It seems inevitable it was going to happen at some point, but the first capsize in a wing-masted AC45 came along a lot sooner than most would have expected.
Swedish team Artemis now hold the dubious honour of becoming the first to tip the new ‘training wheels' 45-foot ultra-lightweight multihull on its side, as team boss Paul Cayard described: "It wasn't even a spectacular wipeout at 30 knots. Rather they were sitting head to wind, taking a break after the three hour training session and repairing something on the roller furler. The boat got hit with a gust from about 10 degrees off to one side and the boat slowly rolled over. No one was hurt and the boat was back at the dock within two hours."
Every experience is a learning one - even, and especially, the bad ones. "The team is going to make a "playbook" on the capsize. Yes, even in an unfortunate situation, there is a lot to learn. Hopefully, if this happens again, we will be able to right the boat without losing the skin [of the wing sail]. One thing for sure, it was good it was not a 72-footer capsizing today."
Wing masts appear to be surprisingly resilient. The damage was minimal and the AC45 was back up and running just a few days later. Meanwhile Artemis and two other America's Cup teams have taken delivery of their own AC45s and have started to assemble them. The speed with which these radical 45-footers have moved from concept through design to prototype and now production is phenomenal, and interest has started to trickle in from outside the America's Cup world itself, with private owners and syndicates sniffing out the prospect of owning an AC45 for the sheer thrill of it.
With entries to the 34th America's Cup due to close by the end of March, the organisers now claim to have eight entries in total, including the recent addition of an Australian and second French team. However, stumping up the cash for the entry fee and actually showing up on the start line are two different things, and we'll have to see how many of these entries become reality. Team Australia's entry to the Cup started less than auspiciously, with a link to a website that led nowhere. If you can't master a website, it makes you worry about organising an America's Cup campaign, but still; nice to see the Aussies back for the first time since 2000.
With so many of the old teams from the past 10 years bowing out of the Cup, and so many fresh-faced organisations coming into replace them, it's just as well the organisers have put together an America's Cup World Series to help the teams to get up to speed. Due to be contested in the AC45s while the big daddy multihulls, the AC72s are still in build, it's sure going to keep the sailors and shore crew busy. With eight nine-day events slated to start this July and conclude in May 2012, the teams will barely have time to draw breath. Venues are yet to be announced, but the circuit is likely to take the teams around the world.
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?
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.
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....
