Monohulls to ramp up excitement

They may be going back to the future but Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby believes the changes made to the America’s Cup could make racing even more exciting than it was in Bermuda.

By reverting to a more traditional approach for the 36th edition of the event in 2021, one of the biggest challenges Team NZ and Challenger of Record, Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge, face is maintaining the entertainment factor.

While it may not have sat well with sailing purists, there is no doubt that Oracle attracted a whole new audience to the sport during their tenure by making the America’s Cup more TV-friendly.

Fast, foiling catamarans combined with short, sharp races they were about 20 minutes long in Bermuda - were enhanced in the broadcast by an Emmy Awardwinning graphics system which made the action ‘‘easier to understand than rugby’’, as Team NZ boss Grant Dalton said at the protocol announcement on Friday.

There is a concern among some experts that a return to monohulls could be a step back but until the concepts for the 75-foot yachts are released on November 30, and the class rule is confirmed on March 31, it is difficult to judge.

Team NZ and Luna Rossa insist they are committed to delivering the same high standard of televised racing, although they have already indicated that races are likely to double in duration time, with longer pre-starts.

According to Ashby, that does not mean the duels on the water will be any less thrilling and he is confident the changes made will only build on months ago.

‘‘One thing’s for sure, the racing will be as exciting, or more exciting, as Bermuda,’’ Ashby told Stuff. ‘‘There were some fantastic things there but also things that I think everyone would agree could be done slightly be better as we move forward and that’s just a fantastic position we’re in now.’’

Ashby is one of the key members of Team NZ, including helmsman Peter Burling, who are yet to finalise their future and whether he stays on for the defence remains to be seen. But he has no reservations about the switch to monohulls and is relishing the chance to test his skills in the new class.

‘‘My recent involvement has been largely in multihulls over the last 15 or 20 years but we’ve all grown up sailing in dinghies and high-performance yachts right the way through,’’ he said.

‘‘It doesn’t matter what we’re sailing going forward, it’s going to be exciting. There’s a lot of development to be done which makes it really interesting.’’

Ashby’s thoughts were echoed by Land Rover BAR skipper Sir Ben Ainslie as he declared his intention to challenge for the Auld Mug in 2021.

While Ainslie felt that the continuity of staying with multihulls would have been better for the sport, he admits the new boats ‘‘can be similarly spectacular’’.

‘‘A lot of the design and sailing team at Land Rover BAR have backgrounds – mine included – in monohulls and I know that it is going to be amazing to sail these new boats once they are built,’’ Ainslie wrote in a column for The Telegraph. what we saw three