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Key Moment for Grabbing the Bonus Points for the 2017 AC Qualifiers

With six of the nine AC World Series events completed, the teams go into Portsmouth with three teams fighting at the top of the leaderboard. One of them will end the series empty handed when it wraps up in Fukuoka, Japan in November. Emirates Team New Zealand continues to lead the series, with Land Rover BAR and Oracle Team USA tied on points.

America’s Cup competition format and scoring explained here.

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Dean Barker and his men on SoftBank Team Japan hope to build on their good showing in Chicago, where they were on the podium for the first time. Franck Cammas’s Groupama Team France won races in Oman and New York and will try to bounce back from their poor results in Chicago.

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The First America’s Cup Aerial Video

Sir Thomas Lipton came closest to winning the America’s Cup in 1920 when Shamrock IV won the first two races. In Race 1, defenderResolute retired after a halyard failed and the jaws of the mainsail gaff broke. At 15 seconds into this video you can see Resolute’s mainsail flapping. After losing the first two races, Resolute won three in a row to defend the Cup. Resolute’s win marked the sixth time a yacht designed by N.G. Herreshoff and built by Herreshoff Manufacturing defended the America’s Cup.

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The Fastest Boats? The Biggest Boats? The Best Sailors?

There’s no question that the AC Class foiling catamarans are among the fastest boats in the world. And multiple Olympic medals, world championships and America’s Cup wins attest to the skills of the sailors. But are the 49 foot long boats that will dispute the 2017 and 2019 America’s Cup really in the tradition of the event? Speed is king, so multihulls in the America’s Cup are fine, but shouldn’t the yachts be bigger?

Franck Cammas of Team France and Loïck Peyron of Artemis racing have each won races around the world and have each sailed monster multihulls to break the record for a circumnavigation. They would both be able to race the new 100 foot long “Ultime” class trimarans. About 100 meters from the christening of Team France’s AC45X test boat, Thomas Coville’s Ultime was tied up in Lorient. Four or five of these grand machines will race around the world in 2019 – a real sailing highlight!

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Christening in Lorient

I was among the large and enthusiastic crowd on hand when Groupama Team France christened their experimental AC45X at their base in Lorient on Monday. That explains why this edition of the Monday New is appearing on Tuesday!

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The Groupama Team France base is nestled between the WWII U-boat bunkers in Lorient – an incredible sight, and well worth a visit.

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L-R, Michel Desjoyeaux, Franck Cammas, four time F1 world champion Alain Prost and former Jules Verne Trophy record holder Olivier de Kersauson were on hand for the christening. Prost spoke about how the French often underestimate themselves but are capable of big achievements when they dare. UK Bookmaker Ladbroke’s currently sets the odds of Team France winning the America’s Cup at 100:1 (Being British, they give Ben Ainslie 4:1 odds.) I think the French are a long shot, but not that long!

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The aft fairing is a bit long for the test boat but will fit just fine when the hulls are replaced with AC Class compliant hulls in December. Except for the hulls, this IS the Team France race boat for 2017. The wing, crossbeams, pod, fairings, rudders, daggerboards and control systems will all be fitted to class compliant hulls later this year. With the smallest budget of six teams, Team France depends on outside-the-box thinking to be competitive. This photo also shows one very special feature on the starboard hull – can you guess its purpose?

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In order to maximize sailing days and allow sailing in rough conditions, Team France design chief Martin Fisher reduced the risk of pitchpoling by adding volume to the bows of the test boat. Design team consultant Juan Kouyoumdjian added one of his signature features – the spray rails. Neither complies with the AC Class rule but both are perfectly legal on the experimental boat.