LOUIS VUITTON 37th AMERICA’S CUP CLICKS INTO GEAR IN APRIL

Emirates Team New Zealand

The first to launch, the first to tow-test and the first to sail, Emirates Team New Zealand have been a model of efficiency in April, but they had to be. Based down in Auckland, the team knew that they had to be quick off the blocks to get the maximum amount of training time concluded before the boat is shipped up to Barcelona and with the late antipodean summer capable of producing a variety of conditions, it’s no surprise to see them pulling very long hours in order to work the boat up to race-ready. 

A monsoon-like downpour, to some a good omen, saw Dame Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Patron of Emirates Team New Zealand crack the bottle of champagne before the traditional Maori naming ceremony was granted by the Iwi manaaki Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, with the boat named ‘Taihoro’ inspired from Taihoro-Nukurangi, and translates to: “To move swiftly as the sea between both sky and earth.” Across 13 days of sailing in April, Taihoro was sensational. Straight out of the box, the Kiwis rifled through the commissioning phase and by the end of the month were well into race laps and pre-starts. Impressive performance from the Defenders of the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup.

Behind the Fence

Hydraulic control on the AC75 is one of the key battle grounds for the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup and for the Defenders there has been an awful lot of work gone into this area. The hydro team of Peter Thomas, Scott Barnes, James Graham, Ethan Jones are a tight group that have been working tirelessly for the past few years and have recently been joined by RNZAF Aircraft technician Michal Johnston who is taking a year’s leave from the Airforce to join the Emirates Team New Zealand hydro team. “Everything that moves on the boat is through a hydraulic ram and it’s not too alien in terms of aircraft hydraulic. There are different systems, but the physics are all the same. So, like an aircraft all of the systems need to be really looked after.”  Take a look at what the team do HERE: 

INEOS Britannia

An early-morning delivery on April 6^th in Barcelona from an airfield hanger in Turweston, Northamptonshire where the boat was fitted-out, saw INEOS Britannia’s challenge for the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup take a huge step forward. After a short time in the team’s shed on the Port Vell, the new AC75 was revealed to the world and immediately screamed innovation with a radical hull form that quite rightly has British fans believing has a real chance of going deep in this event. The first tow-test at the end of April showed a really stable, powerful platform with a perfectly formed skeg and bustle that end-plates efficiently. The first sail is scheduled for the beginning of May and all eyes will be on the Challenger of Record who might just have a boat that is capable of reversing 173 years of history. Great times for the British team.

Behind the Fence

Meet Mark Hobbs a key member of INEOS Britannia’s structural engineering team, who carries the responsibility for all the structural engineering across the yacht. “I studied maths, further maths, physics and chemistry at A-level and I was always interested in going into engineering. I saw the STEM subjects as the pathway to an engineering career. There's a wider range of skills you need for engineering though, it's not just about being analytical in numbers. And for me one of the really important skills is being able to convey ideas to people, and that can either be through talking to people, through writing reports or presentations or doing sketches. The skill of being able to draw something quickly in 3D is very important, because a picture paints a thousand words.”

Alinghi Red Bull Racing

The Swiss opted for a glitzy evening reveal of their new, and incredibly radical boat on the 5^th April, the first team to unveil a new generation AC75 amidst floodlights, smoke, acrobats, and the haunting sound of the enormous Swiss bell that the team have onsite at their Port Vell base. What we saw was some innovative aero thinking with pods ending abruptly into a cutaway aft transom. The big bustle, chine detailing on the bow and ‘bumps’ on the foredeck were immediately seen and at the launch on the 16^th April, the long-span foils were also revealed into the daylight.

Early trials have been positive, and the Swiss worked through the commissioning phase, completing eight days of training to the end of April and really putting the hours in, showing very good form in the lighter airs and flatter waters. Take-offs were a cinch and top speeds have been getting faster and faster as the sailing team push harder and get comfortable with the platform.

Behind the Fence

Nils Theuninck, Barnabé Delarze, Théry Schir and Franco Noti are key members of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Power Group and with the new AC75 launched, they can be found pedalling furiously in the aft pods of the boat, providing the power delivery for all the above deck moving parts such as sail control and mast rotation. Here they give a snapshot of what their role entails: 

NYYC American Magic

April saw the conclusion of a very dynamic block of two-boat AC40 training for the American team who have a clear ‘A’ and ‘B’ team who pushed each other harder and harder with some desperately close-quarter racing on display. Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison are clicking well on the helms and with Andrew Campbell and Michael Menninger emerging as the lead Flight Controllers/Trimmers, this is a team that is more than race-ready.

The team’s new AC75 was flown in by an Antonov Cargo plane at the end of March and brought out of the shed at the end of April, revealing an innovative scow-bow design kicking off a powerful hull form with plenty of flaring from its deep skeg and bustle. First sail is due for early May when we will know more about the direction the team have taken on foils and system controls, and crucially on the aero run-off of the stern. Great days for the team hoping to return the Cup back to the West 44^th Street Clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club where it sat for 132 years.

Behind the Fence

Anderson Reggio, Performance Manager of NYYC American Magic gives a wonderful behind the scenes look at exactly what goes into two-boat testing. The Americans spent most of the month of April putting their two AC40’s to the test in increasingly higher-octane racing environments but how do they assess performance? Anderson answers the questions: 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli  

A masterpiece of design and aesthetics was revealed by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on the 13^th April with Miuccia Prada cracking the bottle of champagne on the bow of the boat that Italian fans are hoping is enough to avenge the defeat of the AC36 Match and win the 37^th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. The silver-hull shimmered at the Molo Ichnusa team base in Cagliari, revealing a smooth underbody with considerate bustle but once the boat was in the water, the aero deck, finished in naked carbon hinted at the design direction that the Italians have taken.

In early sea-trials she has been sensational with the sailing team able to push hard almost immediately and in the stronger winds on the Bay of Angels she has been a model of stability and power. For initial testing, the team elected to use legacy foils from AC36 and even with the shorter span, the boat looked rapid. All eyes on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli through May now..

Behind the Fence

Enrico Voltolini holds a degree in Nautical Engineering, and as well as being one of Luna Rossa's cyclors, Enrico is also boat captain of the AC40. After winning the International Star Class World Championships with Diego Negri, and holding the coveted ‘Gold Star’, Enrico and Diego went on to win the European Championships and two Italian national Championships. In the single-handed Finn Class, Enrico was the Italian National Champion in 2021. Here he gives an insight into his dual roles at Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: 

Orient Express Racing Team

True to the words of Team Principle Bruno Dubois, the French have been putting huge hours on the water throughout April in their AC40, getting up to speed and really making positive gains. The arrival of their new AC75 on the 6^th April was a serious milestone for the team who are now deep into the technical fit-out with an expected reveal sometime in early May.

Orient Express Racing Team commissioned the hull design from Emirates Team New Zealand so the expectation is for a similar design to ‘Taihoro’ with extensive flaring off the bow and a powerful bustle in the back two-thirds. Where the French can innovate is on foil design and systems – two areas where they excel in all other sailing disciplines be that inshore or offshore. High expectations are rightly starting to form around the French – an outstanding sailing nation and they are going about their business efficiently and quietly. The dark-horses amongst the Challengers of the 37^th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, for sure.

Behind the Fence

James O’Mahony, Head of the Hydraulics Department at Orient Express Racing Team and an experienced team member of campaigns such as Abu Dhabi Racing and 11^th Hour Racing Team, offers a unique insight into his role for the French Challenge for the Louis Vuitton 27^th America’s Cup: