Christmas Race: America's Cup: The Kraken-Foilers fly - Live spectacle

The 36th America's Cup casts its shadow, or rather lights, ahead. This weekend, Cup enthusiasts will be able to enjoy real races in the new, futuristic cuppers for the first time (videos of training as a taster at the end of this article).

From Thursday 17 December to Sunday 20 December, the three challengers, Luna Rossa (Italy), American Magic (USA) and Ineos Team UK (Great Britain), will sail against the defending Cup holders Team New Zealand.

This is the first time that all four teams will meet. Two more pre-regattas were actually planned for this year, off Sardinia and Portsmouth, but these had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus. This sailing weekend is a combination of the last pre-regatta and the Christmas Race.

The races are actually about nothing and yet so much. The actual Cup only begins on 15 January with the Prada Cup, the elimination rounds for the three challengers, and culminates in the challenger versus defender match on 6 March.

The Christmas Race is therefore the first and, until the Prada Cup, only chance for the challengers to determine their position and also the only opportunity for all of them to sail against the defender. Due to the very tight time window until the Prada Cup, it can also be assumed that all three challengers, apart from the defender, will be competing with their best equipment.

It will therefore not just be a show event, but a real endurance test for all teams and therefore a sailing spectacle for the spectators.

The races start at 3.00 pm off Auckland on all days, with four races scheduled on each of the first three days. The semi-finals and the final will follow on Sunday. All races will be broadcast live free of charge and are available on the Cup website , on Youtube and Facebook to track. No extra app is required for mobile devices. Replays will be made available on these channels immediately after the end of each race.

This is particularly important for all those who don't want to pull an all-nighter. New Zealand is twelve hours ahead of Germany, so the races start at 3.00 a.m. here, the first one on Thursday at 3.00 a.m.

According to the current wind forecast, we can expect medium winds of between 10 and 14 knots on Thursday, which should decrease over the rest of the day. So we should see some fast-paced foil action at the start, and towards the end it will be exciting to see which team gets their boat on the foils first in the light winds.

The most important facts about the new race format

• TheWind limit is between 6.5 and 21 knots
• TheTime limit for the first cross is 12 minutes, for a race 45 minutes
• Started is organised as for normal regattasAgainst the wind. There are likely to be exciting pre-start phases when the Temas try to get each other off the foils or inflict a penalty on their opponents
• Both opponents emergefrom opposite sides and from windward behind the starting line. The boat coming from the left and with wind from port, which has no right of way, has a head start of 10 seconds to avoid collisions.
• TheAnnouncement signal takes place three minutes before the start. Until this time, theBoats towed in if there is not enough wind to get onto the foils (similar to the Moths). Then it's all about not falling off the foils in the pre-start phase.
• ThePreparation signal 2 minutes before the start. From this time onwards, the start box, the pre-start side, may be used. Each yacht must enter this box no later than1 minute before the startbe immersed. This means that no team can avoid a pre-start match.
• When a yachtcapsizes and the crew can right the boat without assistance, the team may continue sailing.
• If a team violates a rule, it receives aStop penalty. If it is on the same bow as the opponent, it must fall 50 metres behind the opponent; if it is on a different bow, it must stop until it has lost 50 metres.
• Railway tokens may be touched that does not trigger a penalty
• TheSpace at lane markersotherwise defined as a two-boat-length circle, is 70 metres, to theTrack limitswhich must not be crossed, 90 metres.
• TheRace track is approximately 1.7 nautical miles long and between 0.5 and 0.8 nautical miles wide. Sailing beyond the limits triggers a stopping penalty (see above).
• There will be a Windward-Lee course sailed.
• In both windward and leeward directionsGatessailed from two marks. Which of these is rounded is optional.
• If a boat causes aEarly startit must brake until it has fallen behind its opponent.
• TheRace duration is 25 to 27 minutes
• How manyRounds The time to be sailed depends on the chosen race course and the conditions. The course will be set at 10.00 a.m. on each day.

Foretaste: Pictures from training on 14 December