United States challenger American Magic won both of its races on the opening day of sailing's America's Cup World Series on Thursday, ending with a thrilling match-race win over Cup defender Team New Zealand in Auckland. American Magic's Patriot looked strong in both of its races Thursday, most importantly in a classic match race with Team New Zealand in the last race of the day. One of the major points of interest in Thursday's racing was to see whether in these extremely fast, high-tech yachts the basic principles of match racing still apply. It was match racing in every sense but at a heightened level. The America's Cup World Series does not count towards the America's Cup regatta which begins with the challenger series in January and February, followed by the Cup match between the defender and top challenger in March.

Source: The Standard December 17, 2020 05:37 UTC