the most important unanswered questions right now concern the AC75 Class Rule. The rule is due by 31 March 2018, but the CoR and Defender have the right to modify it unilaterally for another 90 days after publication. Lots of unanswered questions that lead to one final question: how many challengers will enter?
SCHEDULE CHANGE – Terry Hutchinson Normally at this moment of the year we would have just returned from Key West. I must say that I missed that event, especially given the last two years were absolute champagne yachting. A bit unfor- tunate and it definitely feels like something has been missing in the month of January. In that vein, though, there is no off-season. Bella Mente is under construction at New England Boatworks and the Quantum Racing at Longitud Cero. Both teams have aggressive build schedules to make the 2018 season events. The impressive point of the upcoming 2018 season is nine new TP52s are in build. That is testament to the formula and to the class management. The new TP52 season sees the introduction of Luna Rossa with
Francesco Bruni teaming up with Vasco Vascotto. Ben Ainslie will join Tony Langley’s Gladiator, big shoes to fill considering Gladiator’s final event of 2017 was a tie for gold with season champion Azzurra. Onboard the Quantum Racingwe have crew changes as well: Maciel ‘Cicho’ Cicchetti (downwind trim), Matt Cassidy (mid-bow) and Cooper Dressler (grinder) will all be joining the team. Other than new people, finding a competitive advantage in Version
14 (sic) of the Botín TP52 design is a difficult task. When we debriefed on 2017 everybody agreed that Platoon (Judel-Vrolijk) was the best-performing boat downwind. Upwind we would choose the Botín boat. From a racing perspective the priority still remains getting to the top mark first and putting the elbows out. With the incredible competitiveness the conservative philosophy is a boat that performs well through the range and is easy to sail in traffic. Hard to ignore, though, that 2017 was the first season that the Botín and Vrolijk designs went 50-50 on the year. Switching to the Maxi72, we face a different challenge. The IRC
influence on these designs can be quite restrictive. Working to understand the influence of the rule is difficult as not a lot of infor- mation is given. That coupled with the fact that the Maxi72 rating cap did not get adjusted from 2017 is a small added penalty; over the last three years the class cap has always slid up with adjustments to the IRC rule. It initially feels as if that penalty helps the existing fleet and
penalises the new boat. Over the course of the Bella Mente’s life she did not hit her stride until the third season. Over time we were able to increase sail area with the slide of the rating cap. In 2018 no movement means no increase in sail area for the existing fleet and relatively slightly less sail for the new design. Time will tell if the gains in hull and foil design are enough to overcome the decrease in sail area. America’s Cup world… currently we are working to co-ordinate
the design team effort. Has been fascinating reading all the articles in Seahorse and elsewhere about the success of ETNZ. Not only did a lot of early decisions prove to be correct but there was a certain component of stars aligning that worked for the Kiwis. It will be interesting to see where the competitive advantage comes from with the new boat. One thing for certain the best opportunity for success is with a new rule and yet Alinghi has been the only new challenger to successfully win on the first attempt. That coupled with the turbulence gives me sweaty palms! Standing by at 22,000ft with Katherine en route to check out
colleges. Hard to believe that I have a daughter old enough to go to college.
SOME CV – Joan Vila After competing in four editions of the Whitbread, Joan Vila has embarked on Mapfre for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. It has been a long time, 29 years since his debut with the maxi Fortuna in 1989, after which came three races with the Whitbread 60s Galicia Pescanova, Chessie Racing and Illbruck, winner of the race
Hey, guys, this might be the start of something… Dick McCurdy designed and built this early-generation computer used on Clipper for the 1980 America’s Cup. In addition, with the help of Data General he also produced the first sailing analysis system, Starship Nova. Data was telemetred 15 miles from the course to Newport where the on-the-water performance was analysed
in 2001-2002. In addition, his rather extensive record includes the last eight editions of the Copa America, the first three with the Spanish team, then three with Alinghi and the last two with Oracle. The cherry on his oceanic career is the Jules Verne Trophy in 2012 with Banque Populaire. Having already won two editions of the America’s Cup, Joan Vila is now chasing his second Volvo win. Seahorse: You tried to squeeze in the last Sydney Hobart between Volvo stages! Joan Vila: Yes, I almost made it… I was signed up with Wild Oats if I finished the Cape Town-Melbourne leg with enough time. But one day out I withdrew as there was not enough time for me to rest. It was a long hard leg, very hard, and age does not forgive… SH: Let’s talk a bit about the America’s Cup. Going from Alinghi to Oracle, it’s like going from Barça to Madrid, how did it happen? JV:No, I think it was easier! (laughs) Alinghi decided not to continue in 2013 and at Oracle there were already Murray Jones and Grant Simmer who were previously in the Swiss team, plus John Kostecki who I sailed with on Illbruck. They asked me to take care of the meteo and I accepted right away. Then for the recent Bermuda edition I also took on co-ordinating the many electronic systems. SH: Is there much difference between the two teams? JV: They are different; they have a different culture of making decisions and doing things. All Cup teams are different like this, they are not better or worse, they just have different ways of working. In Oracle everything is very open – even if you had an area of respon- sibility everyone could intervene and take a consensus decision different from your own. At first it is a little strange, but you get used to not having ownership of your area… only the responsibility! SH: Will the new Cup boat mean a major change? JV: In the end the difference is not from changing a catamaran to a monohull, I see it as two boats with foils. But the new courses will be a big influence. If the legs are longer the races will be more
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PAUL MELLO/OUTSIDE
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