OtE	February 21	+1' 45" (1,335 m)	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	31' 53"		A	6	-0'00"	-0'16"	-0'21"	-1'07"	-1'02"	-1'45"	-1'45"
8 https://youtube.com/watch?v=aeId5IjBftw		30' 05"	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	+0' 56" (+730 m)		A	6	-0'00"	-0'12"	-0'12"	-0'34"	-0'36"	-0'53"	-0'56"
9	Cancelled	~	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	~		Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli wins Series 7-1
10		~	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	~
11	Cancelled	~	Ineos Team UK	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	~
12		~	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	~
13	Cancelled	~	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli	Ineos Team UK	~

Notes

• On February 14, after the conclusion of raceday 2 and with the score at 4-0 towards Italy, the New Zealand government announced that there would be in a "level 3" lockdown for at least 72 hours due to COVID-19 precautions across Auckland. This caused the postponement of raceday 3 (originally scheduled to be held on February 17)^{[20] [21]} although teams were permitted to sail during the lockdown.^[22]
• Following disagreements between the challenger of record (Luna Rossa) and the America's Cup authorities about how and when to proceed,^[23] racing was agreed to resume on February 20 with raceday 3, with some restrictions to accommodate COVID19 Alert Level 2, and subsequent racedays shifted along the calendar by consequence.^{[24] [25]}
• In race 8 Luna Rossa was penalised for crossing the starting line early and were required to drop 50m behind Ineos Team UK. Having served their penalty the Italian team retook the lead within the first leg of what became the final race of the series.^[19]

See also

• Prada Cup
• 2021 America's Cup
• 2019–20 America's Cup World Series
• Italy at the America's Cup

External links

• • America's Cup Advanced dashboard of race statistics

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Prada Cup. 19 December 2020. Americas Cup.
2. Web site: America's Cup, ad Auckland la prima regata va a New Zealand, poi Luna Rossa si rifà. repubblica.it. it. 17 December 2020. 17 December 2020.
3. Web site: Luna Rossa è tornata in acqua per vincere. Dal 15 al 22 gennaio, sempre ad Auckland, si svolgerà la Prada Cup, la competizione un tempo conosciuta come Louis Vuitton Cup in cui Luna Rossa, American Magic e Ineos si contenderanno il diritto di andare a sfidare i neozelandesi tra il 6 e il 21 marzo nella vera e propria America’s Cup.. ilpost.it. it. 17 December 2020. 19 December 2020.
4. News: Sailing: Monohulls confirmed for next America's Cup . . 12 September 2017.
5. News: Team New Zealand confirm they will strengthen nationality component for next America's Cup . . 19 July 2017.
6. Web site: Team NZ promise new America's Cup boat will be 'the future of monohull sailing'. Stuff. 2 October 2017 .
7. Web site: Recap: America's Cup 2021 rules reveal. Stuff. 28 September 2017 .
8. Web site: AC36 Jury Case 01 . Americas Cup.
9. Web site: The Prada Cup . Americas Cup . 17 January 2021.
10. Web site: The Prada Cup . Americas Cup . 17 January 2021.
11. Web site: 2021-01-20. America's Cup 'ghost races' to be held. 2021-01-22. RNZ. en-nz.
12. Web site: INEOS TEAM UK jump to the PRADA CUP Final . Americas Cup . 23 January 2021.
13. Web site: PRADA CUP – ROUND ROBINS 3 AND 4 REVISED SCHEDULE . Americas Cup . 20 January 2021.
14. Web site: America's Cup 2021: Final Prada Cup round robin race cancelled after Ineos Team UK's win over Luna Rossa . New Zealand Herald . 23 January 2021.
15. Web site: Prada Cup - Semi-finals Day 1 Luna Rossa goes up 2-0. 2021-02-11. www.sail-world.com.
16. Web site: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli go through to the Prada Cup Final. 2021-02-11. www.sail-world.com.
17. Web site: Prada Cup: Italy eliminates USA >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. January 30, 2021. Scuttlebutt Sailing News.
18. Web site: Prada-Christmas-Race-Race-Info . Americas Cup.
19. Web site: 2021-02-21. Prada Cup Final Day 4: Luna Rossa Crowned and Moves onto the America's Cup. 2021-02-22. Live Sail Die. en-NZ.
20. Web site: America's Cup 2021: Prada Cup final postponed due to Auckland Covid-19 lockdown. 2021-02-14. NZ Herald. en-NZ.
21. Web site: America's Cup goes into three day COVID lockdown - no racing Wednesday.. 2021-02-14. www.sail-world.com.
22. Web site: 2021-02-15. America's Cup: Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK permitted to train during Covid-19 lockdown. 2021-02-16. Stuff. en.
23. Web site: Challenger of Record America's Cup 36 Organizer of the Prada Cup Calls For Resuming Racing As Soon As Possible. live. 2021-02-18. www.americascup.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20210217072148/https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1083_CHALLENGER-OF-RECORD-AMERICA-S-CUP-36-ORGANIZER-OF-THE-PRADA-CUP-CALLS-FOR-RESUMING-RACING-AS-SOON-AS-POSSIBLE . 2021-02-17 .
24. Web site: Prada Cup Final Resumes on Saturday 20/02 at 4:00PM NZT. live. 2021-02-18. www.americascup.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20210218034851/https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1086_PRADA-CUP-FINAL-RESUMES-ON-SATURDAY-20-02-AT-4-00PM-NZT . 2021-02-18 .
25. Web site: America's Cup: Prada Cup final to resume this weekend as war of words turns nasty. 2021-02-18. Stuff. 17 February 2021 . en.