America's Cup: Day 1 Preview - Course E - great watching from the vineyards
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 9 Mar 2021 16:58 PST
21 February 2021
Emirates Team NZ - January 12, 2021 - Practice Racing - Waitemata Harbour - Auckland - 36th America's Cup © Richard Gladwell / Sail-World.com
The 36th Match for the America's Cup will get underway in Auckland this afternoon, off the vineyard strewn coast of Waiheke Island.
The official forecast is for North Westerly winds of 12-15kts.
Racing will be held on Course E located between the southern coast of Waiheke Island and the East Auckland mainland. The southern coast of Waiheke Island is dotted with vineyards and is a real attraction for those who enjoy fine food and superb wine.
The wind direction is unusual - it was the same direction when American Magic capsized on Day 3 of the the Round Robins of the Prada Cup - however the forecast for today does not include thunderstorms and rainsqualls.
Because of the location of the course off the lee shore of Waiheke Island to the north, expect some movement in the breeze in strength and direction.
A large spectator fleet is expected the biggest to date has been 700 boats, but that is expected to triple for the America's Cup
Racing gets underway at 1615hrs, with the second due to start at 1715hrs.
With the race courses being held away from the best viewing for shore-based spectators, there are two ways of viewing the action, other than just sitting in front of a TV or computer/phone screen
Contact the Cup Cat who have a luxury spectator vessel out on the water and close to the race course, they have space left for today and tomorrow, Sunday. click here to find out about viewing from the Cup Cat.
Or you can have the experience of a lifetime watching a race from a helicopter with Helicopter Me flying both days this weekend. Other than a few media most never get the opportunity to see America's Cup racing from the air, and the Airbus Eurocopters operated by Helicopter Me are the ideal machines with large windows, executive spec interiors and noise cancelling BOSE headsets making them perfectly comfortable for the 30-45 minute duration of this ultimate helicopter experience. A chopper is one of the few ways of keeping up with an AC75 ripping along at close to 50kts.
Of course the riding on the Cup Cat or Helicopter Me make the idea surprise/corporate reward /birthday or whatever anniversary is coming up. The recipient will never forget this experience.
America's Cup Cup fan apparel is available through the official supplier the official America's Cup store or the Emirates Team New Zealand shop. You can buy in-store, or online from New Zealand or anywhere in the world. With the 36th America's Cup Match just two weeks away be prepared to show your support for your favorite team.
Betting on the Cup
We have an interesting story from the TAB posted Friday night on how they see the odds shaping up for the various teams and outcomes. You can read it at by clicking here - it also reveals the odds history for all the teams including Emirates Team New Zealand and how these have moved around since the start of the Regatta. If you want to know the predicted outcomes - read the TAB story, and if you are prepared to pit your skill and knowledge against the bookies - then make an investment.
You can follow the TAB prices and see how they changes according to how the bookies see the Prada and America's Cups playing out. Click here to see the summary results and then follow the rest of the detailed pricing. Suffice to say the odds for Luna Rossa have been shortened after yesterday.
Final, Race 7 INEOS Team UK (GBR) vs Luna Rossa (ITA) starting at 4.00pm NZDT
Final, Race 8 Luna Rossa (ITA) vs INEOS Team UK (GBR) starting at 5.00pm NZDT
How to follow the racing:
From my Spy Guide (covering all vantage points which I have been using to follow the AC75's since September 2019) you can gauge the best sites for viewing from shore - binoculars are recommended but not necessary:
Course A: Takapuna Beach/Boating Club, or any of the beaches north to Campbells Bay. Kennedy Park just after you exit Castor Bay and before Campbells Bay offers a good cliff top view. At Kennedy Park walk back along the clifftop towards Castor Bay until the cliff foliage clears and you should get a panoramic view of the race.
Devonport Wharf - easy parking but no real views past North Head: Course C
Torpedo Wharf - good parking, good views and a shed to shelter in - but you can't see up the Rangitoto Channel - Course C
North Head - lower is better - Course C
Takapuna Grammar - Course B and C
Eastern Beach - just look on Google maps - Course E
Musick Point - look on the street views of Google maps there is a road through the Golf Course - with a car park at the top, park there and walk through to your right, there is a clearing there opening right up onto Tamaki Strait and Waiheke. Should take 40 minutes in light fast traffic. - Course E
Live spectator location and Course Diagram for Semi-Finals - Day 1
You can track your live location in relation to the spectator perimeter two ways:
The America's Cup website: americascup.com/en/spectators-perimeter
The Predict Wind App or website: download the App
Race Course details and the spectator location finder are updated every race day at 11:00 and are Live until 18:00. Outside of these hours the location finder will not work. For this service to work please ensure the GPS location is enabled on your device.
The Auckland City Guide as as follows:
Courses A, B and C will provide great viewing for people on North Shore.
Course A - good viewing to be had from Milford and Takapuna beaches.
Course B - Cheltenham Beach, Narrow Neck Beach, Maungauika North Head
Course C - Maungauika North Head, Bastion Point, Tamaki Yacht Club and Mission Bay
Course D - Southeastern beaches will be the place to watch, with locations including Achilles Point and Glover Park
Course E - Action on this course is within sight of Maraetai and Musick Point.
Getting around during the 36th America's Cup
It will be busy, so plan ahead get there early and allow plenty of time for travel. The 36th America's Cup Village, located at the start of Hobson Wharf will be open on Race days - 9am-11pm; Non race days -10am-10pm Public holidays - 10am-9pm.
For the best transport links and for all info click here
Listen via radio - highly recommended to get the best on shore viewing experience
Radio for Prada Cup and the Match AC 36 Auckland 2021
There are two options - all with commentary by the world's leading America's Cup broadcast commentator, Peter Montgomery and two co-commentators. They are not on the water but are in a studio with all the essential feeds and are real-time (no delay or latency on AM radio)
Online with iHeartRadio (an internet App Note downloadable from the Playstore (Android) or AppStore (Apple).
This App will work anywhere in the world - but online there is a time lag of around 30 - 40 seconds.
New Zealand only, there is a in real time commentary, with terrestrial Radio.
For the Prada Cup and the Match
Online with iHeartRadio
Search for iHeartRadio then enter GOLD AM
Auckland in real time you need a Radio.
Tuned to GOLD AM 1332, previously the frequency for Radio Sport (or on Gold AM old Radio Sport round rest of NZ)
Then for the Match also NEWSTALK ZB FM 89.4 AM 1080
Television coverage in New Zealand is Live on TV1 starting at 2.00pm
On the Internet live coverage is available on Sail-World's home page www.sail-world.com.
For those who have been geo-blocked, an experienced sailing journalist will be updating regularly on Sail-World.com/nz on the progress of the racing along with comments picked up from the TV feed. Sail-World has the only sailing photo/journalist on the water, and the report will be further updated after the conclusion of the racing to provide an accurate record and independent record of the day.
Video coverage is generally is available on Youtube and search for/subscribe to America's Cup
Or from the America's Cup website www.americascup.com
Some countries may be geo-blocked due to TV rights issues. You can usually get around these by a VPN (Virtual Private Network) piece of software which will mask your location. Or download the Opera browser and view through that - which is understood to contain its own VPN.
Here is the download link - we ave used Opera only for a few days, it seems to be very good www.opera.com/features/free-vpn
The explanation for countries which are geo-blocked (mainly USA) is as follows:
On NBC Sports, the schedule is as follows (no extra paid subscription needed):
6 days of PRADA Cup live
10 days are same day delay
1 day is next day delayed
The first two days of the Match will be live
The next two days will be same day delay - delayed by an hour for scheduling reasons
The final three days are TBD
Generally, the delayed broadcasts are because of wider scheduling issues with other sports events.
NBC Sports carries the ACTV 'World Feed' and the schedule gets stronger as the competition progresses- including Friday night 9pm Live on NBC Sports on both of the next two weekends.
With regard to NBC Gold (paid extra)- every race is live (World Feed) as well as multi feeds.
*Note we have no control of what they charge for the NBC Gold
With regard to YouTube in the US:
All highlights are available as soon as produced and posted each day.
However the full live racing is delayed by 48 hours.
Basically Live racing and highlights coverage is available on americascup.com in all markets where YouTube operates, except for those covered by the NBC arrangement outlined above. And I am purposely not going into detail on broadcast territories because every other territory the digital streaming rights are separated and available to all LIVE no matter what broadcaster is showing it.
Press Conferences: Live streamed on YouTube without restriction anywhere. These start about an hour after the completion of racing.