The long journey to the conquest of the 37th America’s Cup, whose final phases are scheduled for the fall of 2024 in Barcelona, begins on September 14, 2023, with the first preliminary races. The battleground is the waters off Vilanova i La Geltrú, Spain, near Barcelona. Armare Ropes is the Official Supplier of Emirates Team New Zealand, the winner of the last two editions of the America’s Cup in 2017 and 2021.
Vilanova i la Geltrú – © Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup
The first preliminary regatta of the 37th America’s Cup will take place in Vilanova i La Geltrú, Spain, from September 14 to 17, 2023, followed by a second event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from November 29 to December 2, 2023. Barcelona will host the third and final preliminary race in August 2024.
The first two regattas will be raced in strict one-design AC40s – the world’s newest and most exciting foiling class, with top speeds touching 50 knots. Looking forward to 2024, we will see the final preliminary regatta in Barcelona, where all the America’s Cup teams will race in their new AC75s for the first time.
Preliminary Regatta of the 37th America’s Cup
Vilanova i La Geltrú will host the first Preliminary Regatta of the 37th America’s Cup from the 14th to the 17th of September 2023. There will be present the Defender of the America’s Cup Emirates Team New Zealand and the five Challenger teams: Ineos Britannia, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, NYYC American Magic, and Orient Express Racing Team.
Racing will occur on Friday 15th, Saturday 16th, and Sunday 17th September 2023, from 15:30 to 17:30. They will be streamed online on the official America’s Cup website, YouTube and TV.
The boats: AC40 and AC75
For the first two Preliminary Regattas in 2023, racing will be conducted in the team’s AC40 in a very strict one-design set-up. Boat, controls, sails, foils and mechanisms will all be standardised, so the emphasis is on race-craft, positioning and foiling technique. The third and last preliminary 2024 regattas will be raced on the new AC75s, a step on from what we saw in Auckland in 2021. The foils will be larger, the boats will be lighter, and the electronics and software systems aboard will be vastly upgraded.
Learn more about the collaboration between Armare Ropes and Emirates Team New Zealand.