TeamOrigin update on design resource for AC34

by TeamOrigin and Sail-World on 13 Jul 2010 TeamOrigin today announced that discussions with JYD (Juan Yacht Design) for the 34th America's Cup are not progressing.

Grant Simmer, who joined TeamOrigin in June after 10 years with Alinghi in various senior roles, including design coordinator, has been undertaking a review of the team's design options.

Simmer holds a strong view that with a new design rule soon to be announced, teams need to be in a position to be able to build their design capabilities to reflect the new rule.

As preparations for the next America's Cup gather momentum, several weeks of discussions have taken place between TeamOrigin and JYD.

Last week however, TeamOrigin decided to take an alternative approach than the one offered by JYD and, as a result, terminated discussions with JYD.

http://teamorigin.com/

Sail-World: JYD is the design office headed by Argentinean designer Juan Kouyomdjian, best known for his design of ABN Amro 1 which won the 2004/05 Volvo Round the World Race and also Ericsson 4, winner of the 2008/09 event. Their signing by former ABN Amro 1 skipper Mike Sanderson (also former Director of TeamOrigin) was seen as a real coup for the British team giving it much needed design muscle from one of the leading big boat designers in the world. Since Sanderson's ousting by TeamOrfgin management, former Alinghi design head team head, Grant Simmer has been appointed to head the team, and is believed to favour an in-house design team - which may draw on some of the former Alinghi design team. In house design teams have been used by Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand to win the last four America's Cups sailed on a multi-challenger basis. The 33rd America's Cup was also sailed in yachts designed by in-house design teams from Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing.