Please select your home edition
Edition
Allen Brothers

Letter from the Antipodes: Inside the AC Recon system

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 10 Nov 2022 23:22 PST 11 November 2022
Emirates Team NZ AC40 One Design - 2 November, 2022 - Waitemata Harbour, Auckland © Adam Mustill / America's Cup

Apologies for the radio silence. Wednesday and today are the first days for over two months when we haven't been delving into RFS to produce the latest America's Cup story.

RFS stands for Reconnaissance File System and is the output from the AC37 Joint Reconnaissance program, which is the "Spy Pool" of the 37th America's Cup, to which some sailing media have access. If you know what you are looking at, RFS is the Aladdin's Cave for sailing media.

In the last Cup in Auckland, the ubiquitous spy boats from various teams - maybe three RIBs with spotters and photographers aboard tracked the Kiwi's every move, sending the output back to their masters.

Whether Team New Zealand tracked their opponents with the same zeal is not known, but one suspects that one way or another, they had their fingers on their various opponents' pulses.

Many of the spies in Auckland were Kiwis - avoiding the expense of flying a spy team into Auckland, with accommodation costs on top of remuneration, and with multiple spy boats following a competitor. Now there is only one spy boat in the sailing location of each team - Auckland, Pensacola, Barcelona, Majorca and Cagliari. The photographs, video and reports go into a shared information pool which all teams can access at will.

The old way created some angst between the spies and the teams, who historically have never been happy about being spied upon. At times teams became aggressive and competitive on the water - as the sailing team attempted to block the other spies, and the spies became just as aggressive to ensure they got their shots. We saw some incidents with RIBs cutting each other off at speed or getting too close to the foiling AC75. Maybe it was tolerable with the leadmines sailing at 10-14kts, but with the yachts sailing at 40kts plus, and the RIBS going at the same speed or more and trying to shoulder each other out of the way, the situation had become dangerous.

For the past two months, it has been a game of wait-and-see as the AC37 Recon system settled down. A lot of the niggle seems to have gone away. So far, the relationship between the Spies and their targets seems to be cordial, with the Teams appearing to accept the Recon teams have a job to do. The risk is that a variety of the Stockholm syndrome develops between the Watched and Watchers. But for the system to work properly there needs to some edginess in the relationship.

From a media perspective, we were very keen to get access to the RFS content. Trying to cover the build-up years to America's Cup regattas at a venue outside Auckland was a very frustrating process - with leaked information being fed to the competitive detriment of other teams, and good images were always scarce.

The one exception was Bermuda, where Jason Smith, a local with no sailing interest, decided to use some very basic gear and invested a lot of time into shooting and putting the video up on his website of the teams sailing on the Great Sound for a year or more before the 2017 Cup.

His online pages became a regular go-to for the teams, media, and fans. Maybe Jason shone a light for what has become RFS. Now sailing fans see day-by-day content from a joint and team-independent information base, which Jason Smith first showed was possible.

Trying to cover the 2004-2007 America's Cup in Valencia was a nightmare, involving a lot of time sifting rumours for only a little reliable output.

Accessing RFS was also challenging - but now there's a feast of content rather than a famine. The best part of the system is the access to images and video. Today was a new record with 70 video clips from one of the Recon team.

The highlights readers see are just a tiny percentage of the available content; unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to reviewing a day's content in its entirety. Time has to be invested - or risk cheating your readership.

From what we are seeing in readership and story ratings, there is no doubt that sailing fans have been turned off by what has happened in the America's Cup over the past two years or more - going back to about June 2020.

Some would say that is a predictable outcome of the decision to take the Cup to an offshore venue. The reality is that the Cup has been languishing since the 2007-2010 Court case over the validity of the first Challenge accepted by the Swiss Defender from a straw yacht club.

It remains to be seen whether Barcelona is the defibrillator the Cup needs to get back to Valencia's entry of 12 teams (11 Challengers and the Defender) in 2007.

Depending on the current inflation and cost/price/FX situation, the budgets for a Cup team/entry remain comparable to the 2007 Cup.

The holders are giving the 2024 Cup its best shot by taking it into Europe and the proximity to sponsors.

They are also giving European and British fans and mainstream media a chance to see and experience the incredible AC75s first-hand, rather than just the cut shots of a TV broadcast.

It will be interesting to see if confirmation that one, and probably two, series of the "Drive to Survive" series will hook more and new fans across to the America's Cup, as it has in F1 Grand Prix. It will also be interesting to see the effect of the Youth and Women's America's Cup on the main event.

Youth America's Cups were held in 2013 and 2017, with modest success - unfortunately, Government intransigence stopped the Youth Cup from being sailed in Auckland, and the continuity was lost. It also remains to be seen if the America's Cup can pick up the same shine, enthusiasm and spontaneity for the Women's event that we are seeing now for the Women's Rugby World Cup, and earlier in England for the 2022 Women's European Cup.

Now we have five strong, independent, and well-financed teams running three different strategies, in three different boat types, along with input and influence from two F1 teams, working out of five locations and all aimed at the same target - winning the 2024 America's Cup - two years hence. It is a real amalgam of strategies, the likes of which we have not seen previously, and it will be fascinating to see how it all works out.

From past experience the current phase of the Cup is probably the most crucial - where teams have to get through their testing efficiently and effectively. Otherwise they go into the Cup with good ideas untested, and short of time.

For reasons best known to themselves, the New Zealand mainstream media seem to have the America's Cup on "Ignore" - but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening. Far from it. There's plenty happening.

Last week we finally managed to get a sailing shot of the 78ft expedition ketch built by Lloyd Stevenson Boatbuilders, which we featured a month ago . It's the latest and largest boat the yard has built in its 35 years of operation. LSB are the archetypical Kiwi building company which had small beginnings, one thing led to another - and now they occupy a 2500sq metre specialist build facility - with 80% of the production being for export.

In these days of specialisation in a particular technology, LSB are unusual in that they are deliberately diverse with wooden and carbon builds taking place in adjoining bays. Lloyd Stevenson started out as a boat building apprentice, and the company has always had apprentices on board, and works within the MAST Academy program - a funded process to transition Year 12-13 students from school to work. Lloyd and Tracey Stevenson's comments on the impact of the America's Cup on the NZ marine industry are also very interesting.

Related Articles

America's Cup: Arb Panel dismisses US request
The America's Cup Arbitration Panel dismisses American Magic's application to skip Jeddah regatta. The three man Arbitration Panel has dismissed the Application by the New York Yacht Club's team American Magic to be excused from participation in the second Preliminary Event, part of the 37th America's Cup. Posted on 30 May
America's Cup: Estrella Damm returns for third Cup
As the official sponsor, Estrella Damm will be the competition beer The Antigua Fábrica Estrella Damm in Barcelona has hosted the presentation of Estrella Damm's sponsorship of the 37th America's Cup, which will be held in Barcelona in 2024. Posted on 29 May
Cup Spy - May 27: Emotional reunion for Italians
Emotional reunion at sea with the Amerigo Vespecci, sail training ship of the Italian navy. The Italian team planned an emotional reunion at sea with the Amerigo Vespecci, sail training ship of the Italian navy Emirates Team New Zealand did some damage believed to be electronic related, and their session stopped early. Posted on 28 May
Cup Spy May 25-26: Solid day for Med based teams
The British and Italian teams both had solid training days on the Med. The Swiss had an AC75 day. After losing a day to no wind, the Kiwi two-boat testing started on Thursday. The British and Italian teams also got solid training days on the Med, with both doing speed and match race testing. The Swiss sailed their AC75, including a photoshoot for F1. Posted on 28 May
America's Cup: Predictwind sets up in Barcelona
Predictwind will be establishing the Common Weather Program for Barcelona. It is live now.. The Challenger of Record and Defender (COR/D) have announced that Predictwind, the world's leading marine forecast organisation aimed at sailors at all levels, will be establishing the Common Weather Program for Barcelona. Posted on 28 May
Cup Spy -Special: Kiwis start Match Racing
Emirates Team New Zealand have just wrapped up a match race practice session off Takapuna Beach. Emirates Team New Zealand completed a match race practice session off Takapuna Beach, on Friday. Here's Cup Spy's take having watched most of the session shore-side on the Takapuna Beach seawall - via a pair of Fujinon 14x40 gyroscopic binoculars. Posted on 27 May
Cup Spy - May 24: Robertson joins the Swiss?
The Swiss christen their second AC40, watched by top match racer Phil Robertson. What is his future? Four teams sailed on Wednesday, May 24 from Auckland, Mallorca, and Cagliari. Alinghi Red Bull Racing christened their new AC40-7, and took it for a tow-test off Barcelona. Top Match Racer and SailGP helm, Phil Robertson (NZL) was again present. Posted on 26 May
Cup Spy - May 23: Kiwis hit 50.7kts
Emirates Team NZ was out of the shed before 0630hrs, and set a new speed record of 50.7kts Emirates Team New Zealand had an early start, with a poor forecast which didn't eventuate. The Kiwis set a new top speed of 50.7kts - achieved in a bear-away. Alinghi Red Bull Racing broached twice in top end conditions - self recovering each time. Posted on 24 May
Cup Spy - May 22: Brits at pace, as Italians race.
The AC37 Joint Recon team following the Brits reported them hitting 45kts downwind. Two teams sailed today - Luna Rossa from Cagliari, doing some race practice using a team chase boat as their opponent. INEOS Britannia sailed from Palma, Mallorca. The AC37 Joint Recon team following the Brits reported them hitting 45kts downwind. Posted on 23 May
America's Cup: Join ETNZ for a dual AC40 training
Join Emirates Team New Zealand on their Chase Boat for a session with their two AC40s Join America's Cup Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand on their Chase Boat as they move away from the AC75 test program and onto two-boat testing with the two AC40's. Posted on 22 May
Lloyd Stevenson - Equilibrium 728x90px BOTTOMCyclops 2022 November Load Pin FOOTERMarine Resources 2022 Salary Survey FOOTER