Many America's Cup fans say this is their best source of information.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge raced each other on America’s Cup Class yachts during their tour of New Zealand in April 2014.
The Duchess won both races, helming, with Dean Barker giving her advice. Prince William manned a grinding pedestal on board with Grant Dalton.
San Francisco was the obvious leading candidate but Russell Coutts is now considering four other cities: San Diego, Honolulu, Newport and Chicago. The latest rumors say that Chicago is currently the leading candidate. The decision has been pushed out to “summer.” Assuming there is an America’s Cup World Series in 2015 and 2016, Coutts hopes that each team will organize an ACWS event in their own country.
Ah, there’s the rub. The Protocol defines both commercial terms and competition. Russell Coutts leads the negotiations for the defender and Iain Murray represents the challengers, as head of the challenger of record. The biggest sticking point may be the challenger selection process. Formerly called the Louis Vuitton Cup, the process in the past has been for all challengers to compete in the class of boat to be raced in the America’s Cup Match, with racing at the venue of the match. Neither the “Louis Vuitton Acts” that preceded the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia nor the America’s Cup World Series that preceded the 2013 edition in San Francisco “counted” for anything in selecting the eventual Challenger (both times ETNZ).
One idea apparently under discussion is to use the America’s Cup World Series in the challenger selection process, with only the top four teams going to the America’s Cup Match venue, racing AC62’s for the first time, in a Challenger Selection Regatta.
How would they sell this concept to sponsors? To be competitive they would have to design and build their AC62 without knowing if they would ever race it. If the Defender races in the ACWS, they can influence the selection of who they face in the America’s Cup Match.
Until the Protocol is issued, no one else can officially challenge. But we know who is likely to be racing:
Russell Coutts stays on as CEO, with Grant Simmer as General Manager. OTUSA has re-signed helmsman Jimmy Spithill, strategist Tom Slingsby and grinder Rome Kirby. They have recruited American olympic Laser sailor Andrew Campbell. In addition they have named the core of their design team, stressing that 11 of the 18 designers are American. Some of the sailing team began training in the AC45 with Team Australia in Sydney. They plan to stay until June and have more training “camps” scheduled in 2014. Apparently they have no plans to race in the Extreme Sailing Series. (Image: OTUSA Video)
Australian wine tycoons and owners of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club resort, Bob Oatley and his son Sandy initiated the challenge and are underwriting part of the funding. CEO Iain Murray has sailed for years on the Oatley’s fast racing yachts named “Wild Oats.” Murray named Mat Belcher skipper. Mat was the London gold medalist in the 470. Team Australia will race on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit as “GAC Pindar” with 18-Foot Skiff world champion Seve Jarvin as skipper of their X-40. (Photo: Andrea Francolini)
The New Zealand government committed US $4 million to fund the team through May 2014, enabling them to fend off other syndicates trying to poach their talent. Team boss Grant Dalton has been working to line up sponsors. Emirates Airline is still the title sponsor for the team on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit. The ETNZ’s youth team won the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in 2013. Youth helmsman Peter Burling and trimmer Blair Tuke have joined ETNZ. The pair took the silver medal in the 49er at the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo: Chris Cameron. L to R: Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Grant Dalton.)
Iain Percy, Team Manager (he did not want the title “CEO”) of Artemis Racing, has publicly stated on multiple occasions that the goal of Artemis Racing is “to dominate” the America’s Cup. Artemis has re-signed helmsman Nathan Outteridge and wing trimmer Iain “Goobs” Jensen. The Artemis team had learned to foil gybe their AC72 in time for their first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals, their ninth day of sailing (compared to Luna Rossa’s 75 days of sailing their AC72). Artemis has also re-signed Loïck Peyron as coach, backup helmsman and design team member. They have poached designers from ETNZ and from OTUSA. They will be a force to contend with in the 35th America’s Cup. (Photo: Carlo Borlenghi)
Team owner Patrizio Bertelli has won the Louis Vuitton Cup (2000) and been inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame. His team has set up camp in Sardinia to prepare for his fifth America’s Cup challenge. Luna Rossa bought their AC72 design from ETNZ for the 2013 America’s Cup, so they will need to build up their design team. Like OTUSA, Luna Rossa has shown no plans for racing in the Extreme Sailing Series. Francesco Bruni holds a “tour card” on the World Match Racing Tour and recently defeated Ben Ainslie in the Bermuda Gold Cup, so it appears they will train in 2014 by combining monohull racing on the World Match Race Tour with training in their AC45’s in Sardinia. Luna Rossa recently hired Adam Minoprio, the young Kiwi helmsman who was the 2009 World Match Racing champion. (Photo: Carlo Borlenghi)
J.P. Morgan sponsors Ainslie’s team on the Extreme Sailing Series. Sir Keith Mills and Charles Dunstone have indicated that they are ready to support Ainslie’s America’s Cup campaign. Reuters reported this week that Ainslie is making good progress towards raising £100 million ($130 million) with about $45 million coming from private investors led by Mills and Dunstone. BAR is racing in the Extreme Sailing Series, finishing seventh at the Singapore regatta in February.
Frank Cammas has won the last Volvo Ocean Race, the “Little America’s Cup” in C-Class catamarans and the Route du Rhum. He set the record for a circumnavigation in 2010, holding the record for two years before Loïck Peyron broke it in 2012. He has won the Bol d’Or in a D35 catamaran on Lake Geneva. He is preparing for the mixed multihull event at the 2016 Rio Olympics with teammate Sophie de Turckheim. French insurance company Groupama has funded his projects including his current Extreme Sailing Series team. They will not fund the Team France America’s Cup challenge, so Cammas will need to find other sponsors.
With strong backing from Gazprom, the 21st largest company in the world, this Russian team would have the means to mount a campaign for the 35th America’s Cup. They have recruited Paul Campbell-James as helmsman. Paul won the Extreme Sailing Series in 2010 at the helm of The Wave, Muscat and in 2011 as helmsman for Luna Rossa. Team Russia also has the 2009 winner on board, Pete Cumming, who helmed Oman Sail Masirah. The team represents the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club, whose Commodore Vladimir Liubomirov has declared his desire to challenge for the 35th America’s Cup. A decision may depend on how they perform at the Saint Petersburg Extreme regatta in June. (Image: Lloyd Images)
All reports say the next America’s Cup will be in 2017, probably in August, with the Challenger Selection Series (not sponsored by Louis Vuitton) in July. And all reports point to hydrofoiling, wing sail catamarans between 60 – 65 feet long with a likely crew size of eight – most likely “AC62” catamarans.There has also been plenty of talk about racing AC45’s again, in the America’s Cup World Series, starting in 2015. Let’s assume the AC45’s will be modified for hydrofoiling.
And, of course we know that the Challenger of Record is Australia’s Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Iain Murray, who was Regatta Director for the 34th AC in San Francisco, is CEO of the challenge syndicate, called Team Australia.
I’ve summarized what we know here. As new info emerges, I’ll update the News page. The big news will be the release of the Protocol, which sets down the rules for the event. If you’d like to see what a Protocol looks like, you can download the Protocol for the 2013 America’s Cup here.
Team Australia, the Challenger of Record for the 35th America’s Cup, will join most of the other Cup teams on the Extreme Sailing Series, gaining experience catamaran racing on tight courses. With no America’s Cup World Series events scheduled before 2015, all the America’s Cup teams except Oracle Team USA and Luna Rossa will race in at least some of the eight events on the Extreme circuit. They had an inauspicious start in the first regatta, coming in last in Singapore and hoping to improve in Oman in March. Seve Jarvin skippers the Extreme 40. At age 27 he has already won five 18 Foot Skiff world championships, just one short of Iain Murray’s record of six. Seve is joined on the Extreme 40 by a rotating all-Australian group: Ed Smyth, Troy Tindall, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, Alexandra South and David Gilmour.