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10 Oct 2017 |
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  Sail-World NZ - Oct 10 - Challengers like Protocol..Tough choices
 | | - 2017 Tino Rawa Trust New Zealand Clinker Boat Exhibition, October 2017 Richard Gladwell |
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for October 10, 2017
It has been a hectic week for the America's Cup following the announcement of the Protocol at the end of September.
Last Thursday, the New York Yacht Club made the surprise announcement that it would be entering the America's Cup, almost three months ahead of the opening of entries.
We look at the reasons why they may have done that in this issue.
Land Rover BAR/Royal Yacht Squadron has already said they will be entering - which gives sanction by two of the worlds premier yacht clubs to the Protocol hammered out between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.
Tuesday morning Artemis Racing announced they were reviewing the Protocol. Artemis was the second fastest team in Bermuda, having beaten Oracle Team USA in 17 races (15 in Practice and two in the Round Robin). Emirates Team New Zealand was lucky to head them off - by our calculations they lead around 23 marks in the Challenger Final compared to Emirates Team NZ's 19.
Aside from the first race, Emirates Team New Zealand only really dominated in the back end of the Challenger Final. Had a few things gone a little differently for the Swedes at crucial stages of the regatta it could have been off to the land of the Midnight Sun?
 | | Panasonic Lumix and Asko Appliances in tight spinnaker action on the first run © Frank Quealey / Australian 18 Footers League |
Some commentators would have it that there is only a slim chance of the Swedish team making it to Auckland. However, Artemis Racing has an excellent record of wins in high-performance monohull racing. They made a massive comeback in 2017 from their disaster of the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco where it is guesstimated they spent $1million a minute of racing.
Many tend to forget that in 35 America's Cups, the trophy has only been won once by a first time Challenger. And New Zealanders should need no elucidation as to the circumstances and background of that debacle.
So any team coming back for a second or third shot at the America's Cup should be taken very seriously - and particularly one that has made the gains that Artemis did in 2017. If they do come to Auckland/Italy, then the Swedish team must be a real threat.
A month after holding a day-long planning meeting in early September there has been little news coming out of Auckland Council as to the options for staging the America's Cup in what used to be known as the City of Sails. They have around 11 months left to get a sign-off from Emirates Team New Zealand/Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron over the hosting of the Cup. The second and harder deadline for the City will be having the tarmac in place for teams to start base construction 12 months later in mid-2019 - which is about 20 months away.
 | | Jack Taylor (95) - 2017 Tino Rawa Trust New Zealand Clinker Boat Exhibition, October 2017 Richard Gladwell |
In this edition, we look at the four options. It is quite obvious that the one that works best for the Cup is the most disagreeable from the Council's perspective. Anyone who was at Bermuda will know the successful concept of having the team bases within a biscuit throw of the America's Cup Village - the same as it did in Auckland in 2000 and 2003, and also Valencia in 2007. San Francisco missed the boat in that regard. The notion that bases can be dotted around available vacant wharf space just doesn't work.
Also to be accommodated are around 90 superyachts that are expected to attend the Cup in Auckland - which again seems to have gone straight over the Council's head.
The announcement at the end of November of the concept AC75 for the next America's Cup is the next milestone on the road to the 36th America's Cup. In this edition, we have an interview with Emirates Team New Zealand's design team head, Dan Bernasconi. He does let a few snippets out on the boat and the options that are under consideration. Those who have seen more of where the boat is headed, and who know a good boat when they see one, believe that the concept AC75 will fill the bill - even in the lower end of the wind-scale.
For sure the design team will have to close up a big gap to get to the performance of the AC50. But judging by the reaction of Challengers new and old to having a monohull back in the America's Cup it would seem that the right choice has been made.
 | | Trieste, Italy - Barcolana Regatta 2017 © Barcolana / Studio Borlenghi |
For sure there are going to be a lot more design choices with the AC75 than the AC50 - where if it had been sailed for the second time in Auckland - the teams would be just playing catch up with the Kiwis. That means some fiddling with hydrofoils, installing cyclors, and upping the hydraulics. Most of the emphasis would have been gone into making the boats bullet-proof to survive the Hauraki Gulf instead of the sheltered lagoon of Bermuda's Great Sound.
As mentioned the international reception to the Protocol has been very good. In fact, the purring has been deafening. In this edition one of the architects of the Protocol, Russell Green outlines the key differences on what has gone before, and how it is hoped the Protocol will work.
The Protocol is certainly is a fair document in comparison to what has been produced for the last three multi-challenger Cups. As has been noted before at this time after the production (after a 10-month gestation) of the first cut of the Protocol used in Bermuda, there were 16 amendments posted in the first six days.
Finally, news out of Bermuda has it that a regatta is being planned using the AC50's. That might sound like wishful thinking emanating from rumour control in Bermuda, but it is equally hard to believe that nothing will happen with around 20 AC50's and AC45S boats plus the AC45F fleet sitting in sheds.
Watch this space for developments.
 | | - Les Voiles De St Tropez 2017 - October 5, 2017 Eugenia Bakunova |
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Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
sailworldnzl@gmail.com
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 | | - Les Voiles De St Tropez 2017 - October 5, 2017 Eugenia Bakunova |
 | | George David's American Maxi, Rambler 88 will return to Antigua in February 2018 for the start of the 10th RORC Caribbean 600 © Tim Wright / Photoaction.com |
 | | Nick Thompson – Laser Europeans © Laura Carrau / BISC |
 | | Mini-Transat La Boulangère © Christophe Breschi |
 | | MAPFRE at the Prologue - Volvo Ocean Race © Jesus Renedo |
 | | Prologue start on board team AkzoNobel. - Volvo Ocean Race © James Blake / Volvo Ocean Race |
 | | Final day – 5.5 Metre Autumn Trophy © Robert Deaves |
 | | Barcolana Regatta Trieste © Max Ranchi Photography |
 | | Jim Young (centre) with Jack Taylor (right) - 2017 Tino Rawa Trust New Zealand Clinker Boat Exhibition, October 2017 Richard Gladwell |
 | | - 2017 Tino Rawa Trust New Zealand Clinker Boat Exhibition, October 2017 Richard Gladwell |
 | | Appliancesonline in a battle with Panasonic Lumix and The Kitchen Maker on the windward leg shortly after the start © Frank Quealey / Australian 18 Footers League |
 | | - Les Voiles De St Tropez 2017 - October 6-7, 2017 Eugenia Bakunova |
New Moon wins 5.5 Metre season finale after wind abandons Thunersee
Robert Deaves, 
So, New Moon, BAH 21 (Christoph Burger, Flavio Marazzi, Peter Vlasov) takes a second regatta win in a row, after taking the win in Cannes last week. Second place goes Marie-Françoise XIX, SUI 228 (Jürg Menzi, Dino Fumasoli, Christof Wilke) with Nina, SUI 215 (Heinz Saurer, Hans Scheidegger, Maja Siegenthaler) in third.... [more]
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A QandA with John Craig about the Extreme Sailing Series San Diego event
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor, 
Now in its 11th season, the Extreme Sailing Series's calendar features eight different Acts set in Muscat, Qingdao, Madeira Islands, Barcelona, Hamburg, Cardiff, San Diego and Los Cabos. I caught up with John Craig, Race Director of the Extreme Sailing Series, via email, ahead of the San Diego Act to learn more about this high-octane event.... [more]
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