America’s Cup latest: ‘No consensus yet on quickest team’

Matthew Sheahan

Time to drive it like you stole it for the America’s Cup teams as confidence – in everything from boat handling to decision making – becomes key

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The America’s Cup is as much a confidence game as it is one of design, technology and boat handling. Whether you’re a Challenger or Defender, asserting your authority wherever you can is all part of gaining the upper hand. On my most recent visit to Barcelona I was delivered a showcase display of just that.

The whistle of the foils came first, followed a split second later by Alinghi Red Bull Racing under full sail and at full noise as the Swiss scorched through the canal-type entrance, leaving the French base to port before spinning into the breeze in the modest sized basin. Stopping with a flamboyant handbrake turn, their chase boat locked into position as the sails came down.

It was a spectacular display of the size, power and speed of an AC75, but also an illustration of just how confident this team is in its boat handling aboard its priceless carbon machine. Trip up and the unforgiving concrete walls mean you’ll need a roll of bin liners rather than a RIB to get the boat back to the dock.

My viewpoint from the Orient Express Racing Team’s low budget base is close to the harbour entrance and while the French are away from the main Barcelona bustle, theirs is a prime spot for watching the comings and goings of their competitors. Indeed, when it comes to VIP sponsor activation, you could argue that this is the place to be.

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I’d been attending the christening of Orient Express Racing Team’s AC75, the last of the Challenger boats to splash. And while the French were the latest to confirm their entry to the 37th America’s Cup and the smallest of all the teams with arguably the least experienced Cup crew, they have one big advantage: their boat was designed by the Defenders.

As their black and gold AC75 slipped through the canvas base doors and into daylight, pulses of dry ice pumped out from the yacht’s cradle as if a steam engine was pulling her into the open. Aside from the stirring music, the christening was a modest affair, finished off with a predictably superb canapé lunch.

Keeping things simple and efficient is the French approach to this Cup, at least as much as it can be when dealing with the most technically complex America’s Cup to date. Buying the Kiwi design not only saved them time and money (while expensive, it was a cheaper option than a fully blown design team). It also meant the key design decisions – which needed to be made 18 months ago – were made by the current Cup holders, who know a thing or two about the AC75 concept.

The French have taken a gamble in waiting for what they call design 3.0, the latest Kiwi package. This cost them time on the water but gave them the latest technology, from top to bottom. All they have to do now is sail it like the Kiwis. And therein lies their next challenge.

Emirates Team New Zealand training on an AC75 with cyclors now returned to Cup sailing . Photo: Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

According to CEOs Bruno Dubois and Stephan Kandler, the target is to get to understand 90% of the package they have bought. “This is our goal, if we reach this we’ll be dangerous on the race course,” Dubois told me. “Whether we need to refine any details or add a foil tweak here and there is not for us now.”

Keeping things focussed is something the Kiwis have been very good at and it is this approach that the French identify with. Kandler and Dubois have modelled large areas of their team on the Kiwi example; a simple base, don’t reinvent the wheel, and be careful where you spend the money.

“We don’t have the time, money or people to waste, we have to be efficient.”

So, now we have seen all six of the new America’s Cup boats, talking to various teams suggests there’s no consensus yet on who’s quick and who’s not. What the techies will tell you though, is that according to their analysis the differences in hull shapes count for seconds per race while the variations between foils will be measured in minutes.

Ironically, when it comes to timing I hear that as the Challengers completed their set of five boats, it was the Kiwis who were the most nervous as their AC75 took the slow route by sea from New Zealand to Barcelona. With all that’s going on in the world right now the potential for a shipping delay is significant. Having created their perfect machine, demonstrated that it works and met all their internal deadlines in a long and complex timeline, watching the clock and crossing their fingers is an uncomfortable phase in a Cup where confidence is key.

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