Am Cup sailors: Time to get your poker face on
Racing is set to start but teams need to bluff and keep an ace or two up their sleeves in this long game, as American Magic boss explains to Duncan Johnstone.
American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson claims he’s hopeless at cards — but knows it time to get his poker face ready — as the new America’s Cup boats finally get set to race.
This week sees the start of five days of official practising on the Auckland race courses that will be used for the world series and Christmas Cup warm-up regatta from December 17-20.
All four teams have vowed these will be competitive affairs as they get a feel for their respective boat’s positioning ahead of the Prada Cup challenger series in January and February, with the winner of that going on to meet Emirates Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup match in March.
The hulls of the new boats have been revealed, but it’s still not time to show your full hand.
Sail development will be never-ending and the teams are allowed to make six sets of foils.
These foils could ultimately be the deciding speed factor and with a three-to-four months’ build time, the final foils are nearing completion. So it’s a matter of choosing the time to unveil them. The defenders will want their prime foils for the Cup match and the challengers have to decide if they keep a set up their sleeve for the business end of the challenger series, or even leave something in store if they are the team to make it through to take on the Kiwis.
‘‘I think you probably have to leave a little bit in your treasure chest and pick the timing of when you unroll your final set of foils,’’ Hutchinson told the Sunday StarTimes.
‘‘In that regard we will have to be smart about when we put those under the yacht.’’
There’s sure to be a bit of bluffing going on in the next couple of months, which might test the affable Hutchinson, who also acts as CEO of the powerful United States syndicate backed by the New York Yacht Club.
‘‘I’m a terrible poker player. If I was sitting at the table and had four aces, you’d know. I’d just have a big grin on my face.’’
It’s too early to start grinning, but Hutchinson seems quietly comfortable with where his team sits.
They’ve spent more time on the water than any of their rivals, maximising their bold decision to arrive early in Auckland.
But it’s not about quantity, it’s more about quality in yachting’s toughest environment, and Hutchinson feels they managed that equation cleverly.
‘‘In that regard our time on the water has been well spent, we have had some incredible sailing days in Patriot and some top-end conditions,’’ Hutchinson said.
‘‘ The boats continue to impress with their straight line performance . . . it’s just phenomenal.
‘‘So that’s been exciting, but I think all the teams are at the pointy end of it now and it’s time to get into the racing.’’
Over the past week American Magic have been busy getting their boat into ‘‘ race mode’’ for this next crucial phase. They’ve also been busy looking at tactics, no small task given that no racing has been done in these radical 75-foot foiling monohulls that are pushing past 50 knots of speed.
‘‘ A lot of our training right now has been understanding the boat’s positioning in the prestart,’’ Hutchinson said.
Without the benefit of a training partner, much of that work has been done on the simulator.
‘‘The beauty of the simulator is it helps you develop patterns.
‘‘ In that regard that side is going pretty good. We have been developing a playbook.’’
There are still so unknowns.
‘‘When we look across the fences at the other teams, everyone is really manoeuvrable and willing to throw the boat around.
‘‘ Time will tell what the race strategy is. We have certain manoeuvres in mind with certain timings but outside of that you still have to go and race and see what the other boat does.’’
In that sense, reactionary instincts will be crucial, with Hutchinson providing a worthy analogy given the speeds involved: ‘‘You drive down the highway and someone cuts you off, you have to do something.’’
Those new foils aside, don’t expect American Magic to be holding back too much in this first phase of official practice and racing.
‘‘We view it as an opportunity to learn.
‘‘Time is very short, so it is important not to waste any time at this point.
‘‘When we go out to race, be it a practice race or a regular race, we go out to get a result.
‘‘But it’s about improving dayin and day-out.
‘‘I think we have seen enough in the past America’s Cup history that how you start the regatta is certainly not going to be how you finish it from racing the boat.’’ many