Cup Experience

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Oracle Construction in Bermuda America’s Cup Village at Dockyard

 

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AMERICA’S CUP DEFENDER ORACLE’S SHIPMENT ARRIVES AT DOCKYARD IN BERMUDA

Update 5 February 2016 by Jack Griffin  After training in Bermuda in May 2015, Artemis Racing decided not to use the space marked in red, but to build their main base at Morgan’s Point. Land Rover BAR and Groupama Team France will occupy the space marked in red and labelled “Artemis” in the photo . SoftBank Team Japan will take over Oracle’s second space, just to the right of the ship in the photo.

America’s Cup defender Oracle Team USA will be the first team to set up operations at Dockyard in Bermuda. Construction of their base is under way. The team’s shipment from San Francisco arrived in the first week of April and included their foiling AC45x development boat.

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AMERICA’S CUP VILLAGE WILL BE BUILT ON LANDFILL IN DOCKYARD’S SOUTH BASIN

 

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AMERICA’S CUP VILLAGE AT DOCKYARD IN BERMUDA

 

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AMERICA’S CUP DEFENDER ORACLE’S BASE AT DOCKYARD

 

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CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT AMERICA’S CUP VILLAGE IN BERMUDA

 

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America’s Cup Squabbles and Deadlines

 

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MEETING OF THE DONS

In an America’s Cup Challenger Commission meeting on 31 March 2015, four of six teams voted to dump the AC62 for a smaller boat. Two days later Luna Rossa became the second Challenger of Record to withdraw from the 35th America’s Cup. This is the third time Golden Gate Yacht Club has had a Challenger of Record fold – remember that Mascalzone Latino pulled out of the 34th America’s Cup. ACEA pulled the America’s Cup Qualifiers from Auckland and Team New Zealand protested to the non-existant Arbitration Panel.

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America’s Cup – Current Situation

Where do things stand in the build up to the 35th America’s Cup?

  • The AC62, announced last June, has been dropped and replaced by a 48 foot foiling wing sail catamaran called the “America’s Cup Class” (an unfortunate choice of name, since, confusingly, that was the name of the monohull class used from 1992 to 2007).
  • Luna Rossa has withdrawn from the America’s Cup, angrily stating that the class of boat cannot be changed at such a late date.
  • The Cagliari America’s Cup World Series, scheduled for June 2015, has been cancelled. The America’s Cup World Series was to have six to eight events in each of 2015 and 2016, now down to three in 2015: Portsmouth, Gothenburg and Bermuda. Only one has been confirmed for 2016: Portsmouth.
  • Team New Zealand has protested to the not-yet-appointed Arbitration Panel over loss of the America’s Cup Qualifiers event in Auckland. In compliance with the Protocol, ACEA had notified the teams on 15 February that the qualifiers would be held in Auckland. The Competitors Commission then retroactively changed the Protocol on March 31, changing the date for announcing the venue for the America’s Cup Qualifiers to April 15.
  • Team France has stated that Oracle Team USA will share their design with the French team.
  • Oracle Team USA has stated that they will sell a design package to any team that wants to buy it.

 

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35th America’s Cup Deadlines – Past, Present and Future

Imminent Deadlines

  • 15 April 2015: Venue, dates and format of America’s Cup Qualifiers.
  • 1 May 2015: $1 million performance bond plus $900K third installment of entry fee.
  • 31 May 2015: Finalized version of America’s Cup Class Rule for the 48 foot catamarans.

Note that the date for first launch of America’s Cup Class race yachts will be 150 days before the first race in the America’s Cup Qualifiers.

Future Deadline

  • 15 August 2015: Venues and dates of America’s Cup World Series in 2016.

Missed Deadlines

  • 1 November 2014: Racing rules published.
  • 31 December 2014: Dates of America’s Cup Match
  • 31 December 2014: Announce host cities and venues for Youth America’s Cup.
  • 15 February 2015: Dates of America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs.
  • 15 February 2015: Announce course areas for America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs and America’s Cup Match.

 

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Team France Will Get Oracle’s Design for America’s Cup Yacht

 

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TEAM FRANCE WILL SAIL AN AC45 FROM ORACLE TEAM USA IN THE AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES, AND NOW THEY WILL GET OTUSA’S DESIGN FOR THE 48′ AMERICA’S CUP CLASS.

 

Clarification, 8 April 2015, from Oracle:
“Oracle Team USA is planning to make a design package available to any team that wants it. Details are being worked out. It isn’t yet advanced enough to say whether Team France or anyone else will take it.”

Comment from your editor, Jack Griffin: It looks like there was a misunderstanding between Team France and OTUSA.

Oracle Team USA will provide their America’s Cup Class yacht design to Team France and will collaborate with the French challenge. Interviewed by Patrick Roger on French radio Europe 1 on Monday 6 April 2015, Team France leader Franck Cammas said, “Oracle has decided to share their design and to collaborate with Team France.”

But he also said they have not yet found their funding. He estimates the budget at € 7 million per year – a reasonable amount in the eyes of French sponsors for sailing.

On the other hand, at the beginning of the interview, he says he is at the base of “Groupama Team France” and refers to Groupama as his long time sponsor.

“We’ll be sure to have the best boat, if we compete.”
                                                                                                 — Franck Cammas

 

Franck Cammas on the America’s Cup  – interview excerpts

Listen to entire interview (in French) below.

Patrick Roger:  “…sur la recherche de financement, vous avez réussi ou pas? Combien d’argent manque-t-il encore?”

Franck Cammas: “On n’a pas réussi. On vous dira tout de suite quand on aura réussi. On est en train de faire cette nouvelle propositiion avec ces nouvelles données.”

PR: “C’est quoi la fourchette, pour qu’on comprenne bien ?  Est-ce-que ça coûte vraiment très cher de se lancer dans cette aventure ou pas ? C’est quel budget à peu près ?”

FC: “Aujourd’hui c’est sept million par an pour faire la Coupe de l’America et pour être en position de la gagner. En plus, on a une bonne nouvelle, c’est que les américains d’Oracle ont décidé de partager leur plan et de collaborer avec Team France et donc ça nous fait gagner énormément de temps, on aura la certitude d’avoir le meilleure bateau sur l’eau aussi, si on part. Donc, on gagne du temps et on gagne aussi je pense une certaine crédibilité technique avec cet avantage.”

“Sept millions par an c’est vraiment une norme – on est un peu au milieu entre faire le tour du monde en équipage ou le Vendée Globe. C’est quelque chose que les sponsors français qui se sont attaqué à notre sport et à la voile connaissent bien. On n’est pas hors norme comme l’était la Coupe de l’America il y’a quelques années.”

Patrick Roger: “… about funding – have you succeeded in finding the money or not? How much do you still need?”

Franck Cammas: (laughs) “No, we haven’t succeeded. We’ll tell you right away when we have! We’re in the process of making our new proposal with the new information.”

PR: “What’s the range? So we can really understand – is it really expensive to dive into this adventure? What’s the budget, approximately?”

FC: “These days, it’s €7 million per year to be in the America’s Cup with a chance to win. And, we have some very good news: the Americans, Oracle, have decided to share their design and to collaborate with Team France. So that lets us make up a lot of time and we’ll be sure to have the best boat, if we compete.  So that will let us make up a lot of time and give us a certain level of technical credibility.”

“Seven million per year is truly a benchmark – it’s about in the middle between a fully crewed round the world race and the Vendée Globe. It’s a level that French sponsors of sailing know well. We’re not out of line, like the America’s Cup was a few years ago.”

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Franck Cammas Interview

Listen to the full interview.

More about Team France in the America’s Cup

 

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New “America’s Cup Class” Catamarans Replace AC62 for 2017 America’s Cup

 

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OTUSA’S “TURBO” TEST BOAT FOR THE 2017 AMERICA’S CUP

The America’s Cup challengers voted 3-2 to change the Protocol and race in “America’s Cup Class” 48 foot catamarans instead of the AC62 class that had been announced 10 months earlier.

As is often the case, politics were part of the mix. Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand voted against the change. After the vote, Luna Rossa carried through on their threat to withdraw from the America’s Cup. They complained that it was too late in the cycle to change the class of boat used. ETNZ claimed that the decision was linked to the choice of venue for the America’s Cup Qualifiers, saying that ACEA offered to hold the AC Qualifiers in Bermuda rather than Auckland if the new class were to be accepted – european teams were reportedly strongly against holding the AC Qualifiers in Auckland.

Reasons given for making the change were cost savings and the surprisingly good performance and manoeuverability of the test boats that Artemis Racing and Oracle Team USA launched on San Francisco Bay. OTUSA reportedly has hit over 46 knots. Artemis has been seen foiling upwind and executing roll tacks, even attempting foil to foil tacks.

In depth look at the test boats –
Members Only Content for the Cup Experience Club 

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Cup Experience Club members can take a closer look at the AC45 “Turbo” boats. Five marked up photos and two videos show the details and the impressive performance that convinced ACEA to propose moving to the new, smaller America’s Cup Class. Bronze level member ship is FREE – all we need is your email address.

 

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Earlier articles about the AC45 “turbo” test boats:

 

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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.