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  Peeking behind the AC36 curtain—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
 | | Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America's Cup © BMW | Studio Borlenghi |
Oracle Team USA lost the 35th America's Cup in a stunning, 7-1 upset loss to Emirates Team New Zealand on the waters of Bermuda's Great Sound on June 26, 2017, sending the Auld Mug back to its antipodean stomping grounds of Auckland, New Zealand, where it is widely assumed the Cup's new Kiwi custodians will host “AC36”, likely in the early months of 2021. While plenty of question marks still punctuate this horizon, the world edged a lot closer to seeing the Kiwi's vision for AC36 last Friday, when the Protocol that governs the 36thAmerica's Cup was published by the Defender, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), and the Challenger of Record (CoR), the Circolo della Vela Sicilla.
Not surprisingly, the Defender and the CoR opted to return to high-performance monohulls, ditching the multihulls that have defined the last three editions of this long-celebrated regatta. According to the recently released Protocol, AC36 will be determined aboard 75-foot, high-performance monohulls (the design rule will be released by March 31, 2018 for this new class of yacht), which could benefit from foils that lift-or partially lift-the big monohull from the brine, much like the IMOCA 60 monohulls, which are used for the Vendee Globe, now employ.
 | Emirates Team New Zealand won the 35th America's Cup vs Oracle Team Usa 7-1
© BMW | Studio Borlenghi |
“The plans are coming together nicely–we shall have a very exciting boat that will be fast and powerful,” said Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, the RNZYS's sailing team. “We are pushing the boundaries of what is possible technically and this will test the designers, boat builders and the sailors to the limit. Just what the America's Cup is all about.”
Each team can build a total of two AC75 boats, however each hull must be laminated in the country of its origin (e.g., a U.S.-flagged boat's hull must be laminated in the US of A), and teams are not allowed to engage in two-boat testing. Additionally, teams are not allowed to engage in wind tunnel or tank testing (but computer modeling appears to be unlimited) or launch surrogate yachts as a way of limiting the arms-race aspect of AC36.
 | | Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA - 35th America's Cup Match - Race 3 Start - Bermuda June 18, 2017 Richard Gladwell |
In all cases, teams cannot launch their first-generation AC75 boats until March 31, 2019, and they cannot launch their 2.0 designs (if they have one) until February 15, 2020.
While there are plenty of changes and tweaks coming to the mandatory-participation Challenger's Trophy (now called the Prada Cup, rather than its old moniker, the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series), one interesting addition is the America's Cup Christmas Race, which will be held sometime from December 10-20, 2020.
As for the AC36's starting gun details (exact dates and venue), these will be released by the RNZYS no later than August 30, 2018.
 | Emirates Team New Zealand won the 35th America's Cup vs Oracle Team Usa 7-1
© BMW | Studio Borlenghi |
Oracle Team USA earned plenty of criticism (including from your humble editor's quill) about the fact that there was but a single “American” on the team's starting line-up (and Tom Slingsby holds dual American and Australian passports, however he won his gold medal in the Laser class at the London 2012 Olympics while wearing Australian colors), and the Defender and the CoR addressed this shortcoming in the Protocol, which requires that 20 percent of each team's 10-12 person sailing squad (read: not designers or shore team) be from the nation whose flag is on the team's sail.
While this isn't the 80-90 percent metric that some in the sailing community favored (your editor's hand is waving vigorously in the air), it is a half step in the right direction.
 | | Ben Ainslie (GBR) - Round Robin 2, Day 4 - 35th America's Cup - Bermuda May 30, 2017 Richard Gladwell |
'Land Rover BAR has always had a British identity and this rule won't affect us,' said Team Principal, Sir Ben Ainslie, whose team was eliminated early in the last Luis Vuitton Challenger Series. 'We will learn from our mistakes, and come back stronger.”
As for the challenge ahead, Sir Ben sounded confidant. 'We are comfortable with the transition, the key people in our sailing, design, engineering and support teams all have a great deal of relevant experience,' he continued. “We don't underestimate the challenge – it is immense – but we will call on the very best of British technology and innovation through our partners, and use that British fighting spirit to finally bring the Cup home to Britain.”
 | | Emirates Team New Zealand America's Cup - Presentation - Bermuda June 26, 2017 Richard Gladwell |
While there has been no word from Oracle Team USA, it is not expected that the former Defender will step back up to try and reclaim their prize, and-to date-there has not been word of any other American- or Canadian-flagged challengers, however there's still plenty of chronological runway left before the early months of 2021, so stay tuned!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
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