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Since capsizing their T2 test boat on 11 December we have no news about how the repairs are going and when the boat will be back on the water. Damage to the wing was quite extensive. On the day of the accident, the team reported, “The wind range was between 15 – 19 knots, the boat was sailing at a slow speed when an issue with the wing inversion initiated a capsize to windward. No other vessels were involved.”
Artemis launched their second development AC45X in San Francisco at the end of January. The boat has since been shipped to Bermuda where the team will begin two boat testing. Artemis calls their test boats “Turbos” – T1 and T2. With the arrival of T2, there will soon be five development AC45X boats on the Great Sound in Bermuda – two each from Oracle and Artemis and one from Team Japan.
Artemis should soon be fully operational from their base at Morgan’s Point.
ETNZ has been sailing the AC45X boat they acquired from Luna Rossa. This boat has a mostly standard AC45 platform. Wheel steering has replaced the tiller. The photo shows a white structure where the center spine meets the main crossbeam. This probably houses hydraulics for wing and board control. Notice also the raised track for the self-tacking jib. To my eye, the beam looks wider than the standard one design AC45 – as if the standard tubular crossbeams had be replaced by longer ones. There are no cockpits and no grinding pedestals. We can be sure there are electrically powered hydraulics – for daggerboard and wing control. ETNZ has said they will launch a more highly modified AC45X test boat, possibly in March.
ETNZ does not list their sailing team roster but skipper and wing trimmer Glenn Ashby and tactician Ray Davies from the 2013 campaign are still with the team. Peter Burling has been helming. Burling’s crew in the 49er, Blair Tuke has also been aboard their AC45F in the AC World Series, where they top the leaderboard. The fifth member of the AC45F crew is Guy Endean. Endean, Tuke and Burling all sailed together and won the 2013 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in San Francisco.
After some two boat testing in Bermuda in late 2015 Oracle sold their first test boat to SoftBank Team Japan. In the first week of February the two teams sailed together in training. Oracle hopes to launch a third test boat in the week of February 8, weather permitting. That will again give them two boats for testing. Their sailing team is up to 14 members – two full crews plus two spares. While one boat testing, they rotate crew when they switch off the electrical power for the hydraulic pumps. In this video, sailing team manager Tom Slingsby explains that the grinders struggle to provide enough hydraulic pressure to get around the race course.
This week’s issue focuses on team updates – team rosters, AC Class yacht development and ACWS campaigns. On the Cup Experience website, you can always get a team overviews and updates here.
We’ll start with what’s happening for all of the teams in Bermuda – here’s a draft of team base locations in the America’s Cup Village at Dockyard. Oracle and SoftBank Team Japan are operating from the bases shown here. Artemis operates from their main base at Morgan’s Point; the base shown here will be used when racing starts in May 2017. Land Rover BAR, Groupama Team France and Emirates Team New Zealand are all operating from bases in their respective countries. They will no doubt be in the bases at Dockyard in early 2017, to launch their race boats and to prepare for the racing in May and June. The landfill for the Public Event Village is nearing completion now. Download this diagram as well as the racing calendars on the America’s Cup Guide page, here.
Download this 1 page overview of the America’s Cup Schedule here.