America's Cup - Forecasters vital to success on Day 1 of LV Final

by Richard Gladwell Sail-World.com on 10 Jun 2017 Racing gets underway today, Saturday, June 10, in the first day of the Challenger Final for the Louis Vuitton Trophy part of the 35th America's Cup Regatta being sailed in Bermuda.

The wind according to official source is predicted at 11-14kts at race start time just after 2.00pm local time. The wind is predicted to drop slightly.

On Predictwind.com lighter winds of 9kts are forecast dropping into single digits as the afternoon progresses.

Currently, two hours before race start the winds have dropped and are probably around 10kts

The weather forecast is vital today as the choice of a light weather high lift daggerboards to get early foiling and assist foiling through the tacks. Or, if teams are confident of foiling they will opt for a narrower, lower drag board which gives more speed.

The problem with the latter option is that is the wind drops below the crossover point and the All Purpose boards are fitted instead of the Light air boards then the AC50's will struggle to foil.

The consequence of getting weather forecast wrong and fitting the wrong daggerboards are that with three races scheduled, the final could be over before it starts - coming ashore with three losses on the scoreboard in a best of five series, and with three more races scheduled tomorrow, a team could set themselves up for a very sudden death, and by their own hand.

On days like today the weather forecasters certainly earn their keep.

The other point of significance today is that Oracle Team USA invited both of their fellow signatories to the so-called 'Framework' agreement to train with them on the Defender area, while as a Challenger Emirate Team New Zealand and Artemis Racing have rights today to the actual area to be used for racing.

As widely expected and virtually confirmed at last nights media conference by Softbank Team Japan skipper Dean Barker, the latest Challenger to be knocked out of the Louis Vuitton Trophy, they will take the near unprecedented move of training against the Defender.

Barker explained this away as a means of returned the support given to Softbank Team Japan by Oracle Team USA, who as Defender have elected not to exercise their right build a second AC50. There was really no need to once the deal with Softbank Team Japan was signed. Under the Protocol the launch date and use of a second AC50 was quite limited - its main use being as a trial-horse after Oracle Team USA exited the Qualifier Round.

However the partnership deal with a willing Challenger gave a lot more scope both in information sharing and on the water sailing time, plus if Softbank Team Japan remained in the Challenger Series and came up against Emirates Team New Zealand then the Defender would have very useful benchmark on the Kiwis who emerged from the Qualifiers as top Challenger.



At this stage in the 2013 America's Cup controversy raged over a bit of tricky gamesmanship by the Defender Oracle Team USA. Under the then Protocol There was to be Challenger and Defender Trials with all participating teams able to get a copy of the Performance Data from the other Series. Golden Gate Yacht Club did an about-face and decided that they would not hold a Defender Selection Series, but still managed to get a copy of the Challenger Performance Data, and could marry that up with helicopter video which was also prohibited under Reconnaissance Rules which existed for that series, unless it came from a public broadcast.

The issue went to an International Jury Hearing which found that the loop-hole which Oracle Team USA had worked for themselves was not prohibited and effectively the Defender had out-maneuvered the Challengers in this regard.

That situation has now changed according to Race Director Iain Murray and all teams do have access to a performance data base.

Race Director Iain Murray says the situation has since been rectified.

'I think it has been recognised that it wasn't as good as it could have been last time and since the start of the Regatta on May 26th, the data has been recorded and the teams all have a copy,' Murray said.

'If there were problems I would have been getting calls from the teams on my 1-800 phone number - and that line has been quiet for a while now!' he quipped.