America's Cup: Coaches Corner - Tom Burnham on American Magic's prospects
by Magnus Wheatley 5 Aug 2024 17:03 NZST
5 August 2024
Tom Burnham (legt) - American Magic - Barcelona - August 2024 © America's Cup Media
At the very heart of New York Yacht Club American Magic beats a competitive, sporty edge. This is a team that knows all about ‘so-close-yet-so far’ in this game, and they are more than determined to bring the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup back to the club on West 44th Street that held it continuously for 132-years.
The Americans have hired well and are delivering consistent, high-level, ultra-competitive performances that have made everyone sit up in the Port Vell. From a pure design perspective, they didn’t take the middle path with a low-profile, full-on aero AC75 that is bristling with innovative thinking all over the boat. Out on the water, day after day, they have been pushing the limits and working hard on the design details, trim perfection and pure out-and-out racecraft. The results are there for all to see and with Terry Hutchinson, the world class skipper and campaigner guiding the campaign, it has been Tom Burnham who has brought the immensely talented squad up to speed.
Now in his fifth America’s Cup campaign, Tom graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1993 and lives in Newport. He previously sailed on Young America in the 2000 America’s Cup, before joining Luna Rossa for their 2003 and 2007 campaigns, and was head coach of the Swedish team, Artemis Racing, in 2017. Drafted in from the TP52 series where he sailed with Terry Hutchinson on Quantum Racing, Tom is at the very peak of the international coaching world.
Hiring the likes of Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison, both gold medallists and multiple International Moth World Champions was both a masterstroke and a huge signal of intent but aligning them with the supreme talent of Andrew Campbell, Mike Menninger, Riley Gibbs and Lucas Calabrese has been the real secret. Gelling the team, and also including the stunning talent coming through in the American Magic Youth & Women’s teams has been a brilliantly executed job by Burnham and now all the relentless hours of training will be under the spotlight as the team begin the summer of sailing in Barcelona with the final Preliminary Regatta.
Speaking ahead of the regatta, Tom is eager for the racing to start, saying: “From a sailing standpoint we feel well prepared, we would always take more time to refine but given the timeframe we are in a pretty good spot. The challenging part is that, up to this point, we haven't been allowed to do any racing or training against another AC75. We've had to rely on simulator time and doing things out on the water in a more creative manner with the chase boat and things like that. So yes, we're prepared, and we're getting closer to where we want to be. Of course, having more time and the opportunity to race against other teams or another AC75 would be incredibly valuable, but that's just not an option right now. We're doing the best we can to be ready for the opening races.”
In recent weeks, American Magic’s ‘Patriot’ has never backed down from an unofficial, split-tack or split-gybe lineup against the other teams so there’s a fair chance that Tom has an idea of where the team stand. Will they tailor their playbook to any specific team? Too early in Tom’s book, as he says: “That's something we can't answer at this point. It might come into play later in the series when we get a better sense of our opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Right now, we haven't been allowed to sail against our opponents. We've had a few encounters on the water that have given us some insights, but not enough to fully understand their capabilities. So, it's about feeling things out and putting our best foot forward. As we progress through the practice events, we'll see how things play out and may develop different strategies based on what we observe in the Preliminary races.”
In recent interviews, Tom Slingsby has pointed to the pre-start being absolutely key to success with all the third-generation AC75s presumably being of similar performance profile depending on the conditions. American Magic saw this early and Tom Burnham has pushed them hard in this area, as he alludes: “One of the best things we did for our starting preparations was during our winter training period. We had two AC40s and spent a significant amount of time racing against each other, focusing heavily on starting techniques. This included a lot of repetitions and training sessions against other sailors from our team, as well as Youth and Women's sailors who were part of our sparring team. So that was really the biggest thing we did and something that we pushed hard for. This period was crucial; we pushed hard for two months, racing those boats and honing our approach to the starts. Our goal is always to come off the line and win the first cross, so the first time we both meet, whether that's on the boundary or halfway up the leg, almost doesn't matter as long as we're crossing that first time. We're not overly concerned with gauging boat speed against another boat off the start line; our focus is on winning the start and that first cross, adapting to the wind and conditions of the day.”
When asked about moding the boat and how comfortable the team are, Tom’s answer, just like in all his superb interviews throughout the Joint Reconnaissance programme, is straight and to the point, saying: “We're as comfortable as we can be. Most of the moding we do within a series is based on the sail choices that we have to make. There aren't many other adjustments we can make on a day-to-day basis during a series. So, the biggest factor is selecting the right sails. We've been experimenting with different sail sizes and configurations in the lead-up to the Preliminary Regatta to ensure we're as prepared as possible to mode the boat for any conditions.”
Boat handling and manoeuvre execution is something that everyone is expecting American Magic to execute at pace. Over the course of their programme both in Pensacola and in Barcelona, as well as at the Preliminary Regattas in Vilanova i La Geltrú (which they won) and Jeddah Saudi Arabia, it’s very clear that speed out of the tacks and gybes has been right at the very top of Tom Burnham’s daily check-list and he confirms as such saying: “Yes, we've definitely put a significant focus on our manoeuvring, including tacks and gybes. It's all part of getting the boat around the racecourse. There can be around 20 manoeuvres in a single race, so we're manoeuvring roughly every minute. Given how much time is spent on these manoeuvres during a race, they've naturally been a major focus for the team.”
Many teams and coaches specifically in recent interviews have alluded to how important it is going to be to keep on developing through the Preliminary Regatta, onto the Louis Vuitton Cup and then into the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match itself. The team that develops the best will win and everyone will be watching the other teams intently. American Magic are no different as Tom says: “From a coaching standpoint, improving the boat's speed can sometimes come down to learning new techniques. We observe our opponents and gather reconnaissance, but there's no substitute for being on the racecourse with another boat. If we notice another team doing something differently—whether it's in their setup or manoeuvre execution—we'll try to learn from it and adapt. As for the mode-ability of the AC75s, it's quite limited during a series. The main adjustments we can make daily are in the sails. Once a series has started, there's not much else we can change on the boats, so it really comes down to technique and sail choices.”
Casting his eye over the fence at the other teams, Tom very much sees this Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup as too close to call. His message is all about focusing on what they, as a team, can control and keeping confidence in check: “Everyone out there is sailing really well, so we expect it to be a very close competition. That's why we dedicated so much time to match race training and starting practice with the AC40 this winter. Our goal is to be ready to go toe-to-toe with any team when the time comes. It's hard to say exactly where we stand without going head-to-head with the other teams yet. We're approaching the regatta with the hope of being similar speed to the others, but we're also realistic about the tough race ahead. If we find that we're quick, that's a bonus, but we're not going in with overconfidence about our boatspeed or performance. We're preparing diligently to be race-ready from day one of the Preliminary Regatta.”
Many people’s favourite to go deep in the competition and be highly competitive, this is a team with fantastic home support and the backing of the most prestigious yacht club in the world – the New York Yacht Club. A ticker-tape parade down Fifth Avenue awaits if they can wrestle the America’s Cup home, and you know what? They might just do it.