America's Cup Update

There was no racing yesterday so I thought I'd take a bit of time to explain what is happening in the AC world.


The AC office is moving to San Francisco a week from today. The next AC World Series event is in SF August 21-26. This will start the 2012-2013 season.


This is the beginning of overlapping time frames for many teams. The AC45 boats are the World Series boats. The AC 70 boats (twice the size, twice the speed) also start their testing for many teams. So don't get confused.




TEAMS


Who are the teams competing for the cup? There are officially 8 teams. Of those, 7 exist, 5 have real programs, and 4 have confirmed funding through the cup.




ARTEMIS RACING


Country: Sweden
Sponsor: apparently none? 


Principal: Torbjorn Tornqvist 
CEO: Paul Cayard
Helmsman: Terry Hutchinson
Employees: about 55


This team is the only one to come from the world of multihull racing at its heart. Artemis was the first to sail wing foil sails in the C Class Catamaran series. They have had a lot of success. They are fully staffed with about 60 people. They have a 1-boat program for the AC45 and have competed in all 6 events to date. They have not won an fleet racing event yet but got second in the first event. but more importantly, they won the overall match racing title for the season. The cup will be a match racing event. Expect these guys to be favorites.


BAR


Country: England
Sponsor: none
Principal: Ben Ainslie
CEO: Ben Ainslie
Helmsman: Ben Ainslie
Employees: 4


The team does not exist. There is no AC45, no AC70, no staff, and no program. Why they are listed as an official team is beyond me. I fully expect Ben will join up with another team after the Olympics. but even so, he is a small boat sailor with no multihull or wing experience. Good luck.


CHINA


Country: China
Sponsor: none
Principal: Wang Chaoyong
CEO: Thierry Barot
Helmsman: Phil Robertson (who?)
Employees: about 20 and hiring


This team is an extension of the state sponsored sailing program in China. The team members are for the most part part of the Chinese national sailing program. They built their AC45 in China. They picked up Phil Robertson, who is a keel boat match racing circuit star, for one event in Venice where he finished 4th in race 5, and pretty much last the rest of the week. Nobody knows if they have an AC70 in the works. I doubt it. Don't expect much from this team.


EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND


Country: New Zealand
Sponsor: Fly Emirates
Principal: Grant Dalton
CEO: Dean Barker
Helmsman: Dean Barker
Employees: about 45


This is the same team that has persisted for years to compete for the cup. They shifted from monohulls to catamarans and wings. Their learning curve is progressing well. They have a 1-boat AC45 campaign finishing 2nd overall in the 6 event 2011-2012 series and always finishing in the top three. Their AC70 launches in a week. They are moderately financed as a single boat campaign, but skilled enough to win it. I expect them to end up third though.


ENERGY


Country: France
Sponsor: Corum (possibly ended)
Principal/CEO: Bruno Peyron
Helmsman: Loick Peyron / Yann Guichard
Employees: about 15


France's best monohull sailor teamed with France's best multihull sailor (Loick/Yann). On a shoestring budget this team put together an AC45 boat, finished 4th overall and won the Venice regatta. This is France's best opportunity to win the cup ever. Unfortunately their funding may be drying up. They have until August 1 to come up with funds. If they cannot, they are done.


LUNA ROSSA CHALLENGE 2013


Country: Italy
Sponsor: Prada
Principal/CEO: Patrizzio Bertelli
Helmsman: Massimiliano Sirena, Paul Campbell-James, Chris Draper
Employees: 60+


This team arrived late to the party. Bertelli was a spectator at the second event. He was impressed, and explored the possibility. Sponsors liked it and by the 4th event there were TWO AC45 Prada boats competing. They then proceeded to win 2 of the 3 regattas they competed in. In some sort of under the table weird agreement, Prada and New Zealand are sharing technologies, gear, or whatever. They both will be sailing in New Zealand out of the same base in their AC72s. Prada is building their hulls in Italy to conform to the rules, then assembling the boat with all other components built in New Zealand. Hmmm. They are REALLY well funded and should be right there with New Zealand fighting to win the cup.


ORACLE RACING


Country: USA
Sponsor: Oracle
Principal: Larry Ellison
CEO: Russell Couts
Helmsman: James Spithill, Russell Couts
Employees: about 60


Defenders of the cup, Larry Ellison put together an all-star team. With a well finance 2-boat AC45 program, Jimmy Spithill won the fleet racing and was second overall in the match racing. Worrisome is that Spithill is 2 for 6 in match race titles, and Couts is 1 for 6. They may be fast in fleet racing but they need to win the cup in match racing. The AC70 boat is well under way and is expected to be on the water soon. They will be one of the serious contenders.


TEAM KOREA


Country: Korea
Sponsor: none
Principal/CEO: Kim Dong-Young
Helmsman: Nathan Outteridge
Emplyess: about 15


This team is brand new to the sport and has made it clear this is a learning experience with further future involvement expected. They have a 1-boat AC45 campaign. Nathan is a Moth / 49er sailor with little multihull experience. The team made a big splash by getting 2nd in the first match race event, and 4th in the last fleet race event. But in general they are mid-pack at best. There is no word on their AC70 development. If they build a boat and make it to the final four it will be a massive upset.






Overall AC Status?


The event has been scaled WAY back from the Formula One wanna-be plans they had. NBC is still covering the racing live in August and in 2013 for the cup. Newport live coverage ratings were good. But the city of San Francisco and various lawsuits and crap may curb the event even further. It is an uphill battle to build a sailing venue on the city owned piers. We'll see a number of AC45 events around the world over the next 6-9 months too.


I predict we see 4 or 5 AC70 boats built, and only 4 make it to the cup event with funding intact (Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and USA). But those 4 will be damn impressive to watch. We're talking about 11-person 70-foot boats with 130-foot wing sails travelling at speeds in excess of 40 knots. Chase and camera powerboats are being specially built to travel fast enough.


Between now and January 1, any AC70 launched is limited to 30 days of on-the-water trials. This is an attempt to limit expense and level the playing field, similar to the "no testing" rules in F1. I'm looking forward to the first video of a 70-foot boat stuffing the bow and tossing 11 people through the wing. Helmets and life jackets for everyone.