Editorial Come on, that was pretty good, wasn’t it?
Andrew Hurst
During the 37th America’s Cup Match I thought it would be interesting to watch a race or two from back in the days of the ACC V5 monohulls, when you could certainly see the crews in action (good), and also all that fabled ‘hoisting and dropping of sails’, ‘lots of action’ and majestic yachts in ‘inch- close racing’. All the drama highlighted by critics
of the foiling era of the Cup generally and the AC75s in particular. Well, guess what? There certainly were a handful of extremely
exciting races in Valencia in 2007 – swansong of the Archimedean era. Or at least a tiny handful. Some of the races in the Match between a well-matched Team NZ and Alinghi were nail-biters (and well worth watching). As for the great bulk of the racing, aside from extended and often interesting (for aficionados) pre-starts, once the boats were across the line nine times out of 10 it was a yawn-fest, just as in the 12 Metre days before that. The odd gem wrapped in a mass of tedium. Time after time the winner of the first cross steadily sailing away
from its rival but, instead of it all being over in 20-25 minutes as in Barcelona, it dragged out for hours at a time. It is hard to argue that watching yacht racing is much more engaging
when you can see the crew hard at work, even a small crew. But that to me is the only big takeaway for when the great and the good sit down to decide changes to the AC75 rule ahead of AC38.
In size order The AC40 racing for the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup was a blast. The AC40s are a blast. It will be a fitting legacy of the AC75 foiling era if, by the time the Cup finally moves on to an even more bonkers class, the AC40 has become established as a fleet of its own with regular racing outside the Cup, while being on tap for feeder events into the big one. And as a tool for getting wannabe new teams out there in front of potential sponsors and up to speed. That was the plan for the AC45 cats that accompanied the brief
switch to the monster AC72s and, while few AC45 teams made it into the big league, it generated a lot of exposure, produced some brilliant-to-watch competition and gave a lot of sailors a lot of fun. It even prompted the master Cup impresario (and sailor) Russell Coutts to concede that he was ‘getting too old for this stuff’.
Team NZ and Luna Rossa were the two fastest boats, but with Luna Rossa lacking the all-round speed and reliability to beat Ineos in the heavier air of the Louis Vuitton Final. The silver rocket also looked a beast to handle in big conditions,
while the well-rehearsed British crew had a more sailable boat which sometimes displayed a level of downwind performance that no one else in Spain could match. Compared to Team NZ, however, and their process of evolution
rather than revolution, Ineos was always on the back-foot technically. While the Kiwis were trying different degrees of mast bend to suit different sails in the Match, the British were out there improving their tacking. The relative development stage of the Challenger evidenced by impressive performance gains every time they went afloat. But the British were racing Boat 1 of a quasi new concept while
Team NZ were racing iteration 3. The Brit boat had a lot of Team NZ about it, but seemingly inflated into a monster derivative in every area. It had its moments (downwind) but it could not turn with Team NZ, could not accelerate with Team NZ, and spent a lot more time with their skeg and bustle scraping the oggin than a Defender whose boat seemed to magnetically repel contact with water. For a first stab at a new type of AC75, Ineos Britannia was a fine
success, Boat 2 would have been better still. But the three AC75s built by Ineos since 2019 were each to a completely different concept. The challenge of getting it right first time in 2024 was too much even for the unmatched resources of the British tech team. Perhaps the AC75 class has hit its sweet spot with Team NZ,
And up How technically fascinating was this year’s crop of AC75s and what did it tell us? Firstly, that having got a jump start in the class as a consequence of having early sight idea of the new AC75 rule, while putting the darn thing together, Team New Zealand has diligently and continuously beavered away, improving their already superior tools and refining their designs. They were not the only group working away, but they were the first
to unpick the rule and, by the time of their second boat in 2021, deliver what may prove to be the definitive AC75 concept. Just as for the second Cup in ACC designs, in 1995, they unlocked the key to that class, long, stiff, narrow… and devastating. In Auckland in 2021 only two
teams carried the concept of their first AC75 into their race boat, TNZ and Luna Rossa. And these were the two Cup final- ists. Again in 2024 these two evolved their 2021 designs for the 2024 edition while the rest went off seemingly at random in search of a silver bullet. This time around TNZ AC75
Boat 3 looked close to perfec- tion, with only a last per cent or two to be found ahead of AC38. I would argue that in target Barcelona wind condi- tions for the Match, 8-12kt,
Oh boy, the trouble you caused everyone, though to be fair without Ellison hiring Coutts (for it is he) who went for the jugular with the Deed of Gift Match we would still be bobbing at 9kt rather than flying
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perhaps the only way forward is to accept that and make a better mousetrap. Just as every other Cup team did following Team NZ’s crushing win in 1995. Though then too it took a further generation and a lot of wasted carbon fibre before the rest accepted defeat. q
BUT THE BRITS HAVE MOVED ON He is brave to have accepted the helm of Sovereign, he has limited and rusty racing experience but he is a
good leader of men – John Illingworth greets Peter Scott’s appointment to skipper the British Challenger in 1964
The British skipper is remote, Olympian in attitude, and superior to the crew in the icy manner of an absentee landlord on a tour of
inspection – Legendary US Cup commentator Norris Hoyt is less impressed
The British management acted like lords of the manor; the crew were
drilled like troops – Hoyt But their challenge was in the best tradition of Empire, and it lost out against a modern opposition in
much the same way – Hoyt
BRAVISSIMA Luna Rossa does
not stop – Patrizio Bertelli, CEO
From Wednesday the AC75 starts sailing with Marco Gradoni and his
young team in charge – Bertelli Now we are chilling, then we study the others and go out to
win races – Youth America’s Cup winner Marco Gradoni
You’re never confident enough, but we don’t feel pressure. I never feel pressure – Gradoni
MEET THE NEW BOSS? Team NZ will be scared
of us next time – Dylan Fletcher of Ineos makes his pitch
WHEN BREEZY To get some rest I strap myself into my
sprung bed – Charlie Dalin, Macif To navigate I strap myself into my
sprung seat – Dalin
GO GO GO SAM Thomas Ruyant was looking for a competent skipper to take over his second boat. They
found me competent – Sam Goodchild
SEAHORSE 11
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