Cup’s future at stake and plenty of needle in the air as rivals race for glory
New Zealand could decide on a return to monohulls if they beat holders Team USA
The 35th America’s Cup match begins today on Bermuda’s spectacular Great Sound; a first-toseven battle between the defender, Oracle Team USA, and the challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand.
Needless to say, we wish it was us challenging the US. Our defeat by the Kiwis in the play-off semi-finals last week still hurts. But you have to say New Zealand fully deserve to be in the final, having beaten Swedish challenger Artemis by the same 5-2 margin in their play-off final. They have done a brilliant job.
Interest in the Cup may have waned a little back in the UK since our exit. But I really hope that those who followed our progress during qualifying – some of whom were already sailing fans and others who may be new to the sport – will continue to tune in, because one thing this Cup has not wanted for is drama and spectacular racing.
And this final has all the ingredients to be extremely tasty.
It is a fascinating match-up for so many reasons; the boats, the crews, the way the last Cup ended, with Team USA coming back from 8-1 down in San Francisco to win 9-8. That left a sour taste in the mouths of many Kiwis, and there is definitely a bit of needle in the air. It is right up there in terms of a rematch.
I honestly would not want to guess who is going to win. It could potentially come down to that one point which Oracle claimed by winning the qualifying round robins.
As for us, we may be out of the 35th Cup, but work has already begun for the 36th. We have been going through a pretty intensive debrief, both out here and back at our base in Portsmouth, since last weekend.
A core team, sailing and design, stayed out here to watch Team USA and New Zealand; to analyse their boats and try to glean whatever information we can, although to an extent we are in a slight holding pattern with regard to the future.
That is because New Zealand have not signed up to the framework agreement which the other five teams signed up to earlier this year, committing us to continuing with foiling catamarans in a biennial Cup cycle, with an expanded America’s Cup World Series in between each Cup.
If Oracle Team USA win the 35th Cup, that is what we will be doing for the foreseeable future.
If New Zealand win then we are less sure, although I am still confident they would want to continue in multihulls and, as a commercially-funded team themselves, create something which is commercially sustainable.
If New Zealand win and do decide to return to monohulls, the impact would actually not be as big as one might imagine.
There would be zero impact on the shore team, and only a small impact on the design team – a few specialists. But many of the designers in the Cup at the moment are the same guys who were involved back in the monohull days a decade ago.
The truth is, though, no one really knows. There is a lot of talk flying around out here, but talk is cheap.
There is no point fretting about it. What we are trying to do is to create an environment where we can react to whoever wins.
Fortunately, we have got ourselves into a great position with key investors and commercial partners such as Land Rover and 11th Hour Racing, both of whom have already committed to the next Cup cycle.
The Cup match aside, it has been an interesting week out here, with the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup still going on.
I am delighted to say that our academy team at Land Rover BAR have done brilliantly so far, finishing joint top of Group B on points to advance to next week’s finals.
We are really proud of them. They are a fantastic advert to youngsters out there and we are
‘As for us, we may be out of the 35th Cup but work has started for the 36th, both out here and back at base’
trying to use their success – and the America’s Cup in general – to inspire the next generation of sailors and engineers.
Our charity, the 1851 Trust, has actually been conducting a roadshow for the past few weeks, travelling around the country and using the America’s Cup to encourage both primary and secondary school pupils to get into STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) and to think about sustainability – we want children to think about how they can be part of the solution to the problems our planet faces.
Yesterday we had a live link-up with the Duchess of Cambridge, who is patron of the 1851 Trust and was attending the final event of the roadshow at the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre in east London.
Her involvement makes a huge difference in terms of getting the message out there.