Sail - July 2018

PHOTOS COURTESY OF

DARPA

(ABOVE); OF

INEOS TEAM GB

(TOP)

Speaking of Spithill, while

there’s still no sign of his ex-boss

Larry Ellison, it appears he remains

undaunted by the shellacking he

received as helmsman for Oracle

Team USA at the hands of the cur-

rent Defender, Emirates Team New

Zealand, in Bermuda and has now

signed on with his former rival, the

Challenger-of-Record, Italy’s Team

Luna Rossa Challenge.

And speaking of shellackings, it

appears Britain’s Sir Ben Ainslie,

whose Land Rover BAR squad

didn’t do so well in Bermuda either,

has also not yet had enough and

will make another attempt at returning the Auld Mug to its birth-

place. Not only that, but it appears Ainslie (who was also Spithill’s

tactician for the 34th Cup in San Francisco) now has the funds to

make that happen, after securing $153 million in backing from

British petrochemicals magnate James Ratcliffe, for what is now

being called INEOS Team GB.

As for the characteristically tight-lipped Kiwi Defenders, who the

heck knows? At er unveiling the admittedly odd-looking new 75-foot-

er with its pivoting T-foils legs that will be used to sail for the Cup in

2021, a cone of silence has fallen over the Auckland-based camp.

That said, there is one thing we can be sure of, and that is that

robots need not apply: this thanks to a clause in the AC75 rule

that states, “There shall be 11 crewmembers, unless reduced by ac-

cident, who shall all be human beings.”

In the words of Emirates technical director, Dan Bernasconi, “It’s a

little bit tongue-in-cheek, but you never know. People are always look-

ing for the last bit of performance to get out of the boat. Whether any-

one would turn up with a crew full of androids, who would know?”

Who would know, indeed? Especially since with $153 million at

his disposal, Sir Ben, at least, will be in a position to buy himself some

pretty exotic toys. Makes those old nationality debates seem almost

quaint by comparison. For the latest on the inevitable craziness that is

the America’s Cup, visit americascup.com. s

Britain’s INEOS Team GB (above) has

money to burn; (left) robots need not

apply, as only humans are allowed