THE DAY OR TWO AFTER.

James Spithill Russell Coutts Larry Ellison John Kos-tecki. BMW Oracle Racing.


It’s America’s Cup again! In winning the ‘Auld Mug off Valencia, Spain; USA BMW Oracle, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) in San Francisco, now embarks on a journey to reclaim the high ground. Their mission, is to repair all that was lost over the last two years of endless litigation.
In a match that was settled on the water and produced an awe inspiring image of the two most technologically advanced racing boats ever built to compete for yachting’s most prestigious trophy. The America’s Cup seems back on track again.
“It is a fabulous experience I am very proud to be part of this team and I am exceptionally proud to bring the America’s Cup back to the United States of America for the first time in a very long time,” said Larry Ellison, USA team founder and afterguard member.
As the battle for the type of boat, venue and the date begins, its time to look back on yachting’s Saint Valentine’s Day massacre and look forward to what should be an exciting and harmonious 34th America’s Cup.
“What a fantastic race,” said USA Skipper James Spithill. “I would really like to congratulate Alinghi for bouncing back today; they were coming out there swinging.
“We knew they were a champion team and they showed that again today,” said Spithill. “Full credit to them it was one hell of a boat race. I tell you, I enjoyed every minute of it.”
For Spithill, it was clearly the game changing event in his career. One of the most aggressive starters in match racing, he lived up to his reputation and reminded a lot of people of a young Dennis Conner, who made his reputation as a terror in the start box.
“I think this was a very challenging event,” said Coutts. “Even two or three months ago I was not sure that we could have our team working effectively enough to beat these guys. I know, because I was in team Alinghi and I know how good they are.”
“It was a fantastic effort on our behalf to have beaten them and certainly I hope to see them back and competing in the America’s Cup,” said Coutts.
As for Alinghi and the Societe Nautique de Geneva, let the second guessing begin. This race was fought on two fronts, in the courtroom, where USA’s legal team waged a brilliant defense of the Deed of Gift (DoG) and on the water, where America’s technology superiority was showcased in this event for the first time since Bill Koch upped the ante in 1992 with America “3”.
“They had a strategy and they got a little help from the legal system in New York, that always makes things difficult for us Europeans to get the same sort advantages,” lamented a dejected, but upbeat, if not cynical Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi’s Owner and helmsman. “They were able to change their boat when they saw ours, they were able to bring a wing and they were faster.”
“I think both days were real races and unfortunately it is just two races, but I’d like to congratulate Oracle on the job that they have done, designing, building and sailing that boat,” said Alinghi tactician and clearly one of the best sailors in the world, Brad Butterworth. “It is not an easy thing to do, to change their boat, to re-mode it and to push it when they saw what we were coming out with.”
In the design race that became this America’s Cup, BMW Oracle christened their new boat 13 months after their challenge was submitted in July, 2007. Alinghi had another 10 months before they launched their new boat. Both teams modified their boats extensively and copped many “secrets” from each other. The boats are kindred spirits, but clearly the wing sail tipped the scale.
Even if the boats had raced in RAK in the United Arab Emirates, on the Persian Gulf, the results would have most likely remained unchanged. The wind conditions were in Alinghi 5's "range". USA was generally able to power up at will, as seen in Race One, after stalling out at the start and then literally, able to reel Alinghi in with the throttle down, over a matter of moments.
“So, good on them and maybe I wouldn’t have done the same thing, but that is the America’s Cup, it is not the European Cup, it is the America’s Cup,” said Bertarelli. “The Americans have a bit of an advantage but they take the Cup back home. Let’s see what happens now.”
It is a billionaires game and as J P Morgan once remarked over a century ago; “if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.” The same holds true today, though clearly there will be an impetus towards cost cutting.
As far as venues go the early front runners are; Valencia, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; San Francisco and San Diego, California; Auckland, New Zealand and last, but not least, Newport, Rhode Island. For any port, infrastructure and weather will be the key ingredients for success, but clearly some if not all will play a part or have an “Act” in the next America’s Cup.
Coutts related the experience of the spectacular TV images of the America's Cup races off Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The 12-Meter yachts at that time ripped through gargantuan boat busting sea swells and routinely sailed in winds over 25 knots on the Indian Ocean.
“I think we are open to considering a lot of options. We will talk to San Francisco and to Valencia,” said Ellison. “Valencia have been fantastic hosts to the last two America’s Cups and as you know we pushed very hard to hold this Cup in Valencia. It was not the Defender’s first choice, and overall we enjoyed sailing the 32nd and the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia.”
The yacht of choice will be a consensus choice amongst the participants. Alinghi submitted two choices during the courtroom wars. One was the AC 90, then a downsized AC 33, both had merits and a desire towards a fast downwind flying monohull, with loads of sail area.
Once a committed monohull enthusiast, Russell Coutts, BMW Oracle’s CEO has hedged his bets of late after the dramatic speed and success of their hard winged trimaran, USA. Coutts is the charge behind the successful RC 44 and of late the Transpac 52 has ignited energy on the European front.
“I think that the Cup boats we should reach consensus with the rest of the America’s Cup world,” said Coutts. “I think it would be irresponsible for one party to make try and make a decision on behalf of the everyone else.”
If the ultimate choice is a monohull look for the Version 5 ACC to carry the load for the next couple of years in warm up regattas as the Louis Vuitton World Series and the America’s Cup find their way back home again in a reunited series.
On the multi-hull front, speed is king and after the incredible images of USA ripping around the race course, it will be harder to go back to 80’ ft. anything and as conflicted as the 33rd edition was, it was the first time in all of our lives where we witnessed a true version of a real America’s Cup.
Not since the J-Boats of the 1930’s has the yachting world been treated to a spectacular spectacle such as this! It would be akin to the Indianapolis 500 going back to front engine roadsters or baseball without performance enhancing drugs.
But, there seems to be little support for a 60'ft. Pro-Sail series in multi-hulls, though the I-Shares Cup is exciting, it’s not the America’s Cup.
“This one has been an amazing experience, pretty much for all the teams, but especially for the sailors,” said US Skipper James Spithill. “Pretty much everyone on the boat had very little multihull experience beforehand. In some ways this one almost feels harder. For me personally it was a really steep hill to climb.”
“This particular America’s Cup has got a lot of interest because for the first time in a long time it featured the two fastest sailboats in the world and the limits of what is possible marrying high speed sailing and material science, carbon fiber, Kevlar, computational fluid dynamics, computer simulation of not only our hulls, but also our wing,” said Ellison.
“It was really a high tech race and a bunch of people who really aren’t that interested in sailing followed it pretty closely,” continued Ellison. “We think that is important for our sport. We think that is important to get the television coverage, to involve non sailors as well as sailors. We are going to try and make decision along with the rest of the America’s Cup community so we can do just that.”
For Alinghi, all is not lost, their design and race team are still the best in the world in ACC Version 5’s and their failures have more to do with Yacht Club and ownership politics, than on the water issues.
“It is not for me decide the future of the America’s Cup any more so I will wait and see what the future is going to bring us and where it going to take us,” said Bertarelli. “Then I will decide.”
“Of course we would like to see Alinghi back as a challenger,” said Coutts. “They are one of the best teams in this business, and they have proven that.”
The Challenger of Record (COR) will be the Club Nautico di Roma (CNR). The yacht club is associated with the Mascalzone Latino Racing Team, which is owned by two time America’s Cup participant Vincenzo Onorato.
Onorato was a very vocal and eloquent supporter of BMW Oracle’s legal challenges. He also shares a vision of the America’s Cup similar to Larry Ellison. The choice was an obvious one and will be well served for the future.
Club Nautico di Roma (Rome, Italy) was formed in 2006 and they do have a website and a phone number. GGYC and CNR have pledged to start a dialogue and wide-ranging discussions with the America’s Cup community, including existing and prospective teams.
The objective is to ensure that the 34th America’s Cup is built on the foundations of the competition’s unique past as well as on a shared vision for its future.
“One thing I would like to assure people about the 34th America’s Cup, is there will be a completely independent jury, there will be a completely independent umpires,” said Ellison. “It will be an independent group which manages the next America’s Cup and there will be a level playing field for all competitors.”
The next event on the horizon is LVWS in Auckland, New Zealand and other than a snippet or two of new information, don’t expect any ground breaking announcements for a while. The yacht of choice will probably be announced before the venue. But look for all announcements to well thought out in advance, but their will be tremendous pressure on the part of the GGYC to host the 34th America’s Cup in recession ravaged California.
Sayanara