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  AC changes, Jules Verne success—Sailing from North America & beyond
 | | New framework agreement creates strong future for the America's Cup America's Cup |
For a week in late-January, the international sailing world has seen some huge headlines flash by in several different important disciplines of the sport, from America's Cup racing, to the Jules Verne trophy for the fastest nonstop, fully crewed circumnavigation time, to the Sailing World Cup Miami, which served as the first major regatta of the 2020 Olympic quadrennial.
First, the Auld Mug. For years, America's Cup teams have spoken of the disturbance that's caused by a quadrennial cycle, where a Cup takes place, the world celebrates, and the teams essentially scatter for the next 12-18 months, followed by fervent activity as teams attempt to (metaphorically) put their bands back together for the next cycle. For teams, this made it hard to maintain brain trusts and brawn, and for the sailors, an unsteady paycheck isn't the happiest of horizons to be contemplating, especially if life's more humdrum things such as mortgages, car payments and college tuitions are involved.
 | | ACWS - Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Portsmouth 2015 © ACEA 2015 / Photo Gilles Martin-Raget |
As a result, five out of the six teams that are competing in this year's 35th America's Cup, which will be held this spring in Bermuda, gathered in London at the House of Garrard, where the original Americas Cup trophy was built in 1848, and announced a framework agreement that includes two-year racing cycles for the 36th America's Cup (2019) and the 37th America's Cup (2021) in addition to the (nearly) continuous America's cup World Series cycle, which will start up again as soon as Q4 of 2017.
Additional announcements were also made, including the horizon line for the smaller, fully foiling AC45Fs and a commitment to use the same 50-foot America's Cup Class catamarans being used in the 35th Cup for the next two cycles.
 | | Jimmy Spithill leads Oracle Team USA to victory in the 34th America's Cup. Guilain Grenier Oracle Team USA © |
“We have all seen how damaging that extended quiet period can be for each of the stakeholders in the event,” said Jimmy Spithill, Oracle Team USA's skipper. “What we've done over the past year is to work together to tackle that problem head-on.
“We know that one of the current teams is going to win, so we have found common ground on a vision for the next event, and formalized that into rules now, before racing starts later this year,” continued Spithill. “That means there is now a clear plan in place that confirms the format for the competition using existing boats and equipment as much as possible to reduce costs.”
 | | Team New Zealand racing in Bermuda in the ACWS Emirates Team New Zealand |
Critically, five out of the six teams competing for the 35th America's Cup were involved in crafting this framework, with Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) abstaining. This could prove important in the long term, especially if ETNZ wins AC35, as the Protocol that governs Cup racing is clear about the fact that the winner gets to choose many of the basic rules governing the next Cup contest. It remains unclear as to how this newly announced framework would hold up to an ETNZ win in court.
Meanwhile, in the wild and woolly world of offshore sailing, skipper Francis Joyon (FRA) and his crew aboard the 31.5 meter IDEC SPORT trimaran have shattered the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest fully crewed nonstop circumnavigation, sailing a total of 26,412 nautical miles in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds, for an average pace of 26.85 knots. This represents a jaw-dropping improvement of 4 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds over the previous Jules Verne Trophy record passage.
 | Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT, Skipper Francis Joyon and his crew, break the Jules Verne Trophy record, crew circumnavigation, in 40d 23h 30min 30sec, in Brest on January 26, 2017 - Photo Francois Van Malleghem / DPPI / IDEC Sport
Celebration onboard © JM Liot / DPPI / IDEC SPORT |
Interestingly, this was not Joyon's first bite at the Jules Verne trophy apple.
“We weren't aiming for forty days,” said Joyon about his proud circumnavigation time. “It was something we couldn't even have imagined. Beating the record by a minute would already have been an achievement. Some people thought we were having a laugh trying to take up this challenge with such a small crew. It took us about two and a half circumnavigations to beat the record. That is around the same score for all the boats that have attempted the Jules Verne Trophy.”
Having personally tagged 39.51 knots aboard IDEC SPORT when she was sailing under the livery of Lending Club II with skipper Ryan Breymaier (USA) at her helm on San Francisco Bay in 2015, I can only imagine how much fun (likely mixed with a healthy dose of terror at times) the team must have had ripping around the world at an average pace of 26.85 knots. Hats off to Joyon and company for establishing a fantastic new benchmark!
 | | 39.51 knots aboard Lending Club 2 David Schmidt |
Finally, in Olympic Class news, the Sailing World Cup Miami (January 22-29) recently wrapped up in Miami, Florida, giving veteran teams a chance to shake off the (metaphorical) dust that has settled on their sails since the Rio 2016 Olympics, while also giving first-timers an eye-opening taste of what an Olympic campaign feels like.
Like many countries, North American sailors were trying new combinations of partners and classes, but, overall, American sailors proved quick. In the Men's 470 class, Rio veterans Stuart McNay and David Hughes captured a proud gold medal, while Luke Muller finished in fourth place in the Finn class and Louisa Chafee and Riley Gibbs finished in sixth place in the Nacra 17 class and Charlie Buckingham and Erica Reineke finished in seventh place in the Laser and Laser Radial classes (respectively). Additionally, Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin finished in sixth place in the Men's 470 class, Atlantic and Nora-Lucia Brugman finished in eighth place in the Women's 470 class, and David Liebenberg and Ian MacDiarmid landed in tenth place in the 49er class.
 | | Rio veterans Stuart McNay and David Hughes captured a proud gold medal in the Men's 470 class © Pedro Martinez / Sailing Energy / World Sailing |
'We had a solid team performance this week in Miami, with eight teams making medal races, and I'm happy with what I saw out of our athletes,' said Malcolm Page, who is serving as chief of U.S. Olympic sailing at US Sailing. 'We have much work ahead of us as a team, but we clearly have a great foundation not only of talented sailors, but of collective hunger for improvement.'
 | | Malcolm Page (left) addresses US Sailing Team athletes for the first time as head of the program. Jen Edney |
North of the border, Erin Rafuse and Dannie Boyd (both CAN) finished in fifth place in the 49erFX.
Get the full report from the Sailing World Cup Miami, inside this issue.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
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