Cup Experience News | Practice Racing in Bermuda | Blackout Backfires | Great Sound Race Course

Cup Experience News

Issue 45 | Monday 23 January 2017

In this issue:

Practice Racing in Bermuda
Great Sound Race Course
12 Teams Confirmed for Red Bull Youth America's Cup
Ask Jack: Unfair? Blackout Backfires on Kiwis

Practice Racing in Bermuda

AC Race Management Regatta Director Iain Murray is running two weeks of practice racing in Bermuda, with teams sailing their AC45X test boats. This is the third time ACRM has run training races in Bermuda. All teams were invited, but neither Groupama Team France nor Emirates Team New Zealand is participating. Not only have the French and the Kiwis not yet arrived in Bermuda, they no longer have test boats - they've been disassembled for parts for those teams' AC Class race yachts.

Our contacts in Bermuda say that Artemis and Team Japan seem to be going especially well, but not to read too much into that.

The umpire is making calls on the water, so there is plenty of shouting, especially in the pre-starts. The LiveLine system requires helicopters and a complete technical team to operate it - a bit impractical for practice races.

This is not just for the sailors - it's a rehearsal for the shore crews as well. There is some flexibility in the work schedule on training days, but on race day the boat needs to be at the starting area on time. The designers will also be getting feedback on how their daggerboard designs are performing. Control systems ergonomics and hydraulics will also get thoroughly tested in race conditions.

Great Sound Race Course

This is my best guess about the race course being used when the prevailing southwest wind blows. The windward-leeward legs will probably be longer for the "real" racing in May and June. You can play with the chart, zooming and panning, with the Navionics web app here.

12 Teams Confirmed for Red Bull Youth America's Cup

Over 20 teams applied to enter the Red Bull Youth America's Cup. The field of 12 is now final. In addition to seven youth teams associated with the AC teams, there are teams from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Oracle sponsors both Team BDA and Next Generation USA. Each other AC team sponsors one youth team.

Candidate Sailing Team, Austria
Team BDA, Bermuda
Youth Vikings Denmark
Team France Jeune, France
Next Generation - Team Germany
Land Rover BAR Academy, Great Britain
Kaijin Team Japan
NZL Sailing Team, New Zealand
Spanish Impulse Team
Artemis Youth Racing, Sweden
Team Tilt, Switzerland
Next Generation USA

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Reader Questions to "Ask Jack"

from Clark in Wellington
ask jack!

Why didn't Iain Murray wait to run practice races until New Zealand and France arrived in Bermuda? This seems really unfair that they don't get to participate.

Hello Clark, Waiting for New Zealand and France to arrive in Bermuda would not have changed much - they would not be able to participate anyway: The Protocol does not allow teams to sail their AC Class race yachts "in a coordinated way." Limited budgets have led both teams to cannibalize their AC45X test boats to build their race yachts. With no test boat, they have no boat they would be allowed to sail in practice races.

What's unfair is that some teams have bigger budgets than others and can afford multiple test boats and bigger sailing teams. But, hey, this is the America's Cup

It's ironic that the "blackout" period when a team may not sail their AC Class race yacht was imposed so that other teams would lose training time roughly equal to the time the Kiwis will lose while their race boat is in transit to Bermuda. But all teams are allowed to sail their test boats, and sail them together, during the blackout period. If you no longer have a test boat, you're left on your own for training and testing in your race yacht. The four Bermuda-based teams are getting in some quality race training while waiting to launch their race boats. The blackout seems to have backfired. The "law of unintended consequences" at work?

America's Cup Guide