Now, if the sailors add helmet cams to their protective headwear, we can get yet another perspective on these crashes, of which there have already been many and doubtless there will be many more. Coutts fell off the up-ended trampoline and straight through the wing sail and out the other side, pretty much unscathed but with the wing now suffering from a Russell-Coutts-shaped hole in its outer skin. Imagine getting a Coutts-eye view from his helmet cam as he plunges 20 feet down through the wing and into the water.
Of course there is danger involved here too, and crew man Shannon Falcone, although he had less far to fall, still injured his ribs in the same crash. Bear in mind these AC45s are still only the ‘baby wheels' versions of the larger AC72s yet to come. A fall from an AC72 could be fatal.
Talking of the AC72s, these will now only be brought into action in July 2012, a year before the America's Cup Match is contested. Their competitive debut has been shoved back to allow teams more time to design and develop their race boats. This is but one of a number of concessions to the original schedule as the number of ‘real' challengers diminishes by the month. Just a few months ago we were told there would be 14 teams contesting the next Cup, but a number of those have fallen by the wayside already, not least the Challenger of Record that signed up to the Defender's terms, Mascalzone Latino. We're still waiting to hear who will be the replacement Challenger of Record, by the way.
Not that it's all doom and gloom, not by any means. For the forthcoming America's Cup World Series, with the first event in Cascais, Portugal, in early August, the following teams are down to compete in the AC45s:
Oracle Racing (USA) Artemis (Sweden) Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand) Team China (China)
Korea (Korea) Venezia Challenge (Italy) Aleph (France) Team Energy (France)
There is also talk of another team being announced at the end of June, with rumours suggesting that Australia is still in play.
But how many of these teams have actually put down hard cash to purchase their own AC45, part of the original requirement of being a challenger? The $700,000 required to buy one is not a lot in Cup terms, but still the only three teams being considered as serious contenders are Oracle, Artemis and the Kiwis. Team China also looks increasingly credible, although it drops off rapidly after that.
Coutts wants to broaden the appeal of the America's Cup to a much bigger audience, and the evidence of his smash hit capsize on YouTube suggests that he's on to something with these crazy catamarans. But the high cost and short time frame do not sit happily against the back drop of a global economic slump that seems to drag on and on.
Part of Coutts must be thinking, ‘you know what? Let's blow the AC72s and just run with the AC45s for the America's Cup!' He'd certainly get more teams that way. But for the America's Cup purists who argue that the Cup is primarily a design race, to stage the Cup in a fleet of one-design multihulls would be the ultimate sacrilege. I don't think Coutts will go that far, but if he does... well, you read it here first!
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?
Fourteen teams have paid $25k to say they're serious about challenging Oracle Racing for the next America's Cup. However, these teams are going to have to spend a lot more than that in the coming months if they're going to mount any kind of credible challenge, with the first America's Cup World Series regattas due to be contested in Portugal and England this summer.
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....
