35th America's Cup starts Friday: Our thoughts ahead of the racing
by Mark Jardine 23 May 2017 13:00 BST
26 May - 27 June 2017
All set for the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda © Ricardo Pinto / ACEA
The 35th America's Cup starts on Friday with the first races in Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers. Practice racing has revealed a lot about the teams and where they are in preparation for the event itself. For the first time, the defenders ORACLE TEAM USA will take part in the first two Round Robin series, so we'll get to see all the teams racing against each other.
The new America's Cup Class foiling cats are fast... very fast... touching 50 knots at times. It's been said that speed around the race course can be divided up into three equal parts; design, sailing skill and power. While the design secrets, in particular how the foils are controlled, are extremely closely guarded, the sailing skill and power are on show to all.
When it comes to power, the most radical departure from the norm has been made by Emirates Team New Zealand with their 'cyclors' generating the power: using leg power instead of the arm power of the grinders. Critics of this method have cited that it's more difficult to get across the boat and hook in, but the team look one of the smoothest on the water and are certainly not lacking in speed.
While many of the teams have stated that they evaluated cycle power early on in their design process, ORACLE TEAM USA have clearly taken note of the Kiwis and now have Tom Slingsby on a cycling station for the downwind legs.
One of the most noticeable points of seeing the America's Cup Class cats sailing is the nose-down attitude they have when at top speed. This is due to the main foils being required to generate less lift, and so presenting a more direct profile to the water, reducing drag. While changes of angle are possible through moving the foil backwards and forwards, this method requires less power and is clearly proving to be more efficient.
It is of course difficult to get an accurate picture from the practice racing, as it is doubtful that the teams are revealing all of their cards, but there are general indications as to which are the fastest teams. This isn't just evident on the water, but also in the body language and messages coming out of the team.
The defenders of the America's Cup, ORACLE TEAM USA, are looking fast and assured... most of the time. They have tripped up a couple of times, with three recent capsizes. Very little damage has been caused during these and the support teams are getting very well practiced at getting their craft back upright and into the dock. It's always hard to read Jimmy Spithill's confidence in where the team are because he's always confident. Even when he was 8-1 down in the 34th America's Cup he came out with the quip, "One day you're a rooster, the next you're a feather duster." He's the master of playing the media and I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty more sound-bites from him in the coming month.
Artemis Racing's Iain Percy and helm Nathan Outteridge are both displaying a calm sense of purpose and steely determination, which is reflected on the water. Exceptional team work and great boat speed has led to a high percentage of race wins in practice and it's hard to bet against them making at least the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs (that's the Louis Vuitton Cup final in old money).
Likewise, the last team to arrive in Bermuda, Emirates Team New Zealand, are showing exceptional speed and crew work. Their foiling tacks and gybes are simply beautiful and they've had an impressive showing so far, albeit curtailed after Land Rover BAR crashed into their stern during some tight pre-start manoeuvring. They don't seem in any way hampered by the cycle-grinding, in fact quite the opposite could be said.
The other team performing well are SoftBank Team Japan. With Dean Barker on the helm and Chris Draper calling the shots, they have a hugely experienced pair of heads. Early on they were referred to as ORACLE TEAM USA's training partner, but their speed has shown they are much more than that...
The clear underdog is Groupama Team France. Reportedly they have a far smaller budget than the other teams, but the French do have a history of turning up at events and going on to win; anyone remember the Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12? Note the skipper then was also a certain Franck Cammas...
So what of the British challenge, Sir Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR? The team have superb backing, a fantastic new facility in Portsmouth, an incredible team of supremely fit and able sailors, and are led by arguably the greatest sailor of all time. Sadly so far in practice racing they seem to have been around 10% off the pace of the leading teams. It's difficult to know what's gone wrong with the design, but clearly something is amiss. Do they have a trick up their sleeve or have they purposefully been sand-bagging? That's the hope, but the talk of new upgrades coming in all the time sounds very much like McLaren in Formula 1 at the moment. I really hope I'm wrong and that the team come roaring out of the blocks in the racing, but the signs aren't good so far.
So what could derail the fast teams? Damage and gear failure are the factors which could turn a great day into a terrible one. As shown with Land Rover BAR's 'nudge' on Emirates Team New Zealand, a relatively small pre-start collision can cause a number of days in the shed for these super-high technology machines. While the majority of practice racing has been done in a conservative manner, all the skippers know they'll be going at it hammer and tongs once the racing proper starts on Friday. With the pace these cats fly at, you can have closing speeds of 70 knots... the result of a collision then is terrifying.
It's going to be fascinating to watch the action on Friday and see who is genuinely fast. Artemis Racing and Groupama Team France are involved in two Round Robin matches on the first day, while each of the other teams have one. Sir Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR take on Iain Percy's Artemis Racing in the final match of the day, where a lot about how the two old friends teams will fair in the 35th America's Cup will be revealed. We wish them all luck and most of all, wish that they all stay safe in what is undoubtedly now an extremely dangerous sport.
Our sister site, Sail-World.com will be covering every single nuance, twist and turn throughout the America's Cup, with New Zealand editor Richard Gladwell out in Bermuda for the duration, while we will be running regular updates and editorial here on YachtsandYachting.com.