Update
A little optimistic… you decide. In 2024 during the Niji 40 Transat the Musa40 Acrobatica set a new 24-hour distance record for the Class40 of 433.53nm – an average of 18.06kt. However, on the return Quebec-St Malo Race she collided with a freighter at high speed wiping off the front of the boat which was abandoned. More recently the remains of Acrobatica were seen still afloat mid-Atlantic… prompting far too many keyboard experts to get all frothy about the possibility of her being salvaged and returned to the racecourse
clearly placeholders since both RNZYS and RYS assumed they would agree on a multichallenger event, probably in 2027. RYS may have overlooked one detail if negotiations were to fail:
the Deed of Gift says that any yacht defeated in an America’s Cup match cannot challenge in the next match for at least two years. The British yacht that lost in Barcelona in October 2024 would be ineligible to race in a Deed of Gift match in 2025, so they would need a different yacht. And there is turmoil in the British camp. On 24 January Jim Ratcliffe issued a statement that Ineos
Britannia had parted ways with Ben Ainslie and that Ineos would enter a team in the 38th America’s Cup. Ainslie immediately issued a statement saying he was shocked that Ineos was terminating the relationship, pointing out that there would be some significant legal obstacles. Apparently there were, and divorce negotiations appear not to have been cordial, because on 10 April Ratcliffe announced that Ineos would not enter a challenge after all, citing time lost in unsuccessful negotiations with Ainslie and Athena Racing. When Ratcliffe came onboard to fund the 2021 British challenge
he required cutting ties with existing sponsors and the private indi- viduals who had funded the team called Ben Ainslie Racing up until then. For 2024 Ratcliffe also moved the design effort to the Mer- cedes F1 team. There have been no announcements from Athena Racing about new funding sources, nor have there been any announcements about a design team for Athena’s AC38 challenge. News from Auckland has not been encouraging either. RNZYS
and Emirates TNZ confirmed on 1 April that the New Zealand Gov- ernment had decided not to provide funding for an America’s Cup in Auckland. Ten days later ETNZ announced they had failed to sign Pete Burling for the next campaign. In early April Gillian Williams, the RNZYS’s first female commodore, resigned after seven months in that role and five months after accepting the challenge from RYS. Once again we see the complexity of running a major sporting
event in the 21st century governed by a 19th century founding document. Despite multiple attempts no one has been able to stabilise the business of the America’s Cup. Team contracts with sponsors, sailors, designers and other employees typically expire shortly after the end of each cycle. Months go by after the conclusion of each match before details of the next event are known. Each new defender announces that they will control costs, attract
more challengers, build a huge audience, generate high returns for sponsors and deliver stunning economic rewards to host cities. The reality has rarely risen to the level of the promises. The Deed of Gift places the authority and responsibility for the
16 SEAHORSE
America’s Cup with the defending and challenging yacht clubs, but the event has outgrown the role clubs can handle. So clubs delegate decision-making power, financial arrangements and negotiating authority to the teams. Team owners dream of turning the Cup into a profitable and commercially sustainable sports entertainment busi- ness but so far they have failed to finesse that pesky Deed of Gift.
CupExperience.com
GLAMOUR GLAMOUR – Terry Hutchinson The 2025 J/70 Midwinter Championship was an absolute glamour. Fifty teams and champagne conditions over three days of racing in Biscayne Bay. And the subtle shifts of Biscayne Bay were pro- nounced even in 18-25kt. Doing tactics for Cate Muller-Terhune can be summed up in one word: awesome! Cate is actively involved in the leadership of the J/70 class and has been successfully campaigning over the last five years. Most recently she finished third at the Bacardi Cup and her driving skills are second to none. The crew is complemented by coach Andrew Palfrey, Allan Terhune
as bow, Nick Turney up and downwind trim and me on main and tactics. I was nervous stepping into this role as Cate’s team’s success at the Bacardi showed a level of expertise and my lack of time in the boat had the potential to be our limiter. It was a worry! We rattled off a 2,7,7,7,10,1 (17). Unfortunately, in the final
race we sailed our drop which was, how do I put it, a real pisser! The team had done a great job of setting up to finish on the podium and unfortunately my lack of time cost us in the final start. A rea- sonable spot to get a good launch was disrupted by impatience. We went from a safe start to being late by six seconds, two late tacks were unsuccessful and that was basically the event. My lack of time and situational awareness bit us. That’s the frustrating part. As a team we were not as good as Peter Duncan’s squad. They
sailed a great regatta and were too tough with rock solid consistency. A good reminder… for success nothing beats time in the boat! Then it was back to Pensacola for the second event of the GL52
Southern Showdown series. Pensacola Bay delivered yet again! Ten races over four days with everything (I mean everything) from steady 15- 22kt southerly breezes to shifty, puffy 8-18kt northerlies. Some of the hardest racing I have done in a while as no lead was too big. It was not so much getting them all right but getting the last one
right that mattered. Six teams racing 2015 to 2018, TP52s create incredibly tight racing within ORC. The fleet has done a good job of updating but not going crazy on modifications. The scorecard
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