WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE AMERICA’S CUP
TEAM RECAP
Preparations for the 37th America’s Cup were significantly boosted in May with the announcement that Puig, a global leader in the beauty and fashion industry, had come onboard as a global partner of the America’s Cup and the official naming partner of the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup.
Furthermore, it was announced that Estrella Damm, the famous Spanish beer company, would sponsor both the America’s Cup as the official beer of the event and extend its sponsorship to Emirates Team New Zealand.
On the water, training schedules have been noticeably ramping up with new technology, new foils and plenty of long hours being completed by all the teams. The race for the America’s Cup is heating up with all the teams shortly to be sited in Barcelona for the summer sailing season that starts from the 1st July and culminates with the first preliminary regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú from the 14-17th September.
EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND
It has been relentlessly busy for the sailors and shore team with Te Rehutai, the team’s AC75, being pushed through a whole series of testing schedules concentrating on technique and refinement of the control systems before getting to work on packing the boat up before it’s shipped up to Barcelona for the start of the summer sailing period as defined in the Protocol. On the last few days of sailing, the Defenders of the America’s Cup unveiled Estrella Damm as both a sponsor of the team and the 37th America’s Cup event itself.
Towards the end of the month, the team brought out the AC40s – one in one design mode, the other as an LEQ12 replete with a new starboard foil wing and put on a thrilling show of two-boat race action. Josh Junior and Leo Takahashi were installed in the AC40 whilst Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling took charge of the LEQ12 and were immediately into high octane action with no quarter given. The team will now start the transition process up to Europe as final design decisions are made in Auckland under the watchful eye of Dan Bernasconi.
INEOS BRITANNIA
A hard-driving period for the Challenger of Record who brought out a new design direction for ‘T6’ their LEQ12 test platform with a more standardised long-span anhedral foil replacing the W-Foil concept. The difference appeared night and day with the sailors rotating throughout May and looking better with every session. The LEQ12 looked rapid and logical with ultra-smooth low flight and the end-plating effect of bustle-skimming getting more and more refined.
On the water the sailors looked comfortable and confident as they went through their test schedules day after day and the month was rounded off by some superb sailing against the AC40 in one-design mode in lighter airs. The surprise was that the presumably heavier ‘T6’ was more than a match for the nimble, lightweight AC40 and it was the first time we’ve seen the dynamic of an AC40 lining up with a pure LEQ12 in this America’s Cup cycle.
ALINGHI RED BULL RACING
The Swiss completed some 17 days on the water in May as their sailing programme went to the next level across both the AC75 and AC40/LEQ12 programmes, mimicking the work going on shoreside as the team revealed their first pieces on new, visible, technology in this America’s Cup cycle. For a start we saw LED marker lights on the jib tracks of the AC75 before the team unveiled the new ‘Tubercle’ foil on their AC40 LEQ12 that sent tongues wagging with its serrated leading edge as seen in nature on the fins of a humpback whale.
The team also received, christened and commissioned their final AC40 that will stay in strict one-design and provide an excellent A/B test platform, as well as race partner, against the declared AC40 in LEQ12 mode in the coming weeks. The Swiss have looked fast in the AC40, training in big breezes in the middle of the month and with their base in the heart of the Port Vell rapidly nearing completion they will be looking to move in June from their temporary base at the mouth of the harbour. Great month for Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
NYYC AMERICAN MAGIC
The Americans signed off their winter training in Pensacola, Florida with a flourish bringing out a new port foil with a beefed-up sidewall on the bulb and upturned winglets at the outer tips in a relentless battle against leeway. It proved to be a game-changer and the team looked impressive through the early commissioning runs and will be itching to get ‘America’ out on the water in Barcelona in July.
The final session out in Pensacola was on the 10th May with Terry Hutchinson saying: “I know we'll evaluate pretty hard the session and will make sure that we look at it critically, but standing here today everybody's probably pretty happy with what we've done and where we are and we also know that we've got a lot of work ahead of us.” Team members have started arriving in Barcelona through May where they will stay now through to the America’s Cup and the team’s base is well advanced in the superyacht marina MB92 on the southern side of the Port Vell.
LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI
The Italians took delivery of their new AC40 ‘Luna Rossa’ at the beginning of May and began working it up and fully commissioning the yacht. After successful trials, by mid-month, the team switched back to their dynamic LEQ12 that had spent some three weeks in the shed undergoing modifications and came out with a new, slender port foil with a very pointed bulb, replete with cameras all over. In Mistral and sea-breeze conditions, the sailors were relentless day after day, pushing ever harder and looking sensational throughout, excelling in the breeze and showing incredibly smooth flight and control.
The highlight of the month for the team was the emotional reunion with the Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy’s training vessel and in a repeat of scenes some 20-odd years ago in Auckland, the sailors buzzed the ship described as the “most beautiful in the world,” and captured images that will last an eternity. Another good month for the team that every challenger fears.
ORIENT EXPRESS RACING TEAM
The Ecole Nationale de Voile and Sports Nautiques in Quiberon was the venue for the Orient Express Racing Team’s selection trials for their Youth & Women’s America’s Cup teams with a total of 17 sailors making the cut – eight for the Youth AC team and nine for the Women’s AC team. Big names to watch are Aloise Retornaz, the bronze medallist in the 470 class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Amélie Riou, the renowned foiling strategist, Enzo Balanger the fast-rising International Moth star and Matisse Pacaud, the 470 European champion. With the selection trials completed, Quentin Delapierre, the nominated skipper for the Orient Express Team’s AC75 began training in the GC32 class posting impressive results and keeping his foiling practice on track ahead of the arrival in August of the team’s first AC40. Work is now underway to build the team’s base in Barcelona at the western end of the port.