With the benefit of hindsight, it's hard to imagine the 34th America's Cup was going to take place anywhere other than San Francisco. However Larry Ellison's team Oracle Racing (bye bye BMW, by the way, who have amicably withdrawn from their support of the team), played a game of brinkmanship with the politicians of San Francisco right up to the 11th hour.
In the final weeks leading up to the 31 December deadline, there was much talk and excitement about the possibility of the Cup returning to the place where it resided for 132 years, Newport, Rhode Island. A number of big cheeses from the defender team had been doing some detailed scouting around this East Coast venue during December.
But on 1 January Ellison's hometown, San Francisco, was confirmed as the venue that would host the 34th America's Cup in August 2013. Sceptics said Newport had only ever been used as a bartering tool in the tense negotiations with San Fran. When you consider Russell Coutts's vision for the future of the event, a brave new world of televisual excitement and commercial possibility, Newport never stood a chance. Lovely though Newport is, it's a backwater, more than an hour's drive from the nearest major city, Boston.
San Francisco, on the other hand, offers a mouthwatering opportunity to host the action right in front of a major international city, against the backdrop of the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz and the panoramic beauty of San Francisco Bay. It's a photographer's wet dream.
With negotiations successfully concluded, city mayor Gavin Newsom sounded suitably thrilled. "San Francisco couldn't be prouder to host the 34th America's Cup," he said. "With our natural stadium at the footsteps of the City and our consistent, heavy winds, San Francisco Bay will be an arena for some of the most spectacular racing the world has ever seen." There are still some major political hurdles to be overcome in the coming months, however, and Oracle's chief fixer Tom Ehman warned that the Defender would be keeping Newport in reserve as an alternative venue. Seriously, though, San Francisco would have to fall into the sea before they seriously reconsider the venue now.
Meanwhile in Auckland, the first mini Cup catamaran has rolled off the production line, the prototype AC45. Just under 45 feet long with a wing mast more than 70 foot high, this sleek carbon cat gave a strong indication of its potential for first time it went sailing. Chief operating officer of America's Cup Race Management, Andy Hindley, commented: "It was an unbelievable first sail. We were in 8-10 knots of breeze and we were sailing at more than double that speed, up to about 20 knots at one point. With a bit more breeze we could be going 28 - 30 knots." Bear in mind that this is just the training-wheels version of the bigger AC72 that will contest the America's Cup itself.
Oracle Racing will be putting the 45-footer through its paces in Auckland through to the end of January, when the Challenger teams will each get a week of testing time. Defender included, six teams have thus far put their money down for entry into the 34th America's Cup, and Swedish challenger Artemis will be first to take the prototype out for a spin in early February. Helmsman Terry Hutchinson is used to racing 25 tons of leaded keelboat. The AC45 weighs a ton and a half. It should be an eye-opening week of sailing for him and his Artemis colleagues. With the details of the America's Cup World Series being finalised, we expect to see the first competition in these exciting boats later this summer.
ell Coutts bitten off more than he can chew? His spectacular capsize in an AC45 shows just how challenging these new catamarans are. But of greater concern for the Kiwi is the diminishing number of challengers prepared to take on the might of Oracle Racing in 2013.
Mascalzone Latino's departure from the America's Cup raises serious questions about the role of the Challenger of Record. This is the team that is meant to hold the Defender to account, so with the Italians gone, who's going to keep an eye on Oracle Racing now?
st team to capsize an AC45 multihull goes to Swedish challenge Artemis Racing. These are frisky beasts, and no mistake, a far cry from the sedate 12-Meters of yesteryear, or the AC keelboats that ruled the roost for the past 20 years...
As a sailor, Russell Coutts could do no wrong. As the architect of the next America's Cup, however, the Kiwi is making plenty of enemies as he forges ahead with his radical vision for a more media-friendly America's Cup.
Mitch Booth, a double Olympic medallist and former skipper of China Team, explains the challenge of racing AC45 multihulls on short courses...
Having done the tactical job for a few years, Terry Hutchinson found it hard to relinquish control of the decision-making habit when he started steering the TP52. Now when he's helming the AC45 multihull in the America's Cup World Series, more than ever it's vital to be absolutely clear with his communication. Things happen fast and communication needs to be heard and understood first time, every time...
In Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Nathan Outteridge, the Artemis Racing skipper reveals where he things the big gains are likely to be made in the 2017 America's Cup.... "I think the big design battles are going to be in foil design, picking the area required for the foils based on when you want to take off and when you want top speed...." More from Nathan inside...
One of the enduring themes of all our conversations with top sailors is their ‘Never Say Die’ (NSD) attitude. No matter how bad things get, you just do whatever it takes to get the job done. Because you never know how things might work out. The America’s Cup World Series racing in Bermuda saw Artemis Racing deliver a perfect example of NSD.
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, then maybe your name is Russell Coutts. If it’s not, then read what the three-time America’s Cup winner has to say about keeping calm in a crisis.....
Justin has been racing on the 90ft canting keeler Genuine Risk in the Caribbean, and talking to Dean Barker about flipping grand prix catamarans like the VX40 and AC45. Andy says he'll eat his hat if the multihull doesn't make it in for the Rio 2016 Games, but not much else is certain in the build-up to next week's controversial ISAF mid-year meeting in Russia....
