Sail - July 2018

PHOTOS COURTESY OF

ACEA

(INSET); OF

BRONNY DANIELS

(ABOVE)

JULY 2018

Getting into Gear

A year into the latest Cup cycle, the teams are starting to get serious By Adam Cort

W

hile much of the yacht racing world has had its eyes glued

to the Volvo Ocean Race these eight past months, the

behemoth that is the America’s Cup has also been slowly

but surely lurching into motion, following the publication

of the oi cial AC75 class rule in late March.

Here at home, the New York Yacht Club’s “American Magic” campaign

(so named in honor of the schooner that started it all back in 1851)

continues to pick up steam, with its sailors i rst winning the Ficker Cup

and then taking second overall this past April in the Congressional Cup,

behind former World Match Racing champion Taylor Cani eld of the

U.S. Virgin Islands.

Interestingly, while renowned U.S. sailor Terry Hutchinson is currently

leading the ef ort, at the helm is Kiwi

America’s Cup veteran Dean Barker,

the skipper on the losing side of the

Jimmy Spithill-led “Comeback” on

San Francisco Bay in 2013.

“So far, the overall experience has been very good,” said Hutchin-

son. “The Ficker and Congressional Cups were an opportunity to test

ourselves, to see where we are, and to apply some pressure [to our

team]. Over 12 days, American Magic had a record of 39-7 against

some really strong competition. Unfortunately, we didn’t win on the

last day of the Congressional Cup, but we did a lot of really good

things as a team.”

RACING UNDER SAIL

Dean Barker (inset) and the rest of the

“American Magic” campaign (above, to

windward) had a chance to start honing their

match-racing skills at the Congressional Cup