Update
This shot of Luna Rossa towing in after winning the Prada Cup Challenger Series offers a nice view of the fat D-section mast which carries the twin-skin AC75 mainsail. There was very little comment during AC36 about either the masts or the twin-skin sails for the simple reason that they worked near-faultlessly throughout, delivering fantastic power – at least 25 per cent more than a single-skin sail – and with excellent reliability (although there was of course a lot of work going on ashore during the night). This new twin-skin solution offers a good chance for trickledown to other boat types with an ability to reef and store that is impossible with a solid wing
WHAT COMES NEXT? – Jack Griffin While waiting for details about the 37th America’s Cup we can all imagine what we would do if we had a magic pencil – whatever we write will become the conditions for the next Match. We hope to hear soon from the people who actually make the decision: defender Emirates(?) Team New Zealand of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and challenger Ineos Team UK of Royal Yacht Squadron Racing. We know there will be strict sailor nationality rules for estab- lished sailing nations and flexibility for emerging sailing nations. We know they will be racing AC75s. For everything else we can use our imagination. TNZ and Ineos have declared that we will keep the AC75s for
at least two more editions. We’ve all heard the speculation about a Match in 2022 with only the defender and the challenger. We’ll deal with that later. But first, what is our objective? Half a dozen or more challengers? A large audience, beyond the dedicated AC fans? A reliable schedule to suit linear broadcast television? Commercial viability? Growing sailing? Your scribe will offer here a few ideas and a few questions, and only a few answers. For the sake of this column we’ll simplify by making a few assumptions. The first assumption has to be that the Covid crisis will have
evolved to allow international travel and all the complementary events that we sadly missed in Auckland. The Youth America’s Cup was perhaps the most unfortunate cancellation in 2021. In 2013 Peter Burling, Blair Tuke and the rest of the Kiwi youth team in San Francisco showed the value of the youth regatta most visibly, and sailors from other San Francisco and Bermuda youth teams were sprinkled through the pro sailing and design teams in Bermuda and Auckland. As to the desire for beautiful sailing yachts, billowing spinnakers, sail changes and visible crew work, we can easily satisfy that with the Superyacht and J Class regattas. Next assumption: we’ll be happy to have three strong challengers again. We’ll be surprised if there are more and not too disappointed
14 SEAHORSE
if there are fewer. To have more challengers we need more billionaires or perhaps government funding for emerging sailing nation teams. Probably harder to find than money is people. Not only the designers but also the shore crews, hydraulic and electronic technicians and boatbuilders. The men and women who kept the AC75s ready to race were unsung heroes of AC36. Those skills are rare. Finding the sailors would be easier, but still difficult. Next assumption: we won’t worry about the size of the audience,
the TV schedule or commercial viability. The most reliable source of revenue for the America’s Cup is the owners. Broadcast rights, sponsorship, hospitality and merchandise are all secondary sources of revenue. There may be venue fees to be had, and that can help fund
operational costs for the event. Continuing to invest in the high- quality video production and excellent commentary team has to be a high priority. The size of the on-site audience depends on the venue. Few if any places in the world will bring out a spectator fleet the size of the armada we saw in Auckland. The people on their boats clearly had fun in the good weather, but if they saw any of the racing it was on a screen inside their boat. As for stadium racing, easily viewed from shore, that presents
its own challenges. Setting and resetting a fair course in shifty winds near the shore is hard enough. Managing the spectator fleet and keeping to a TV schedule can easily become impossible. Murray Jones is reported to have said that when race committee chairman Iain Murray needed to move the spectator fleet in the Rangitoto Channel it would have been easier to move Rangitoto Island. Before we can make assumptions about the boats we need to
make decisions about the racing. Keep the upwind starts. Make the start box bigger and the pre-start sequence longer. Widen the course. And change the rule for penalties! Make the penalties more painful and relieve the umpires of the burden of deciding when a penalty has been paid. American Magic and Team New Zealand both showed off foiling 360° manoeuvres in training.
CARLO BORLENGHI
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