The F50 foiling cats used in SailGP are obviously very fast and engagingly dangerous. The racing really is frequently very close and the rub of the green can reverse in seconds. Everything is well managed, vast amounts of money are spent to keep these exciting but fragile ‘sailboats’ racing through all but the most major breakages. However ,to us the most impressive component to the success of the show, particularly for the traditional sports fans, is the mechanism by which Russell Coutts manages to bring new teams (those with enough funding) up to speed in a remarkably short period of time. The juggling of the number of practice days a team gets, help making the most of the shared data and some seriously well-qualified on-the-water coaching. Season 4 overall winners Spain (above) took their first regatta victory in Los Angeles barely 12 months ago… their young new helm Diego Botín’s 20th day behind the wheel
The America’s Cup has always been the top of naval architecture
and currently this is the top, sailing at 50kt of speed and still being able to control your boat. I don’t think there can be any turning back, for the new sailors it’s the future. On the other hand, now the dif- ferences between a good helmsman and an average helmsman are much more dramatic, up to 1.5kt of speed. The future will be with very technical boats of this type, where
it is the technology available to each nation that will decide which nations can still be represented. For one-design boats we already have the Olympic classes, the Cup is about something more than the sporting part. I see Italy as a strong nation in this sense, F1 and MotoGP are the greatest exponents of high-tech sports, and Ducati and Ferrari are leaders in both championships, the America’s Cup is this. It is true that veteran fans miss lots more manoeuvres or intense match racing, that we do not even see the crew, but what attracts new people and a wider public is the speed!
Talented and ambitious A couple of days after speaking to Carabelli and a few metres from the base of the Italian team, young Barcelona sailor Silvia Mas met us at RCN Barcelona, where a few days before they had moved Sail Team BCN to begin final preparations for the Puig Women’s America’s Cup. A surprisingly agile and cordial conversation, during which Silvia Mas did not waste a second pondering her responses. I have to confess that only twice before have I had this same feeling of some- one finishing my questions… I looked at the clock and was surprised when only 20 minutes
had passed and yet I already knew that the content was abundant and of great quality. What a pleasure. Seahorse: Can you live without the 470, don’t you miss it? Silvia Mas: Well, yes, quite a bit. Even more so now that, having sailed other types of faster and larger boats where the equipment is different, I have learnt so many things that will be useful for me to apply to the 470. I look forward to returning. My Tokyo campaign was a rush… Covid took a year away from us. Then just as we started our plans for Paris I needed surgery to a cruciate ligament.
So I was only able to sail for one year in my 2024 preparations with Nico (her new crew Nicolás Rodríguez). It was a short and hard campaign, against the clock again, plus we had to learn to sail together from scratch. But everything was starting to go well when the selection of the Spanish team was interrupted by politics, as we know… It was a difficult time, but now I am happy. SH: How did you move past all of that frustration? SM: I took a step back and am now sailing the TP52 Super Series with Alegre which is giving me new perspectives. We are 30 people in all, I sail as a mid-bow but I also spend a lot of time working with the data analysts, sail designers etc. I see things from closer up and now I am involved in all the processes. Meanwhile, the opportunity of the Women’s America’s Cup appeared and I got into flying boats. Now I have many more tools to apply to a 470 campaign! Plus of course all the fantastic new useful contacts I am making. SH: Was it bad luck that your campaign for the Spanish 470 spot coincided with that of (gold medal favourite) Jordi Xammar? SM: I don’t see it that way. When you face an Olympic campaign it is to go to the Games and win a medal. I see the campaign as a team, a nation issue, not something individual. To get the place you have to be 100 per cent, and if another crew is better you have to know how to accept it and that your time will come. For me it was a great experience. The age difference with Jordi also reinforced my idea of waiting for my moment. In fact, I couldn’t compete with Jordi for even a year due to the circumstances I mentioned before. SH: How did you get the opportunity to join Sail Team BCN? SM: When they created the team they announced that no crews were pre-selected, that they would run a completely open selec- tion… with no consideration of background or even sporting achieve- ment. I put down my name and the selection process began. Of course when they selected me I got quite excited!!! SH: Had you foiled before? SM: The first time was in a 69F for a month in Italy, with Paula Barceló and two foreign sailors. The experience absolutely seduced me. Then I started sailing a Waszp in Barcelona and El Masnou… helped by the way by some very young but fast kids who taught me
SEAHORSE 35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
