Sunday’s racing in Bermuda will have more points on offer than any other day in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series to date. After racing was abandoned today due to extremely light winds, a third race has been added to the schedule on Sunday.
All three races will have double-point scoring, meaning up to 60 points are available on what is forecast to be a Super Sunday.
Racing is scheduled to start at the same time 2:10pm. “Three 20-point races can be pretty powerful in the grand scheme of things in the series,” said SoftBank Team Japan tactician Chris Draper. “If you can smash the final day it will make a massive difference on the leaderboard.”
Weather models show the light conditions of Saturday giving way to 8-12 knots of wind on Sunday, building stronger later in the day. On Saturday, the wind never breached the 6-knot lower limit to allow racing.
Earlier in the day, America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM) Race Director Iain Murray has announced that today’s racecourse will be located to the west of Two Rock Passage in the Great Sound.
The exact orientation and location will determined by the Race Management team between 12pm and 1pm with the first race scheduled to start at 2:10pm. Therefore, boaters are asked not to drop anchor until the racecourse has been formed and should monitor VHF Channel 72 for up-to-date information about the racecourse and races.
The Official Stakeboats that form the outer edges of the race course will be flying a RED Stakeboat Flag while the Course Marshals will be flying Green Course Marshal Flags.
Boaters are also reminded to observe the 5-knot, no wake zone which is in place for the whole of Hamilton Harbour and the area surrounding the racecourse.
“With the lighter wind conditions today it is particularly important to limit the wake of the boats,” says Ralph Richardson, Chair of the ACBDA Water Operations Committee. “It can quickly become a ‘washing machine’ out there, so boaters must respect the 5-knot, no wake policy.”
The public is advised that if there is not enough wind at 2:10pm to start racing the start time will be postponed in short increments until a race can be started or the race committee decides that racing should be cancelled for the day.
