Editorial Andrew Hurst Looking forwards!
It seems to have accidentally worked out rather well. When the renders of the AC75 Cup yachts appeared I sensed a self-imposed technical challenge on the part of the creators as much as the search for a new yacht that would bring match racing excitement back to the Cup. The concept of a boat designed like a stool with a
leg missing, as described by Michel Desjoyeaux, seemed unnec- essarily tangential to the rest of the sport. Then of course there was the question of would it actually work?
We now know that Dan Bernasconi et al at Team New Zealand had got their sums spot on and, with the launch of the first couple of mules for Ineos UK and American Magic, we knew immediately that the theory was sound. But what about the relevance: where did this new flying boat fit in among today’s craft? At the time the whole thing seemed such a sideways leap that surely nothing useful could come of it – other than for a few self-indulgent technophiles. Wrong again. As we were getting used to the two-legged stools
whizzing around, at the same time the Imoca class was making the irreversible step into similarly flying along – now on three spindles. Suddenly boats on legs are (relatively) commonplace. The
America’s Cup flying lizard is not doing things so differently from the monohulls that sit just beneath it in the performance hierarchy. Same principle designed for different conditions, and a few distinc- tions some of which will disappear. For example, in the absence of rudder foils the Imocas still have to sort of inelegantly bounce on and off their foils (expect that to change after the Vendée Globe). As we note elsewhere in this issue, the Imoca foilers can now
match the performance of the amazingly exciting Orma 60 tris (except on flat water). A foiling Moth goes faster than the once supreme Tornado catamaran (most of the time). The new AC75s may be quicker than the AC50 cats. Monohulls are making a comeback in the speed stakes – when routeur Jean-Yves Bernot first described a canting-keel Imoca as ‘a monomaran’ he was ahead of the game. How promoters of new sailing classes and events like to bench-
mark motorsport. Well, finally – and accidentally – we seem to have two classes of yacht that do indeed mirror almost perfectly their fossil-fuel (or hybrid) counterparts. The AC75 as stripped-to-the- bone sailing machine is like an F1 car on track. No redundancy, it cannot even operate except in a closed environment with skilled engineers on hand to keep it going. Utterly impractical for any other use but both fascinating demonstrations of what technology is capable of when let off the leash. Then we have the LMP cars of Le Mans, just as we have the
Imoca ocean racer. Must perform over extended distances at high speed without driving the pilot to exhaustion yet always setting higher and higher average speeds. OK, in the case of Imoca there has to be a small element of the rally car included as well, but you get what I am saying. An Imoca is closer to a Mom and Pop sailboat than an AC75,
Visitors to Seahorse Towers know where the real work gets done. Our latest member of staff, Loki, passed a long adoption process with flying colours (technically, we did). Collie/Alsatian/wolf, we’re not sure, but Loki is up to speed chasing debts and being only slightly bossed around by that little Fergus
just as an LMP car is closer to your Mercedes than an F1 car. Both are relatable to mere mortals while the F1/AC75 is simply mind- blowingly aspirational – and absolutely unattainable. Somehow we got what we said we wanted. Trouble is, as F1 may
turn out to be post-Covid, the AC75 is economically unsustainable outside a miniscule customer base. It was all looking so good. Back to the drawing board.
A year’s a long time Pity national selectors who chose or were bumped into automatically reconfirming the same Olympic sailors for 2021. Sure, it felt right at the time, after the disappointment of the Games being postponed. But was it smart? The Olympics has been blown around before by war and politics.
Sadly there were always victims, sportsmen and women who lost their Olympic chance or returned later and failed. But the decision to immediately reassure 2020 athletes will pro-
duce casualties of its own. Next summer there will be other sailors consistently outperforming nominated team members. There will be a flood of Olympic champions back in the pool, released from America’s Cup duty with fitness to spare and time on their hands. Sailors who go to the Games knowing they are no longer best
in country will be uncomfortable. Sailors who regularly beat them in the lead-in won’t feel great either. Even worse is the sailor who goes to the Games knowing in their heart they have not recaptured the fire of 12 months earlier… and then fails to perform. Throw in someone better sitting in their coach boat and that’s some recipe for wannabe Olympians finding a different sport. A year before the 1996 Olympic regatta everyone knew who the
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UK Laser rep would be. And it wasn’t a rapidly improving 18-year- old called Ben Ainslie who later won the silver medal. Imagine how different a lot of things might have turned out.
BRIGHT SIDE
Panic buyers welcome – Sign on a market stall in Bentham, North Yorkshire
PUBLIC SERVICE Many other artists are doing mini-concerts from their homes – I thought I’d do you all
a favour and not – James Blunt
THOSE IN CHARGE? People have got to do what we tell them – or they’re either going to die or lose
their lives – The Head of the UK West Midlands Police Force (he really is)
BETTER IN KIWI We consider both the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny to be
essential workers – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
WHEN MEN WERE MEN Buoyancy tanks are
not allowed – original 18ft skiff class rule
WINNERS ARE DIFFERENT I want to organise a Corona Camp for our drivers so they get it and get better before
racing begins – Red Bull F1 adviser Helmut Marko (a winner)
health – Marko Let’s put it this way: my idea has not been
well received – Marko
the playing more – Ravi Shankar, as the Madison Square Garden audience go wild at his first few notes
COMMON LANGUAGE If you enjoyed the tuning so much then I hope you will enjoy
the weight of their balls – Derek Ahlskog watches surfer Nathan Fletcher attack a 60ft wave in Tahiti
AWE-STRUCK I’m surprised their boards don’t sink under
Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonly brokerage site are both at:
seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at:
andrew@seahorse.co.uk
SEAHORSE 9
We have four fit young drivers in excellent
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