Update
wins the America’s Cup Match in June 2017. Does that surprise you? Read on.
In the America’s Cup Match the winner of each race scores one point; the loser scores none. You need seven points to win the Match, but you might need to win only six races. Why? There is a ‘bonus point’ up for grabs in the round robin phase of the challenger selection series, officially called the Louis Vuitton (yes, they’re back!) America’s Cup Qualifiers. And the defender, Oracle Team USA, sails in this double round robin phase.
If the defender wins the challengers’ round robin (I told you this is confusing), then they start the America’s Cup Match with one point. If a challenger wins the challengers’ round robin, and they go through the semi-finals and the finals, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup (officially the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs…), then they start the Match with one point. If a challenger wins the round robin phase but is eliminated in the semi-finals or finals of the LV Cup, then neither team in the Match will have a bonus point. Of course, as we saw in 2013, a team could also have negative points if they are penalised. What does one-design fleet racing in the AC World Series – sorry, ‘Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series’ – in Portsmouth have to do with this?’ Points in the World Series will be totalled over both 2015 and 2016. The final standings will be used to break ties in the round robin, which could determine who carries a bonus point into the Cup Match. In addition, if two teams are tied for the fourth slot in the semi- finals, the World Series results will determine which is eliminated. Finally, the top team in the World Series will begin the round robin with two points; the second team begins with one. When and where does all this racing happen? The fleet racing in one-design AC45Fs runs over 2015 and 2016. There are three events in 2015 – but only Portsmouth has so far been confirmed for 2016. In 2017 Bermuda will be the site of all competition, match racing in the 48ft AC catamarans. The first races of the Cup Match will be on 17 June 2017. The round robin will start about a month earlier. Teams are allowed to launch their raceboats 150 days before the start of the round robin, around mid-December 2016.
So to win the America’s Cup teams will spend 2015 and 2016 developing their crew choreography and playbook while testing foils, control systems and aero packages using the experimental AC45- based boats. At the same time they’ll try to score points in the one- design AC45F fleet racing. During 2016 they will build their raceboat and start sailing it in Bermuda by early 2017, to be ready for match racing beginning in May.
Teams
Who will be on the startline in May 2017 is not yet clear. Luna Rossa pulled out. By the end of April a well-funded Japanese challenger was announced. By the end of May Softbank Team Japan had hired Dean Barker as CEO and skipper. Chris Draper, Luna Rossa’s former
helmsman, joined two weeks later. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is Japan’s richest man, a daring internet entrepreneur and friends with his Woodside, California neighbour, Larry Ellison. Softbank owns 32 per cent of one of China’s top internet companies, Alibaba, founded by Jack Ma who is friendly with both Son and Ellison. America’s Cup officials have announced that China’s CCTV will pay broadcast fees to televise racing free to 400 million Chinese households. Louis Vuitton came back more forcefully than ever as a sponsor, and they derive a third of their sales from China. By the time you are reading this we may have a well-funded Chinese challenger in the mix.
News from New Zealand is mixed. Emirates and Omega have re-signed, with Emirates once again title sponsor. Peter Burling and Blair Tuke continue their domination of the 49er class, winning the ISAF World Cup event in Weymouth. On the other hand, design head Nick Holroyd, pitman Jeromy Lomas and grinders Winston Macfarlane and Derek Saward have all left the team.
Oracle have moved all their operations to Bermuda. After sailing their AC45 development boat in Bermuda in May, Artemis have also decided to move their operations from California and will build a base on six acres at Morgan’s Point.
The towering new Portsmouth HQ for Ben Ainslie Racing was nearing completion in June and will surely impress visitors during the ACWS racing in July. The team plan to visit Bermuda regularly in 2015 and 2016 for training.
Franck Cammas and Team France continue to look for sponsors. Protocol changes in April allowed them to avoid the 1 May deadline for paying the last $900,000 of their entry fee and the $1 million performance bond. They must now pay four monthly instalments beginning on 1 July. Onward.
SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
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It’s a boat, Pa, but not as you know it. Armel Le Cléac’h shows total faith in his team as he pushes his new Banque Pop on her maiden sail. Flat forefoot, reverse stem, tumblehome in the bow; as on many tris, a hull that would look pretty fast either way up
12 SEAHORSE
Legend indeed… 70-year-old Finn hero Henry Sprague not only won race 3 at this year’s 204-strong Finn Masters Worlds in Greece, his other results were good enough to hike him (oops…) up to 11th overall How much better… does it get? Out of the box… new Masters world champion Vladimir Krutskikh is one of many Finnistes to win recently with the new Juan K Fantastica Finn (Seahorsepassim) (More) golden oldies… multiple champion and class builder Bill Abbott and his family crew finished second overall in the 2015 Soling Worlds in Italy Employment figures… (yawn). But the Melges 32 is definitely helping fill the post-AC void… Among… tacticians racing 32s in Garda last month were Vascotto, McKee, Appleton, Bruni, Horton, Bressani, Mendelblatt and Draper Bonus… It is also a really fun boat! A gadzillion… boats sold. But Optimist designer Clark Mills never got a cent Ugliest boat… I ever saw, said its creator at the time Learn from… those mistakes… Beyond the Break… is Wouter Verbraak’s new book, launched this month, which takes the painful lessons of the Vestas ‘incident’ and extracts some insightful and honest lessons for human beings of all types Including… race navigators By… the way Cool speed… HPR co-founder Steve Benjamin is selling his Carkeek 40 Spookie Growing… the new Spookie is a TP52 HPR… great concept But… those treads are still slipping And now for… ScuttlebuttEurope and RaceboatsOnly at
seahorsemagazine.com
THIERRY MARTINEZ
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