Cup Experience

Many America's Cup fans say this is their best source of information.

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Tickets for Toulon

Grandstand seating is sold out for Saturday 10 September. Grandstand seats still available on Sunday. Some VIP hospitality tickets still available. Details here.

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Getting Ready for Toulon

America’s Cup World Series racing resumes in just over two weeks on 10-11 September in Toulon, France. With just this regatta and the one in Fukuoka, Japan in November, all the teams will be fighting for every point. The top two teams carry bonus points into the round robin Qualifiers – the match racing that begins in May 2017. And every team has something at stake: the AC World Series results will be used to break ties at the end of the Qualifiers. If two challengers finish the Qualifiers tied for fourth, their AC World Series results will determine which one is eliminated.

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We had thought that all the teams would be back at full strength after the Olympics, but that may not be the case… Reports out of Bermuda say that Oracle’s skipper Jimmy Spithill has re-injured his recently operated elbow and has returned to California for more surgery. Backup helm Tom Slingsby recently had back surgery, so the Oracle lineup for Toulon may have a different look than what we expected.

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Olympian Performances

Every America’s Cup sailor in Rio went home with a gold or silver medal!

Last week I reported that Giles Scott of Land Rover BAR – had already clinched the gold medal in the Finn class, before the medal race.

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In the 49er, Kiwis Peter Burling and Blair Tuke clinched gold with two(!) races to spare. Artemis Racing’s Australians Nathan Outteridge andIain Jensen took silver. The Kiwis and the Aussies now each have one gold and one silver in the 49er – the order was reversed in 2012 in London.

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In the Nacra 17 mixed multihull, SoftBank Team Japan’s Jason Waterhouse

of Australia took the silver medal with his cousin Lisa Darmanin as crew. Argentinian Santiago Lange, age 54, took the gold with his crew Cecilia Carranza Saroli. Lange helmed one of Artemis Racing’s AC45’s during the 2011-13 America’s Cup World Series.

Lisa Darmanin and Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin and Jason Waterhouse

Gemma Jones helmed New Zealand’s Nacra 17 to a win in the medal race with crew Jason Saunders. They finished fourth overall. Gemma is the daughter of America’s Cup Hall of Famer Murray Jones.

This photo, circa 2006 shows Gemma, about age 12, on the wheel of Alinghi's America's Cup Class yacht in Valencia. This lady clearly likes to helm. Photo courtesy Murray Jones.
This photo, circa 2006 shows Gemma, about age 12, on the wheel of Alinghi’s America’s Cup Class yacht in Valencia. This lady clearly likes to helm. Photo courtesy Murray Jones.

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Video: A Look at Oracle’s AC Class Yacht

Oracle posted an interesting video with designer Aaron Perry explaining that they can use a 3D printer to make parts straight from digital files in their CAD system. They can “print” parts in titanium, aluminum or plastic. The drawings on Aaron’s screen in the video are the AC Class yacht. You can see the joint where the bow section unbolts and the extension or “horn” on the stern for the umpire light stack, the GPS antenna and the agile TV camera. In addition, you can see that the rudder position is very different from the AC45X “sport” boat the team is testing in Bermuda.

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