The America’s Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy in the world. It is a yacht race that was founded in 1851 and takes place between teams representing their yacht clubs. The current defender of the America’s Cup is the New York Yacht Club’s team American Magic.
The challenger series is a competition held before the America’s Cup to determine which foreign yacht club will be the official challenger that races against the defender. The 36th America’s Cup challenger series took place in January–February 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 2021 challenger series was composed of three round robins, a Christmas race, and then the Prada Cup final. The Prada Cup determined that the Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli would be the official challenger to race against defender American Magic in the 36th America’s Cup match.
Prada Cup Challenger Series
The 2021 Prada Cup challenger series for the 36th America’s Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand in January-February 2021. It determined which foreign yacht club would become the official challenger.
There were three teams in the Prada Cup:
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (Italy)
- INEOS Team UK (United Kingdom)
- American Magic (United States)
The format consisted of three double round robins followed by a final between the top two teams.
Round Robins
In the round robins, each team raced against each other team twice. This meant that there were a total of 12 races in the first round robin stage.
The results of the three round robins were:
| Team | Round Robin 1 | Round Robin 2 | Round Robin 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli | 4 wins | 6 wins | 6 wins |
| INEOS Team UK | 2 wins | 4 wins | 4 wins |
| American Magic | 2 wins | 2 wins | 2 wins |
This shows that Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team won the most races in each round robin stage.
Christmas Race
There was also a special one-off “Christmas race” held on December 20, 2020 between Luna Rossa and American Magic. Luna Rossa won this race.
Prada Cup Final
The top two teams with the most wins from the round robins advanced to the Prada Cup final. This was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team and INEOS Team UK.
Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK raced against each other in a first-to-seven-wins final from February 13-22, 2021. The racing took place in Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour.
The results of the Prada Cup final races were:
| Race | Winner |
|---|---|
| Race 1 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| Race 2 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| Race 3 | INEOS Team UK |
| Race 4 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| Race 5 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| Race 6 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| Race 7 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli reached 7 wins first, with a final score of 7-1 over INEOS Team UK. This meant that Luna Rossa won the Prada Cup and became the official challenger for the 36th America’s Cup match.
36th America’s Cup Match
The 36th America’s Cup match was raced in March 2021 in Auckland. It was between defender American Magic and challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
The America’s Cup protocol stated that the first team to score 7 match points would win the America’s Cup. Since Luna Rossa had already won the Prada Cup, they began with a 0-1 match point deficit.
The racing format was first to seven wins, so there could have been up to 13 races. However, the match ended after 10 races due to one team reaching 7 wins.
The results of each race in the 36th America’s Cup were:
| Race # | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 2 | American Magic |
| 3 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 4 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 5 | American Magic |
| 6 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 7 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 8 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 9 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
| 10 | Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli |
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won the 36th America’s Cup, defeating American Magic 7-3 in 10 races. Therefore, there were a total of 10 races in the final match of the 36th America’s Cup.
Conclusion
In summary, the challenger series to determine the official America’s Cup challenger consisted of 3 round robins, a Christmas race, and the Prada Cup final between Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK. The Prada Cup final had 7 races.
The actual 36th America’s Cup match was between defender American Magic and challenger Luna Rossa. American Magic had to win 7 match points, while starting with a 0-1 deficit. The racing was first to 7 wins, and Luna Rossa defeated American Magic 7-3 in 10 races.
Therefore, the total number of races in the 36th America’s Cup final match was 10 races between American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
