Cup Experience

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Youth America’s Cup Chase Boat Nearly Hits Artemis – Minor Damage

Youth America's Cup chase boat cuts in front of Artemis during practice race, 6 April 2017 - MyislandhomeBDA
Youth America’s Cup chase boat cuts in front of Artemis during practice race, 6 April 2017 – MyislandhomeBDA

On Thursday 6 April, Artemis Racing won their pre-start against Oracle Team USA, putting a penalty on Oracle. Artemis led going into the first mark doing close to 40 knots, when an errant chase boat from a Red Bull Youth America’s Cup team crossed in front of them. The chase boat did a quick 180. Nathan Outteridge did an emergency bearaway and Artemis planted the bows, damaging the fairing on the forward crossbeam. Regatta Director Iain Murray abandoned the race and cleared the course. Artemis went to their base to inspect the structures and to patch up the damage. They returned for a second race against Oracle. Artemis lost the start and followed Oracle around the first mark but found better pressure later in the race and passed Oracle for the win.

Artemis Helmsman Nathan Outteridge Describes the Incident

At 1:00 into this video by Jason Smith of MyislandhomeBDA, Artemis and Oracle cross the start line. At 1:45 Artemis leads around Mark 1. You can see the Youth America’s Cup chase boat’s emergency turn on the right edge of the screen. About 15 seconds later, at 2:00 in the video we can see the damaged fairing hanging from the forward starboard crossbeam. At 2:17 a crewman leaves his cockpit and lies down on the crossbeam to pull off the damaged piece. At 2:33 he throws it overboard and at 2:50 the Artemis chase boat stops to pick it up.

Jason Smith’s “MyislandhomeBDA” YouTube channel provides regular video updates on the teams training in Bermuda. You can thank Jason by subscribing to his YouTube channel and by making a donation. 

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Artemis Racing Test Boat Broke – No One Hurt

Artemis Racing’s test boat, the AC45x “T2” suffered serious damage. The wing came down and both crossbeams broke. No one was injured. The wing, a spare for their America’s Cup Class race yacht, was damaged slightly.

America's Cup challenger Artemis Racing AC45x test boat broke up. April 2017. Image: Royal Gazette
America’s Cup challenger Artemis Racing AC45x test boat broke up. April 2017. Image: Royal Gazette

In the photo above, the daggerboard lifting pole is sticking through the lower segment of the flap element of the wing. Fortunately none of the wing control system is in that part of the wing, so damage was minor. In the photo below you can see the repair work underway. The Clysar film was torn and a few ribs were broken.

America's Cup challenger Artemis Racing repairing wing for their America's Cup Class race boat. It was damaged when the test boat on which the wing was installed broke up.
Artemis Racing repairing wing for their America’s Cup Class race boat – April 2017. Image: Artemis Racing video.

The port hull is lying on its side in the photo below. Both crossbeams have broken. Artemis engineers are studying data from the boat to determine what caused the breakage.

America's Cup challenger Artemis Racing AC45x test boat broke up. April 2017. Image: Royal Gazette
America’s Cup challenger Artemis Racing AC45x test boat broke up. Image: Royal Gazette

Thanks to the Bermuda Royal Gazette for the photos. You can read their full article here.

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Results of Practice Racing in Bermuda

Oracle published a report on the practice racing here. Jimmy Spithill said, “There was some great, close racing between ourselves and Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan. All three teams won and lost their share of races and we all learned a lot I think. Unfortunately, the British seemed to be having issues and weren’t competitive which was a bit of surprise.”

BAR have just over 100 days to get things sorted out. Remember that Oracle was taken by surprise in the 2013 AC Match in San Francisco, but made a series of improvements over two weeks and staged their comeback.

Unofficial results, as reported by Oracle:

Artemis claimed on Twitter that Oracle used alternative facts:

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FLASH: 5 Teams Announce AC 2019 and 2021

The heads of five of the six teams met in London last week to announce that their yacht clubs have signed a Framework Agreement outlining the next two editions of the America’s Cup, to be held in 2019 and 2021.

Photo: ACEA

Racing will be held in a modified version of the AC Class yachts being used in 2017 (more details below). No surrogate test boats will be allowed. AC45F’s will be raced in the AC World Series until August 2018. From September 2018 onwards the new version AC Class yachts will race in the ACWS. The ACWS will include fleet racing and match racing. The final ACWS event will be held in the venue of the America’s Cup Match and the Challenger Playoffs will start right afterwards, followed by the Match.

The AC Class rule will be modified to allow racing in a wider wind range – 4 to 26 knots. This probably means adding a gennaker for light conditions and having a smaller wing for heavy air days. Remember that the original version of the AC72 Class Rule included a heavy air wing. The smaller wing was dropped from the rule, a move later regarded as a mistake, given the number of races cancelled due to wind above the limit in San Francisco in 2013.

The yacht clubs represented by Oracle Racing, Land Rover BAR, Groupama Team France, Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan have agreed that if one of them wins the America’s Cup Match in Bermuda this June, they will only accept a challenge from a yacht club that has agreed to these terms. That could be one of them, a new team, or Emirates Team New Zealand, should the Kiwis change their minds and agree to these terms. The fly in the ointment is that if the Kiwis don’t agree to these terms and then go on to win the America’s Cup, this framework goes out the window. Such is the America’s Cup.

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Practice Racing in Bermuda

AC Race Management Regatta Director Iain Murray is running two weeks of practice racing in Bermuda, with teams sailing their AC45X test boats. This is the third time ACRM has run training races in Bermuda. All teams were invited, but neither Groupama Team France nor Emirates Team New Zealand is participating. Not only have the French and the Kiwis not yet arrived in Bermuda, they no longer have test boats – they’ve been disassembled for parts for those teams’ AC Class race yachts.

Our contacts in Bermuda say that Artemis and Team Japan seem to be going especially well, but not to read too much into that.

The umpire is making calls on the water, so there is plenty of shouting, especially in the pre-starts. The LiveLine system requires helicopters and a complete technical team to operate it – a bit impractical for practice races.

This is not just for the sailors – it’s a rehearsal for the shore crews as well. There is some flexibility in the work schedule on training days, but on race day the boat needs to be at the starting area on time. The designers will also be getting feedback on how their daggerboard designs are performing. Control systems ergonomics and hydraulics will also get thoroughly tested in race conditions.