Update
When Bénéteau introduced the Figaro 3 two years ago they made it clear they wanted this French boat to become an international success. You don’t have to spend long among today’s crop of Figaristes to realise that the world’s biggest boatbuilder has a huge hit on their hands and that there is a good chance they could meet their ambition. If rule managers come up with some fair numbers, especially in IRC with which the majority of offshore handicap racing is scored worldwide, then the boat’s success could indeed spread. The obvious first target is the growing shorthanded market in the UK followed by Scandinavia and perhaps Italy. To cross continents will take longer, but blasting around San Francisco Bay and out to the Farallons on one of these ‘big fun’ machines is a tempting thought. This boat could replicate the success of the great little Mumm 30 but with more reassuring offshore credentials…
BUSINESS OR TECHNOLOGY – Jack Griffin The America’s Cup has changed hands three times this century. Each time the new defender introduced a big innovation. Alinghi’s innovation was commercial. Oracle and Emirates Team New Zealand each introduced fascinating technical innovations. Both commercial and technical innovation are in keeping with the spirit of origin of the Amer- ica’s Cup. The Royal Yacht Squadron’s race for the 100 Guinea Cup, open to clubs of all nations, was inspired by Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. The motivation for the Great Exhibition was, to quote historian Yvonne Ffrench, to help Britain make ‘clear to the world its role as industrial leader’. When Alinghi introduced the ‘Acts’ in the build-up to the 2007
America’s Cup the goal was to keep the America’s Cup in the news and to provide more activation opportunities for sponsors and for host city Valencia. The series of IACC yachts was coming to the end of their life. One hundred of them were built (or started) and the technical progress was measured in hundredths of a knot. And there were 11 challengers. Even if only four of them were
truly competitive the other seven added colour, helped to build the audience and provided employment for an army of sailors, designers, boatbuilders and commercial teams. With a large supply of yachts from earlier editions, start-up teams could get in the game on a shoestring, and stay in the game through the Challenger Selection Series. And there were some entertaining upsets in that challenger series, like when Oracle blew out their headsail foil in one race and were beaten by China Team. Shosholoza’s fast RSA-83 beat eventual Louis Vuitton Cup finalist Luna Rossa in a round-robin race. No one expected to see either team in the Match, but no one will deny that they added colour and fun to the scene in Valencia.
14 SEAHORSE Timing is everything, and Alinghi’s timing was impeccable. Riding
a strong economy and a generous supply of Spanish government money, the 32nd America’s Cup turned a profit of 66 million dollars, split among all the teams. Team New Zealand’s share was estimated to be over 10 million dollars. Fast forward to February 2010. The Auld Mug was handed over
to Oracle after two years of legal wrangling and two races in monster multihulls. The yachts harked back to a golden age of America’s Cup racing with Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock III lining up against C Oliver Iselin’s Herreshoff masterpiece, Reliance, in 1903. As in 1903, Oracle opted for technical miracles and grandeur: the AC72s. Predicting 14 challengers and claiming to invent the concept of
pre-regattas, now rebranded AC World Series, Oracle went all in. Their event company ACEA underwrote the AC World Series, including all the logistics for all the teams. ACTV was created and staffed with 130 people at the first ACWS regatta, in Cascais in August 2011. The promised 14 challengers melted down to eight, and one of them had their AC45 repossessed before they finished assem- bling it. Of the seven challengers who raced, only Artemis and Emi- rates Team New Zealand would build an AC72. Luna Rossa joined the fray after the second AC World Series in Portsmouth, and were only able to join in because they were allowed to buy ETNZ’s design. Tragedy struck on 9 May 2013 when Artemis Racing’s flawed
AC72 folded up in a capsize and Andrew Simpson was killed. Proposed new safety rules triggered protests, press releases
and international jury rulings. The much hyped three-month ‘Summer of Racing’ started with a cancelled 4 July parade of AC72s followed by a series of one-boat sailovers, breakdowns and mismatches. And then we got one of the most thrilling comebacks in sport. Oracle needed until midway through the 19-race Match to learn to
CHRISTOPHE BRESCHI
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