Cup Experience

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High stakes dealings at the America’s Cup

 

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Showdown

There will be a showdown at the Competitors’ Forum meeting on Tuesday 31 March 2015. Negotiations over changing the boats to be raced and the venue for the first phase of America’s Cup have reached a climactic moment. Luna Rossa has threatened to withdraw. Team New Zealand may lose a major funding source. The Protocol may be changed drastically – abandoning the split venues for challenger selection and scrapping the AC62 in favor a a new class of boat.

What caused the showdown? Where do things stand?

  • On Wednesday 25 March, Commercial Commissioner Harvey Schiller announced plans to abandon the AC62 in favor of a smaller boat.
  • On Thursday, Luna Rossa announced their opposition to the change, stating that they would withdraw if the change were made, and that they would cancel the first America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari in June.
  • Also on Thursday, Emirates Team New Zealand announced their support for Luna Rossa‘s position.
  • Within hours, Schiller informed ETNZ that the America’s Cup Qualifiers (the round robin phase of the challenger selection) would not be awarded to Auckland. The New Zealand government reconfirmed that without the Auckland regatta, they would not renew as a sponsor of the team.
  • On Friday 27 March, ACEA CEO Russell Coutts confirmed that the current proposal is to abandon the split venue for challenger selection, and instead to hold all 2017 racing in Bermuda.
  • Coutts explained that America’s Cup World Series racing will be in foiling one design AC45’s, as previously announced.
  • Coutts also repeated that he expects to have one Asian challenger (widely rumored to be from Japan) and possibly another Asian challenger. Coutts made it clear that he only wants competitive teams and criticized China Team for being uncompetitive in the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain.
  • The class rule for the new, smaller America’s Cup boat will be presented to the teams. It is likely to be a scaled down AC62, possibly an AC54, with a crew of six instead of the eight man crew on the AC62.
  • This would be a change to the Protocol, not a change to the AC62 Class Rule. The distinction is important, since only a majority of the five challengers is required to change the Protocol, while a change to the AC62 Class Rule would require unanimous approval.
  • Artemis Racing, Ben Ainslies Racing and Team France have all expressed their support for the change

What happens next?

A Competitors’ Forum meeting has been called for Tuesday 31 March to vote on the changes.

 

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Luna Rossa: Two boat testing in foiling AC45’s

Luna Rossa is the only team to be sailing two AC45 test boats. The team’s base in Cagliari, Sardinia has been active, with two boat testing and ongoing modifications to their AC45 test boats. They have added wheel steering, but to date we have not seen flared hulls and cockpits or any modifications to the crossbeams on their AC45 test boats “Piranha” and “Swordfish.”  Read more here and here.

Luna Rossa has acquired Energy Team’s AC45 which will be modified add the one design foiling package for racing in the AC World Series. The ACWS kicks off in Cagliari in early June. Francesco Bruni will helm the Luna Rossa entry.

America's Cup Luna Rossa running two boat testing with foiling AC45's
America’s Cup Luna Rossa running two boat testing with foiling AC45’s

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ETNZ: Peter Burling replaces Dean Barker as helm

America's Cup - Peter Burling replaces Dean Barker as helm

Emirates Team New Zealand suffered almost two weeks of media frenzy after leaks that 24 year old Peter Burling would replace Dean Barker as helmsman.

Ten days after the initial reports, ETNZ confirmed Burling as helmsman and Australian Glen Ashby as Sailing Director. Barker was offered the position of Performance Coach but turned it down. He has since left the team.

At the beginning of March, 50 staff began work at ETNZ. One of their first tasks is to modify their AC45 to the one design foiling version that they will race in the AC World Series, beginning in June. The team will then convert a second AC45 into a development boat for testing AC62 design ideas.

The ETNZ design team has likely been working during the past few months, but the team is clearly in catch up mode, given that OTUSA, Artemis Racing, Luna Rossa and Ben Ainslie Racing have all been sailing in their AC45 development boats. Read more.

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What has Luna Rossa done to their AC45x?

 

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AC45X DEVELOPMENT BOAT WITH WHEEL STEERING AND STANDARD CROSSBEAMS. PHOTO: LUNA ROSSA

In late January Luna Rossa fitted wheel steering to their AC45x test boats, “Piranha” and “Swordfish.” They posted this photo to their Facebook page on January 24, 2015 with the caption “training at dawn.” These boats will continue to evolve as Luna Rossa develops their AC62 design in the lead up to the 2017 America’s Cup in Bermuda. We have not seen any photos or video of these boats sailing. In the photo we can see that the boat still has the standard AC45 crossbeams.

Luna Rossa is the only team sailing two foiling AC45 test boats. Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing both have sailed much more highly modified AC45x test boats. Ben Ainslie Racing has converted their AC45 for foiling, but the crossbeams and steering we have seen are still from the original AC45 version. Team France and Emirates Team New Zealand have begun modifying AC45s to the one design foiling version for the America’s Cup World Series. Neither Team France nor ETNZ has begun work on a development AC45x for testing AC62 design concepts.

Unofficial reports say that Luna Rossa has purchased another AC45, from Energy Team. They will modify this boat to the one design standard for racing in the America’s Cup World Series, which begins June 5, 2015 in Cagliari.

More information about the rules on AC45 development boats and one design race boats here and here.

 

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A Closer Look at Luna Rossa’s Foiling AC45

America's Cup Luna Rossa Foiling AC45

LUNA ROSSA AC45 HELMSMAN CHRIS DRAPER APPEARS TO HAVE A REMOTE CONTROL IN HIS HAND.

Luna Rossa has been testing two AC45 catamarans converted for foiling. In this photo, it looks like helmsman Chris Draper has a remote control in his right hand – perhaps for controlling rudder rake and daggerboard rake and cant. Remember that the Protocol allows the teams to test a wide range of ideas by modifying an AC45 or by building a new boat from scratch based on just the lower part of the hull shape of an AC45. The AC62 Class Rule allows the rudder to be raked up to three degrees while racing and the daggerboard to be raked up to 12 degrees and canted 15 degrees. We can assume that all teams will be testing daggerboard shapes and control systems for appendages and wings on their AC45s, since they cannot launch their AC62 until 150 days before the beginning of the America’s Cup Qualifiers – probably in September 2016.

If you want to dive into the details, you can download the AC62 Class Rule here.