Elaine Bunting and Andy Rice look back at the end of the practice racing for the America's Cup teams and discuss what that might tell us about their form and prospects in a few weeks' time
Less than three weeks are left until the start of the Louis Vuitton qualifiers and playoffs and for the six teams in the America’s Cup the prospect of real battle is nerve-wrackingly close. Practice racing is over, and with that an opportunity to square up to rivals. Development work is still going on, but the end of the runway is in sight.
Racing for the challenger spot begins on 26 May. If what we have seen so far in practice racing is anything to go by, Oracle Team USA are looking strong, as is Emirates Team New Zealand and Artemis Racing, but what of the other teams, such as Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR?
Should fans be concerned about their performance so far, or conclude that they are concentrating on final upgrades and developments.
Elaine Bunting and Andy Rice discuss all these points in this podcast, and look at what exactly teams are trying to achieve with the different boards and foils they are using – and why last-minute tweaks and changes to these, and the boatbuilding might to do so, could be key right up to the last races.