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Auckland (dpa / lno) - The American Magic team surprisingly dominated the start of the Prada Christmas regatta in Auckland in New Zealand.
The team of the Cup record winner New York Yacht Club won their duels in the run-up to the America's Cup against the British Ineos Team UK with the four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie and against the favored Cup defenders from New Zealand.
After the first of four days of racing, the Americans lead 2-0 victories ahead of the "Kiwis" (1: 1), the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team (1: 1) and the British (0: 2) who were initially lame.
Ineos Team UK had to grapple with technical problems with its 23 meter long, futuristic prototype of the new AC75 class.
"Britannia" was only able to finish the first duel against the Americans with difficulty and five minutes behind the finish line.
The second match against the Italians had to give up Ainslie's men.
«We had problems with the foil system the whole day.
We believe it can be repaired.
This is the America's Cup, a technical development sport.
That's part of the challenge. "
The Prada Christmas race marks the first meeting of the three challengers and the defenders in the 36th America's Cup cycle after the cancellation of all other pre-regattas due to the corona pandemic.
The challenger round begins on January 15, the 36th cup duel on March 6, 2021.