RACING 36 th America’s Cup
CHALLENGER RANKS THIN OUT
Five alternative America’s Cup courses are shown, with Waitemata Harbour at left and the popular boating, wining and dining island Waiheke on right;
Auckland’s inner Waitemata Harbour, with Viaduct Basin and Silo Marina beginning far rightSir Ben Ainslie’s warning, reported in Yacht Style #47, that three Challengers for the
36
th
America’s Cup may not make the starting line in Auckland, New Zealand, in
early 2021, has been partly borne out.O
nly weeks after the skipper of Britain’s Ineos Team UK
Challenge made his prediction, it was officially announced
that Royal Malta Yacht Club had withdrawn its Malta Altus
Challenge, which was initially backed by Italian Pacquale
Cataldi, CEO of the multinational Altus real estate group.
The other two in Ainslie’s sights were late entrants Stars and
Stripes Team USA, a famous AC name from the West Coast, and
first-time DutchSail, which advised that it was unable to make a
commitment to compete by the July 1 deadline.
Stars and Stripes Team USA, the Challenger of Record Prada
and its Luna Rossa entrant, Ainslie’s Ineos Team UK, and the New
York-based American Magic syndicate will compete in the Prada Cup
Challenger Series in January-February of 2021, only about 550 days
away.
The winner goes up against Emirates Team New Zealand, which
regained the “auld mug” in an exciting series sailed in Bermuda in
2017, easily defeating Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA 7-1 in a final
sailed in 50ft foiling catamarans.
Ellison is not rechallenging after winning and twice defending the
America’s Cup. Instead he has started his own series called SailGP, in
the same sort of boats, which is covered elsewhere this issue.
Grant Dalton of Emirates Team New Zealand, referring to the
Malta Altus news, said: “This is a disappointing outcome. They had
a strong foundation, with some highly experienced and reputable
America’s Cup personnel linked to the team.
“So, for them to pull out is not just a shame for the event, but also
for those people who have worked so hard trying to get this Challenge
to the start line.
“We hope they will continue to build on their foundation over the
next 18 months with a view to the future, and challenging for the 37th
America’s Cup”.
Laurent Esquier, CEO of the Challenger of Record, said: “We want
the Prada Cup to include as many teams as possible.
“While we have done all we can to support the Malta Altus Challenge,
they haven’t been able to bring together all the layers of complexity that
are needed to continue with an America’s Cup challenge.
“We are still guaranteed to have a highly competitive and exciting
Prada Cup to select a challenger to race against Emirates Team NewZealand in Auckland 6-12 March 2021”.
The next America’s Cup is to be sailed in AC75s, which are 75ft
foiling and canting keel monohulls capable of great speeds.
Ineos Team UK and New York Yacht Club’s American Magic
already have test boats called “T5” and “The Mule” respectively in
the water, and the Italian Prada-backed Luna Rossa syndicate has just
launched their first vessel to start training at Cagliari in Sardinia.
Test boats must be smaller than 39ft (12m), as per the Protocol,
and teams are only permitted to launch two AC75s (22.8m).
T5 was originally a Quant 28 (8.5m), while The Mule is the largest
test boat launched so far. She is a McConaghy 38, a yard with high-
tech facilities located near Sydney and at Zhuhai, upriver from Macau
in China.
Images published by the American, British and Italian teams so far
are showing very different boats when it comes to hull and foil shapes,
confirming that there is no sure path to follow to develop the fastest
boats.
Says the Defender, which has the right to nominate what sort of
boats will do battle: “The AC75 is one of the most revolutionary hull
concepts. Nothing like it has ever been designed before, therefore
nobody can be sure of what will transpire.
“Differences in shape and speed may be substantial, and with the
first act of the America’s Cup World Series less than one year away,
things are quickly coming to a head”.
The first generation of AC75s will soon be launched, and the
projected pre-AC World Series is undergoing some fine tuning.
Separately, Asia-Pacific and Australian and New Zealand ports
in particular have been flooded with superyachts during a prior
Australian AC defence in Perth in 1987 and in Auckland in 2000 and
2003.
Auckland Council has announced it will drop a proposed daily
anchoring fee on foreign-flagged vessels over 40m. Auckland Harbour
covers from Kawau Island to Great Barrier Island, to the tip of the
Coromandel Peninsula, and includes 50 lovely islands, plus the five
America’s Cup courses.
Big boat berths in the central CBD Viaduct Basin and Silo Marina
in the nearby Wynyard Quarter are still available, but are likely to be
heavily booked.