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From the 
Sailing New Archives:

Sailing Daily 129:
America One and
Prada make boat
declaration

June 1999: 
Polpharma aka
Explorer attempts
MIA/NY record

30th America's Cup Match 

Yesterday saw the first official occurrence of the 30th Match for the America's Cup.  It was declaration day and the team chose the boats they will sail.

For the Prada Challenge it will be ITA 45 the boat they have sailed in all but the 3rd round robin.  ITA 45's record is 31 wins and 8 losses.

Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

Team New Zealand will defend in NZL 60.  Similar to most of this years boats, NZL 60 will sport an innovative rig. The new rig type developed by Team New Zealand is named the Millennium rig.  It sports 3 sets of spreaders and diagonal stays in an X pattern.  The stays pass through the mast.  Benefits are: less windage and greater strength.

While the boats are known the rules for the match are not yet fully determined.  At issue are two changes Team New Zealand wants instituted.  These involve how 270° penalties are handled and the issue of onboard umpires.  

For the America's Cup match Team New Zealand wants penalties to be done immediately.  They feel this way fouls will not be committed so lightly as you have no choice as to when the turn is performed.  They also want umpire/observers on board to help in judging of the event.  The Cup Arbitration panel will likely make the decision on whether these changes are seen during the Cup.

While these rules issues are decided the next official event will occur.  This will be the unveiling of the boat's underbodies.  Both ITA 45 and NZL 60 have been shown off before.  It will be curious to see if any noticeable changes have occurred.  After the unveiling the teams will have 3 days off before racing Friday @ 1900 eastern time which will be Saturday afternoon in New Zealand.

On the Discovery Route

From Cadiz Spain it's 3885  mile to the  finish for the course  the Island of San  Salvador. This is the same route that Columbus took on his way to the new world. 

The current record was set by Polpharma-Warta when her name  was Jet Services V and sailed at a length of 74 feet. The time is  12 days 12 hours 30 minutes and 17 seconds.

Polpharma-Warta need not break this record to qualify for the race, but  she must sail  to within 25% of the record time or 15 days 15 hours 37' 51. A  passage within the window will make Polpharma-Warta the first boat  to officially qualify for The Race. 

At 0811 GMT on Sunday February 13th Polpharama-Warta left Cadiz.  The first day at sea saw easterly winds as the cat headed south west to a waypoint at the Canary Islands.  Skipper Roman Paszke is well aware of his teams dual goals, "Our main objective is to qualify for The Race. But we would also like to beat Serge’s record."  

Polpharma looks to be in an area of favorable winds.  20 knots winds should help her get south where winds of up to force 7 await. 

Sailing Daily will continue to track the sailing of the Discover Route.