Sailgp turns it on in Sydney
Russell Coutts And LARRY ellison’s foiling CAT CIRCUIT started In sydney In february. Crosbie Lorimer Reports
Russell Coutts, the CEO of Sailgp, is not one given to hyperbole, but when asked if he thought the inaugural two-day event had lived up to expectations he was unambiguous in his response:
“I’m thrilled, it’s been a fantastic event and Sydney really turned it on.”
You might expect Coutts to say as much, but moving this programme from concept to reality in barely 18 months, pulling off the first event in tricky wind conditions that tested crews on a very steep learning curve, was a mighty accomplishment.
Ironically it was the one element that Sailgp could not control – the weather – that threatened to undo all that hard work. Amid two weeks of strong seabreezes the event struggled in a two day window of very light airs, but the wind gods turned up the dials just enough for the fleet to manage some reasonable foiling without bringing on any serious crashes or a single retirement.
Although breezes seldom nudged past occasional 10-knot peaks, the light winds may have been a blessing: pre-race practice runs and the races themselves demonstrated just how far most of the six teams had yet to go in controlling the F50s through gybes and tacks.
Even for the Australian and Japanese teams, which boasted the most America’s Cup experience, this first test under racing conditions was no walk in the park. Kyle Langford, wing trimmer for event winners Team Australia, admitted that while the DNA may be the same, the F50s presented some very different challenges to their AC50 forebears,
“The boats are a big step up from what they were in Bermuda in the way that they are designed; they’re awesome to sail and there’s a lot of technicalities and a lot of small things that we are still getting wrong.”
Langford’s description of the playbook for his role as wing trimmer in a gybe lists a bewildering choreography of actions with both hands and feet
that call for split second timing and the dexterity of an octopus.
Inevitably, given the origin of Sailgp’s remodelled F50s, comparisons were drawn by some with the America’s Cup.
Unlike the America’s Cup, Sailgp funds and owns all the boats and the teams, requires strict nationality rules (with a two-year phase-in period for those nations still in development mode) and all of the boats have been equalised.
But perhaps the most significant game changer is the open source access to all performance data between teams for post-race analysis, a move that has been designed in part at least to level a playing field that at present is pitched in favour of those with the most extensive Cup experience.
The concept seems to be universally supported. Even the Japanese and Australian team members who had the most to lose agreed, if grudgingly, that the concept was fair and practical.
In practical terms, the move to batterypowered foil controls seems to allow tacticians to call up a manoeuvre at a moment’s notice, something missing in Bermuda where all tactical manoeuvres were dictated by the available hydraulic power generated by the grinders.
With most crews in Sydney still experiencing
regular splashdowns as they grappled with the complex techniques, communication and split second timing required to pull off fully foiling manoeuvres, minimising changes of course was essential. Consequently, boat-on-boat manoeuvres were largely absent, but we can expect to see some much closer action as the skill levels improve.
Foiling experience across the six teams varies greatly: not many have extensive big boat foiling experience, but almost all come from high performance dinghy backgrounds – Moths, Nacra 17s, 49ers, M32s and 18ft skiffs.
Several teams’ grinders also come from other sports, most notably Australia’s Ky Hurst, an Olympic swimmer and four times Australian Ironman Champion, while Great Britain’s Matt Gottrel is an Olympic Gold medallist in rowing.
Spectator experience
As a spectator experience Sailgp Sydney seemed to favour those prepared to fork out for a top spot on the water or on land; a surprising outcome for a city known for embracing public access to its sailing, but one that was largely dictated by the harbour’s geography.
Sydney Heads and Sound – which sees half a million people every Boxing Day line the cliffs to see the Sydney Hobart fleet off – is an unsuitable venue for the foiling F50s thanks to a regular swell and the notorious Sow and Pigs outcrop.
As a result, spectating for the non-paying public was mostly limited to the small low lying headland of Bradleys Head. For those happy to pay, Shark Island, in the centre of Sydney Harbour with direct views to the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge, was an ideal spectator venue at the very heart of the action. This is part of Sydney Harbour National Park, so spectator numbers on the island were capped but it proved a popular venue, being sold out on both days.
The requirements for each race to meet
broadcast timelines (a 16-minute race-intervalrace cycle) had many spectators confused about race finishes, with the changing finish line communicated to the crews but seemingly not to the crowds. The broadcast commentary team was caught out on day 1, calling the finish with a leg still to go, while the French team inexplicably sailed around the outside of the finish line on Race 1 and earned a DNF!
On-water spectators comprised a significant fleet of corporate charters and private boat owners. Sailgp confirmed that more than 1,600 boats had registered for the event, carrying something in the order of 19,000 spectators over the two days, topped up by numerous yachts and powerboats that turned up on a casual basis.
Growing the audience
The live broadcast experience offered many of the features enjoyed by viewers of the America’s Cup broadcast in Bermuda, including aerial footage overlaid with graphics showing boat speeds and course boundaries.
Sam Leadsom, Sailgp’s head of broadcast, explains that they are looking beyond the sailing audience to gain as broad a reach as possible,
“We want to engage a new audience and grow the fan base of the sport. We have hired sports professionals and a production partner that don’t have a traditional sailing background to help attract a wider demographic.”
“We are covering the sport with 15-20 cameras, drones are replacing traditional camera boats for lower, faster action shots.”
However, some of elements evidently needed fine tuning – the lack of replays was a cause of frustration to many viewers. The broadcast also seemed to be missing the drama of close up water level perspectives that were a memorable aspect of the AC45 fleet racing, particularly in the close quarters chase to the first mark.
Other teething problems included lost connections in the post-race interviews and a race commentary that was sometimes hard to hear over the crews’ onboard comms audio and an almost constant whistling sound from the foils.
The video footage is accompanied by an app which can be customised to preference, including choices of team, camera angle and data the race boats and athletes.
To extend the reach, the app can also be tailored to offer default mode (bigger video, fewer stats) or advanced mode (smaller video, more stats) for those more interested in performance data. However, there was a strong online plea for Sailgp to launch on Android as the initial roll out has been on an Apple platform only.
Fully foiling laps
The overriding view was that Sailgp has made a very impressive debut, with improvements already in the pipeline that will turn up the excitement factor another few notches.
It seems extraordinary, but if the fleet experiences the same wind conditions next year the new modular wings currently in development would see the F50s able to complete fully foiling ‘dry laps’ in wind speeds of less than 10 knots.
As the roadshow moves to San Francisco in April 2019 and from there to New York, Cowes and finally Marseille, the question will be whether the US, Chinese, French and British teams can get up to speed quickly enough to match the Australians and Japanese.