Cup Experience

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America’s Cup Stars on 100 Footers in 2014 Sydney Hobart Race

 

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WILD OATS XI IN THE 2013 RACE. CANTING KEEL VISIBLE UNDER WATER. IMAGE: CARLO BORLENGHI

 

America’s Cup stars will be will be fighting for line honors in the 2014 Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day, December 26, 2014 on board the 100 footers.

Wild Oats XI

Seven times line honors winner Wild Oats XI is once again the favorite. Wild Oats XI is owned by Bob Oatley, of former America’s Cup Challenger of Record, Hamilton Island Yacht Club. On board will be Iain Murray, recently named Regatta Director for the 2017 America’s Cup and formerly head of Team Australia. Oracle Team USA designer and former Alinghi navigator Juan Vila will plot the course as navigator on board Wild Oats XI. Wild Oats XI has been continuously modified since her first season in 2005 when she took the “treble” – line honors, course record and overall winner on corrected time. Wild Oats XI has so many appendages she is called the “Swiss Army Knife” – see the photo of her “Dynamic Stability System” horizontal foil that provides lift and extra righting moment.

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DYNAMIC STABILTY SYSTEM FOIL ADDS RIGHTING MOMENT WHEN EXTENDED ON THE LEEWARD SIDE. IMAGE: INFINITI YACHTS

 

Commanche

Netscape founder Jim Clark and his australian wife Kristy Hinze Clark built Commanche for speed – to take line honors every time they race and to set course records when the weather is nasty enough. This will be Commanche’s first big race and she is filled with America’s Cup talent: LiveLine developer Stan Honey will navigate. Mainsail trim magician Warwick Fleury, another TNZ, Alinghi and OTUSA veteran will be joined by Artemis Racing mainsail wizard Sean Clarkson. Another Artemis alumnus, Julian Cressant is also on board. OTUSA skipper Jimmy Spithill has postponed elbow surgery to join the Commanche crew. Volvo Ocean Race veteran and America’s Cup helmsman turned TV commentator Ken Read is skipper and overall manager of Commanche.

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COMMANCHE FULLY POWERED UP WITH ONE REEF IN THE MAIN.                         PHOTO: ONNE VAN DER WAL

 

Perpetual Loyal

Perhaps the sentimental favorite (if there is any sentimentality in grand prix offshore racing) is Anthony Bell’s 2011 line honors winner, “Perpetual Loyal,” with OTUSA’s strategist and sailing team manager Tom Slingsby as primary helmsman. Tom is forgoing his (hefty) fee, donating it to Bell’s Loyal Foundation which supplies hospital equipment for new-borns and infants. A 100 foot offshore racer is a long way from the Laser in which Slingsby won Olympic gold and five world championships. Launched as “Speedboat” in 2008, “Perpetual Loyal” is famous for dramatically losing her keel in the 2011 Fastnet, when she was called “Rambler.”

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PERPETUAL LOYAL                                   PHOTO: CROSBIE LORIMER

 

Rio 100

Owner Manouch Moshayedi lives in southern California and has his eyes set on the the “Barn Door Trophy” that goes to the Transpac line honors winner, so to qualify for the Barn Door, Rio 100 has none of the tricks of the the other 100 footers – no canting keel, no water ballast, no powered winches. She does have two times America’s Cup winning navigator Peter Isler on board, though. Unfortunately, the weather forecast looks unlikely to provide the light conditions that would suit Rio 100.

 

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Top Formula 1 Designer Adrian Newey to Work with Ben Ainslie Racing

 

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ADRIAN NEWEY’S 2014 CAR FOR RED BULL RACING.                                       PHOTO: MARK THOMPSON – GETTY IMAGES

 

The practice of America’s Cup teams consulting with F1 designers continues as Adrian Newey and the Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) group agreed to work with Ben Ainslie Racing on their AC62 design.

In 1997, when Newey was head designer at McLaren, he let people know he thought their work on an F1 simulator was useless. By 2014 all F1 teams, including Red Bull, relied on simulators since the rules severely limited testing time on the track. Of course, computer graphics improved somewhat, too. America’s Cup teams cannot launch their AC62 catamarans before September 2016, and they will have only 150 calendar days before racing begins. Newey and RBAT will help BAR with advanced simulation and mathematical modelling.

Newey has been frustrated with ever tightening rules in F1 making the cars increasingly “one design.” The New Yorker quoted him as saying, “Racing cars are very messy vehicles. If it weren’t for the regulations, you certainly wouldn’t design them the way they are.”  Presumably he will have a bit more fun working on AC62 design.

 

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Ben Ainslie Racing Launches Sailor in Foiling Pitchpole

America's Cup BAR one of the sailors taking flight when they pitchpoled

A BAR SAILOR GOT AIRBORNE WHEN THE NACRA 20 PITCHPOLED. IMAGE: BAR VIDEO

The spectacular ending of this video shows Ben Ainslie Racing launching one of their sailors while training in a Nacra 20 foiling catamaran. All the America’s Cup teams are training in small foiling boats – the Moth and catamarans including the A-Class, Flying Phantom, GC32 and the Nacra 20. Experience gained on these smaller boats will help the teams prepare for fleet racing in foiling AC45’s in the America’s Cup World Series, beginning in June 2015. All of the teams say this small boat foiling experience will help them while waiting to launch their AC62 catamaran in September 2016.

 

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Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas at America’s Cup Press Conference

America's Cup CATHERINE ZETA JONES AND MICHAEL DOUGLAS

RUSSELL COUTTS CHAT WITH CATHERINE ZETA JONES AND MICHAEL DOUGLAS. PHOTO: ISAIL MEDIA

Bermuda residents Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones attended the December 2, 2014 America’s Cup press conference. Douglas shared his enthusiasm when Bermuda was announced as the venue for the 2017 America’s Cup.

Video courtesy of The Daily Mail.

During the press conference, Bermuda Premier Michael Dunkley told the audience that Douglas and Zeta Jones would soon break ground on a major hotel project. Douglas’s mother’s family owns the Ariel Sands resort, which has been closed since 2007 pending renovation. More info here.

 

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More America’s Cup Details from Press Conference

 

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ON STAGE AT AMERICA’S CUP PRESS CONFERENCE: JIMMY SPITHILL – ORACLE TEAM USA, NATHAN OUTTERIDGE – ARTEMIS RACING, FRANCK CAMMAS – TEAM FRANCE, KEVIN SHOEBRIDGE – EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND, BEN AINSLIE – BEN AINSLIE RACING, HARVEY SHILLER – ACEA, TUCKER THOMPSON – HOST.

 

In addition to the official confirmation of Bermuda as the venue for the 2017 America’s Cup, we also learned that…

  • The America’s Cup Match will be sailed in June 2017.
  • Emirates Team New Zealand submitted a proposal to run a major event. Could it be the round robin America’s Cup Qualifiers in AC62 catamarans in January 2017?
  • Team France hopes to announce their major sponsor soon. Note that the Paris Boat Show begins this Saturday, December 6, 2014 – a logical place to make the announcement.
  • Chicago will host an America’s Cup World Series in 2016.
  • The Regatta Director has been selected. An announcement will come soon.
  • Two more challengers may be announced in the coming weeks.
  • Red Bull will once again sponsor the Youth America’s Cup, which will be sailed in foiling AC45 catamarans.
  • The Competitors Forum (all challengers and the defender) meet regularly. Team France will host the next meeting.
  • ACEA expects to announce major sponsors and TV deals in the “next few weeks.”

Watch the full press conference here.