Regatta: America's Cup: Qualifying starts. Live!

The Christmas Race in mid-December had given an impression of what the America's Cup that is now beginning has to offer: thrilling duels, exciting pre-start phases, technically extremely demanding sailing - but also huge differences in the teams' performance, sometimes crazy races in light winds, in which the answer to the question of who gets on the foils first and makes the boat fly was the sole deciding factor for victory.

The elimination of the challengers will now begin on Thursday night. This means that the Italian team Luna Rossa, the American team Magic and the British team Ineos will sail against each other several times. Firstly this weekend, the so-called Round Robin 1 and 2, i.e. each team sailing twice against each other. There will be two more rounds the following weekend. After that, the losers will sail against each other again, with the better of the two sailing against the winner of the round robin. The winner of this final qualifying round will then compete against the New Zealanders.

The most exciting thing in these first two rounds, which run until Sunday, will be the progress the three challengers have made in the three weeks since the Christmas Race. The British in particular have shown clear disadvantages in manoeuvres and in the low wind range.

Two races are planned for the first day. The opening race will be contested by Ineos Team UK and American Magic, after which Ineos will face Luna Rossa once again.

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.

The free-to-air Austrian TV channel Servus TV broadcasts the races live in the programme and on stream.

Foretaste: The best scenes of the Christmas Race

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 opponent
• 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 This 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 and distance 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: The best scenes from the Christmas Race