Well, what a day out at Waitemata Harbour for today's Prada Cup races in Auckland where the Sir Ben Ainslie (British sailing's equivalent of rugby union's Owen Farrell (England), soccer's Harry Kane (England), motor racing's Sir Lewis Hamilton (F1, who is now a 7 time Formula 1 world champion along with last years F2 champion Mick's father Michael Schumacher) & cricket's Joe Root (England)/Ben Stokes (England) led INEOS Team UK were able to overcome the disaster of the America's Cup World Series last month (They were winless going into the Prada Cup) to win 2 straight races (They mean real business as they are here to make a statement & they now scored 2 points in the bag after winning both races & are trying to end 170 years of hurt) against the Terry Hutchinson led American Magic (Featuring New Zealander Dean Barker at the helm) first then the challenger of record Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Featuring Australian Jimmy Spithill (Australian yachting's answer to Michael Hooper (Rugby union)/Reece Hodge (Rugby union), Mathew Ryan (Soccer), Will Power (Motor racing (Indycar)/Daniel Riccardo (Motor racing (F1) & Steve Smith (Cricket)/David Warner (Cricket) at the helm along with Francesco Bruni (Italian sailing's equivalent of soccer's Giorgio Chellini/Ciro Immobile, motor racing's Antonio Giovinazzi (F1) & rugby union's Marco Riccioni) to end day 1 of the 2021 Prada Cup.
And finally tomorrows race schedule for day 2 consists of American Magic taking on both Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli first then the big improvers of INEOS Team UK on the last race of the day, mate wa (That means farewell in te reo Maori).
So that is my 384th blog of the year 2021 (MMXXI) & my 4th of this year.
P.S. And there has been an update yesterday in day 2 of the Prada Cup as American Magic fell both races to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Who were finally on the board after losing against the Brits & they were leading during the race against the Americans (Who had been penalized for failing to enter through the pre-start gate) but American Magic took over the lead when there was no wind but the Italians handed the lead back when there was breeze but after Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli won, the Americans didn't finish & had to withdraw because they were timed out (They exceeded the 5 minute time limit when a boat fails to finish beyond the time) & INEOS Team UK (Who went 3 from 3 (And during the race they slowed down when there was no wind but they managed to speed it up again when they found some breeze again but after the Brits had won, American Magic finished 4 minutes & 59 seconds behind because they managed to cross the line with only 1 second to spare) but have yet to lose a race this Prada Cup campaign) but they put their winning run on the line against the Italians today in the 1st race of the day with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are in action not once but twice when they face both the Brits then the Americans who'll have a shot at redemption on the last scheduled race of the day) but there has been an update on day 3 of the 2021 Prada Cup as INEOS Team UK stay unbeaten by winning 4 in a row (They got pinged before the start then managed to catch up & during the race they took the lead until the race had been abandoned due to a dramatic upwind before the race had been rescheduled in which the Brits won) against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli then the drama happened as American Magic (Who were on the verge of something special) lost its marbles when they capsized in dramatic fashion (Thankfully nobody was hurt during the capsize) which proved to be the game changer/turning point of the race therefore handing victory to the Italians (Who had a wretched day after losing against INEOS Team UK & appeared to be down & out after getting penalized for sailing over the boundary line during the race until the Americans capsized & had their boat damaged but thankfully Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have been awarded the race win after a 2nd DNF (Did not finish) taken from American Magic).
And finally I'm a fan of both Highlanders & Otago players (And Aramoho School & Fielding Boys High old boys) Vilimoni Koroi & Jona Nareki (Whom I met for the 1st time at Monaghan's barbershop when I had my hair trimmed last month but Pops took that picture of me & Jona (Pops asked him about it but Jona agreed when Pops was going to the toilet where he saw Jona, Jona's friend, Jona's partner & Jona's young son) & managed to post it on Facebook) despite the fact that I'm a Hurricanes supporter (I was originally both a Blues & Highlanders fan (But I supported the wrong teams in fact) until that I had just found out that my hometown of Whanganui is part of the Hurricanes region (I didn't know about it at all) so I've been backing the Hurricanes ever since) in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
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