Cup Experience

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Good progress raising funds for Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup challenge

 

Photo: Jon Nash
Photo: Jon Nash

Sir Ben Ainslie has reported that fund raising for his British challenge is “in a good place.” Ainslie is targeting $100 million – the amount he believes he needs to mount a competitive challenge. He has been lining up suport from private individuals while waiting for details of the next America’s Cup to be announced, probably in March. In order to close commercial sponsorship deals, Ainslie needs the details of the Protocol for the 35th America’s Cup and the Class Rule defining the type of yachts to be raised. In the meantime, Sir Keith Mills, Charles Dunstone and “two or three” other private investors are said to be providing initial backing.

Ainslie announced that JP Morgan will sponsor the Ben Ainslie Racing Team in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series. His crew will include the Olympic gold medallists Paul Goodison and Pippa Wilson. With no America’s Cup World Series racing planned in 2014, several teams hopeful of challenging for the America’s Cup will be racing on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit.

 

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Outteridge and Jensen continue with Artemis Racing for the 35th America’s Cup

 

Wing trimmer Goobs Jensen and helsman Nathan Outteridge sailing with Artemis in the 35th America's Cup. Wing trimmer Goobs Jensen and helsman Nathan Outteridge sailing with Artemis in the 35th America’s Cup.

Olympic Gold medalists Nathan Outteridge and Iain “Goobs” Jensen sailing with Artemis Racing in the 35th America’s Cup.

Nathan and Goobs will be once again joining forces with triple Olympic medalist Iain Percy and grinder Chris Brittle. These sailors will form the core of Artemis Racing on the water. They will work closely with the designers to develop a winning boat.

“With Iain, Nathan, Goobs and Chris all on board, Artemis Racing has a core of talent and experience that will drive us toward the next Cup,” said Artemis Racing owner Torbjörn Törnqvist. “They have individually and together already achieved very much and I believe in their potential as a team. We look forward to seeing what the 35th America’s Cup will bring.”

Nathan served as helmsman and Goobs as wing trimmer in the 34th America’s Cup, giving them invaluable experience on AC72s. The pair have sailed together from childhood and have achieved numerous victories, including a Gold Medal in the 49er class in the 2012 Summer Olympics – a feat which they look to repeat during the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“Torbjörn and Perce are great to work with and are truly passionate about wanting to build a strong, youthful team capable of winning the Cup,” said Nathan. “They fully support our Olympic ambitions and have made it very clear that Goobs and I are the right people to be leading this team.”

Added Goobs: “I feel a lot of loyalty towards the people involved with Artemis Racing. Towards the end of the last Cup, we had something very special. We had our backs against the wall, and the shore team, the designers and the sailors were able to work miracles in those last few months. This gives me a lot of confidence going into the next cycle, and I’m very excited to see what will be achieved in the coming years.”

Artemis Racing continues to assess the criteria for the next America’s Cup, and is in the meantime building a winning team based on experience, talent and collaboration.

 

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Radical proposals for next America’s Cup

 

America’s Cup Challengers could face big changes

A New Zealand journalist has reported on possible dramatic changes in format. The report suggests that each challenger would host an America’s Cup World Series in their country, taking financial “ownership.” These regattas would serve as an elimination series, with only the top four teams advancing to the challenger selection regatta in San Francsico (or wherever the final venue is) to be sailed in July 2017, before the America’s Cup Match in August.

Remember that in the 34th America the defender organized and financed the America’s Cup World Series and selected the cities – Cascais, Plymouth, Naples, Venice, Newport, San Diego and San Francisco – and that the AC World Series did not count towards the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The report gave no details on timing to define a new class of boat and then to have them ready to race in an America’s Cup World Series that would begin in 2015. Nor did it address the problem for challengers of finding sponsorship with no guaranty of particpating in the main event. There was also no word on how the defender would participate in this series and how that could determine which teams were eliminated before the final challenger selection races in 2017.

 

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35th America’s Cup update and predictions

 

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Expect to see foiling wingsail catamarans in San Francisco in 2017 for the next America’s Cup.

 

All the news continues to point to 2017 and San Francisco as the time and place for the next America’s Cup. We should expect to see foiling wingsail catamarans, probably around 60 feet long, although we could possibly see the AC72’s again. The class rule will probably allow adjustable control surfaces on rudders and daggerboards, to make foiling safer and control systems simpler and less expensive.

I also predict we will see the AC45’s again in AC World Series racing, probably starting in San Francisco in late summer 2014, and possibly modified for foiling. Any international venues for the ACWS are likely to want multi-year contracts with at least a year lead time to promote their first event. The Youth America’s Cup will be back, probably with Red Bull again as title sponsor.

America’s Cup teams

Oracle Team USA

The Defender  has re-signed strategist Tom Slingsby. Helmsman Jimmy Spithill has not yet been re-signed. In mid-November he was said that had been approached by other teams. More recently he has implied in a New Zealand TV interview that he will be back with OTUSA

Team Australia

Challenger of Record Hamilton Island Yacht Club on 28 November named Iain Murray CEO of “Team Australia.” As Challenger of Record, Iain will be working closely with Russell Coutts, CEO of Oracle Team USA to develop the rules for the next America’s Cup. Murray is no doubt working hard to recruit key sailors and designers.

Team New Zealand

The challenger in the 2013 America’s Cup Match innovated to lead the way to hydrofoiling and then sailed extremely well, but OTUSA’s continued improvement during the match led to intense disappointment for TNZ. The team is staying relatively quiet now, still in a debrief phase. Team boss Grant Dalton has been speaking with potential sponsors but will be unable to get firm commitments until details of the next event are known.

Until funding is in place, team members are at risk of being recruited away by Luna Rossa, OTUSA or Artemis, whose funding is assured by their wealthy team owners, or possibly by Team Australia. Australian wing trimmer Glenn Ashby has announced he is staying with Team New Zealand. Dalton told journalists in New Zealand that the team has been “95% successful” retaining key members, but had lost an important designer.

Artemis Racing

Iain Percy was named “Team Manager” in September. He says their goal is to build a team capable of winning and dominating the America’s Cup arena. Team owner Torbjörn Törnqvist said in a September interview that Percy and helmsman Nathan Outteridge would be the core of the team, but recently neither Outteridge nor Percy would confirm if Outteridge had been re-signed. As Australians, Outteridge and Iain Jensen would be high on the recruiting list at Team Australia. They dominated the 49er to win gold in the London Olympics. Jensen again paired with Outteridge on board Artemis, with Jensen in the key role of wing trimmer.

Luna Rossa

The Italian syndicate has chosen Cagliari in Sardinia as their base to prepare for the 35th America’s Cup.

Ben Ainslie Racing

Ben Ainslie told reporters in early December that fund raising is going well and they are “sort of” on target to move forward with a British challenger. Grant Simmer has said that he and Ben are “trying to get something together.” They may be facing a chicken and the egg problem. Potential backer Keith Mills has said “If they announce a commercially viable America’s Cup, then I know we can assemble a fantastic British entry.” The problem is that no announcement will be made before early 2014 and Ainslie said in late October that unless they could get private underwriting within the next couple of weeks “… we won’t do it [launch the challenge]. There’s no point going into an event like this without the talent because your chances of winning are then very slim.”