Gladwell's Line - Cup fire fight as Kiwis depart

by . on 6 Apr 2017 Last week marked the end of Emirates Team New Zealand's work-up phase for the 35th America's Cup.

The team's AC50 will fly out sometime within the next week bound for Bermuda.

Going by ship will be the last of the chase-boats - expected to arrive in Bermuda about the time of the start of the Qualifier Series.

It would be fair to say that everything is not going as planned for the teams, with the new AC50 class presenting plenty of challenges for the designers and shore teams.

Most teams, if not all, have broken daggerboards - and not with turtle and marine debris strikes either.

It will be interesting, if measurement certificates are made public, to see how close the boats are to minimum weight. The smart money is that some are struggling with weight issues - triggered by the standard specification for the one-design AC50 being a little light in some areas. The teams do have the option to exceed the standard specification, but that carries a trade-off of increased weight, above the current minimum of 2432kgs all up.

We won't know until the teams square off in Bermuda as to whether the cycling grinders is an advantage.

All the indicators are that pedal-power is superior to arm power. The watt calculations all point to pedals being superior with some of the numbers being put out by other teams being a little hard to believe, to put it mildly.

Of course, if there is only a power input requirement for about half of the sailing time, then there will be no advantage of feet over hands. But the AC50 looks to be power hungry and Emirates Team NZ's approach - at this stage - would seem to be delivering the goods.

In Bermuda, there has been some practice racing between the teams over a five day period and in a variety of conditions.

Oracle Team USA looked to have the measure of the other four, but Artemis Racing looked surprisingly good - a performance that is not unexpected and which many attributes to the acquisition of top designer Michel Kermarec from Oracle Team USA after the last America's Cup. Kermarec holds a PhD in Hydrodynamics and was the former head of performance prediction and appendage design with the America's Cup winner in 2010 and 2013. Many were surprised that the double America's Cup winner let him go.

Artemis Racing claimed they did not have good results on the first day of practice racing in stronger winds but performed very well after that.

“We’re still getting used to sailing the boat, and the windy and wavy conditions on Friday led to a tough start, losing our first two races. But it was good to finish off the day with a win against Jimmy, just on the line', said helmsman Nathan Outteridge.

“Moving into Saturday and Sunday, it got much lighter, and I was really pleased with how we were able to step it up. We won all our races on Saturday, and our first three today [Sunday], meaning it all came down to our final race with Oracle Team USA. We started strong, lead for the majority, but they got a shift on the last beat and managed to get in just ahead of us. We’ve certainly learnt a lot, and now we have a bit of time to start working on improving the way we sail the boat, the way we race the boat, as well as installing a few upgrades.'

The Swedish team suffered a setback they didn't need today with the breakup of their test platform - Artemis Racing's AC45T as they call it - really their surrogate boat built from a pair of AC45 hulls from the last campaign.

Worse is that we are told that the team were sailing with their new wingsail for the AC50. It didn't appear to be too damaged - but the last thing any teams needs is significant gear damage just six weeks from the start of the Qualifiers.

We have the latest updates on the website.

There has been plenty of the back and forth over daggerboards, how many you are allowed, whose got what and which teams have broken boards.

Oracle Team USA skipper, Jimmy Spithill made the surprising comment: 'The fact is, I think everyone only has one set of foils at this point, so in lighter winds, everyone was compromised somewhat.'

For those who followed the Youtube video of the racing at MyisandhomeBDA will notice the AC50's looking a little soggy in tacks and gybes. Whether that is because of the soft hydraulic pressure in the tack as two of the crew, cross the boat, or because of the medium to heavy air foils is a debating point. However, the issue still seemed to be there in the breeze.

Those who have watched Emirates Team NZ training on the Waitemata Harbour will notice the difference - even allowing for the quality and angle of the video.

Some of the colour has come back into the America's Cup as the war of words picked up, and Emirates Team NZ found a way to directly respond without being asked to visit the Arbitration Panel.

We feature the exchange between Russell Coutts, who wears the dual hats of CEO of Oracle Team USA and America's Cup Events Authority, and Emirates Team NZ and the sailing media.

It transpires that sledging between teams is not specifically outlawed under the current Protocol. It is the teams that are not allowed to make a response to the taunts of ACEA, and can't criticise the current or future events but can fire off at each other, in the time honoured way.

Many feel the current America's Cup has cosseted the teams, and that the colourful comments which were always part of the event have been expunged. The event is poorer for it.

That notion dried up this week with the social media slanging from Russell Coutts - which got a response, and certainly polarised fans in this part of the world.

While some might not like Coutts' attempts to put his viewpoint, the America's Cup is much the better for this antagonistic comment than it is without.

We should be in no doubt that there is a clear competitive divide in the 35th America's Cup. It may not be along the traditional lines of Challenger vs. Defender - it is Emirates Team New Zealand versus The Rest.

Follow it on Sail-World. We'll be reporting from Bermuda for the duration of the regatta.

Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on www.sail-world.com by scrolling to the top of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

sailworldnzl@gmail.com

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