Each team is allowed 11 people who can “touch the boat” – the five man (highlighted in yellow) crew plus shore team and possibly a spare sailor (highlighted in red).
Why Watch
Standings going into the AC World Series Fukuoka:
At the end of racing on Sunday, we’ll know who won the bonus points for the AC Qualifiers next May (dates here). The Qualifiers will eliminate one challenger and give Oracle or a challenger a one point lead to start the America’s Cup Match.
For this final AC World Series event, the obvious competition is between Land Rover BAR and Oracle for first place and two bonus points. With a 14 point lead BAR are in a good position to win the series. Let’s take an example to see why this is true: If Oracle were to finish one place ahead of BAR in each race on Saturday and two places ahead of them in each race on Sunday, Oracle would score 15 more points than BAR and just squeak into first place. Who wants to bet on that? For our Kiwi fans, to win the series, ETNZ would need to finish two places ahead of BAR in every race, Saturday and Sunday to get ahead of BAR.
I’ll be watching the battle between Oracle and ETNZ for second place, with its one bonus point reward. With only three points between them, that looks like where the real action will be.
Oh, by the way… They sailed a “reserve race” today, Friday. It will count if there is no racing on Saturday – quite possible with the forecast for very light wind. Who won that race? BAR, with Oracle second. Anyone want to bet against BAR to win the series?
You can hear team owner Larry Ellison’s comments on the practice racing here:
Understanding the Arithmetic Going into Fukuoka
In spite of breathless reports which explain that the winner of a race on Sunday scores 20 points, it won’t be so easy for any of the teams to move up the leaderboard. Consider this: If the weather cooperates and all races are sailed, the most one team can improve over another is 45 points. And this would mean one team wins every race, scoring a total of 90 points for the regatta, while the other team comes in last in every race, scoring 45. I give a full explanation of the standings here. Short version: Land Rover BAR is in a strong position to win the series and take the two bonus points. Oracle and Team New Zealand will be battling for second place and the remaining bonus point.
Modified Round Robin America’s Cup Qualifiers Schedule
Does Land Rover BAR have the easiest schedule?
On 18 October 2016 ACEA published a modified schedule for the double round robin America’s Cup Qualifiers. Instead of 10 days of racing with each team racing once per day, the AC Qualifiers have been reduced to eight days with at least one team having to race twice on every day. This is a big deal.
Here is the original schedule:
Here is the new calendar. You can download it here.
The big advantage of the new schedule is having a guaranteed layday between the Challenger Playoff semi-finals and finals.
Stamina and Limited Substitutions
Much has been made of the physical demands on the grinders. Only two crew substitutions can be made between races, so when a fresh team comes up against a team that has already raced once, the fresh team will have a big advantage.
And, what if something breaks during your first race? Even if you have time to make the repair, your preparation for the second race will be thrown off.
A Closer Look at the Schedule
Does Land Rover BAR have the easiest schedule?
Do Oracle Team USA and SoftBank Team Japan have schedules almost as good?
Do the Kiwis have a good schedule?
Do Artemis Racing and Groupama Team France have the worst schedules?
All of the teams have a day off on Thursday 1 June, after six days of racing. Five of the six teams get another layday, all except Emirates Team New Zealand. In return, the Kiwis only have two days when they race twice. Each of the other teams has two races on three days. Let’s look at the schedules, team by team.
Land Rover BAR seems to have the best schedule: they have to race twice on three days, but each time they will be racing against another team who has already raced earlier in the day. BAR also has two laydays in a row – Thursday 1 June, when all the teams are off and Friday 2 June. This will let them regain some strength for the last day of the round robin when they face Team Japan, and, in the very last race of the round robin, Oracle.
Oracle Team USA has it almost as good: each time they race twice in a day they too race against another team that has already raced earlier in the day. But… they have to race twice on two successive days, Day 2 against Land Rover BAR and Day 3 against SoftBank Team Japan.
SoftBank Team Japan only has to race a fresh team once. On Day 6 their second race is against Oracle Team USA, but Team Japan has a layday on Day 5 so they should be rested for Day 6.
Artemis Racing faces fresh teams on two of their three two-race days. Interestingly they will face BAR twice when BAR is fresh but Artemis has already raced earlier in the day. Like BAR, they get two days in a row off – May 31st and June 1st – before the last two days of the round robin.
Groupama Team France may have the toughest schedule. They race twice on three days, twice against teams that are fresh. The one time their second race of the day is against another team that has raced it’s against BAR.
Emirates Team New Zealand is the only team that races twice on only two days – both times against fresh teams: BAR on Day 3 and Team France on Day 7, the day after the layday for all teams. This seems like it should be a good schedule, but they are the only team that does not get a day off on one of the race days.
Avoiding a Capsize – Groupama Team France Video
This Team France video shows them training in Lorient, France with their AC45x test boat. I don’t think they were in real danger of capsizing, but the gybe at 40 seconds into the video did not go right! Of course, we’ve seen footage of all the teams splashing down as they work to master their manoeuvres. Click the photo to watch the video.
At about 40 seconds into the video they start a gybe but the boat starts to heel too much. They make a quick recovery and the boat splashes down off its foils.
Notice the camber in the wing and the angle of the horizon.
All the camber is released and the horizon is at a less scary angle.
Moving to Fukuoka
The final stop for the AC World Series is Fukuoka, Japan. Fifty containers are on their way from Toulon.
Image: ACEA Video
Racing is scheduled for 19-20 November. From the leaderboard below, you can see that Land Rover BAR’s 14 point lead will make them hard to catch. Winning the AC World Series would give them two bonus points in next year’s round robin America’s Cup Qualifiers. Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand will be fighting for the bonus point that goes to the runner up. Oracle has yet to win a World Series regatta; this is their last chance. SoftBank Team Japan and Artemis Racing will be battling for fourth place. Since the AC World Series results will be used to break ties in the Qualifiers, every place counts, and these teams will be fighting hard. Groupama Team France looks unlikely to escape the cellar – they will have to count on a good performance in the Qualifiers to avoid elimination.
About Those Bonus Points
There are still lots of questions about the bonus points… The winner of the America’s Cup World Series carries two bonus points into the round robin match racing “Qualifiers,” which begin 26 May in Bermuda. The runner up gets one bonus point. With six teams (remember that defender Oracle Team USA races in the Qualifiers), in this double round robin, a perfect score would be 10 points. The winner of the Qualifiers will start the America’s Cup Match with a one point lead. If Oracle wins the Qualifiers their opponent in the Match starts with a score of minus one (-1). If a challenger wins the Qualifiers and they make it through the “Challenger Playoffs to the Match, Oracle starts at minus one.
So, those bonus points could be very valuable. Remember, too, that the final AC World Series ranking will be used to break ties at the end of the Qualifiers. If two challengers are tied for fourth, the AC World Series results will determine which challenger is eliminated and which one goes on to the semi-finals of the challenger selection.
Series Leaderboard
Going into the final regatta in Fukuoka, Japan in November, Land Rover BAR has a comfortable lead to grab the two bonus points. Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand will be battling for the final bonus point.
Series Leaderboard Arithmetic
Land Rover BAR leads the series, 14 points ahead of Oracle Team USA and 17 ahead of Emirates Team New Zealand. These three teams have traded places at the top of the leaderboard all through the America’s Cup World Series. Remember that that top two teams in the series carry bonus points into next year’s round robin AC Qualifiers in Bermuda – two points for the series winner and one for the runner up. With one event left, in Fukuoka, Japan in November, the arithmetic says any of the three could win still win the series, but past performance says it’s unlikely either Oracle or the Kiwis can close the gap on BAR, who are likely to finish on top. With only three points separating them, Oracle and Team New Zealand will be battling for the remaining bonus point.
Chances for the other three teams are between slim and none. Team France is out of contention. Artemis cannot beat BAR and would need something close to a sweep of the regatta in Japan combined with a collapse by Oracle to grab second place. Unlikely. Team Japan has a mathematical chance, but the odds are very long. That said, all six teams need to fight for every remaining point – series standings will be used to break ties at the end of the round robin, when one challenger will be eliminated.
Artemis Wins in Toulon, Oracle Struggles
The Côte d’Azur lived up to its name with warm sunshine for the racing just off Toulon’s beaches.
All teams had their Olympians back for the America’s Cup World Series in Toulon. 2016 Finn gold medalist Giles Scott, tactician on Land Rover BAR, got a podium finish after coming last in the first two races. Rio 49er gold medalist Peter Burling was back on the helm at Emirates Team New Zealand but finished the event next to last, their worst finish in the series. The Kiwis were outdone by Oracle, who finished dead last, with Tom Slingsby on the helm, replacing injured Jimmy Spithill. Not exactly the result Slingsby, the London 2012 Laser gold medalist, was hoping for. London gold and Rio silver 49er medalist Nathan Outteridge came out on top in Toulon, winning the light air regatta, thanks in large part to tactician Iain Percy finding pressure up and down the flukey course on both days. Percy has two Olympic golds and a silver in the Finn and Star. The fates were not kind to the home team. Franck Cammas and Groupama Team France were in second place for the regatta at the end of the first day and at the beginning of the final downwind leg of the regatta. The patchy conditions did them in as the Kiwis slipped past and bumped the French off the podium.
Bowmen? On an AC45?? Team Japan’s tactician Chris Draper, standing on the bowsprit in the light conditions, looked like the bowman on a big monohull. Artemis Racing’s Iain Percy spent most of the regatta straddling the bowsprit and looking for patches of pressure in the light conditions.
Team Lineups for Toulon – Spithill not Racing
It looks like my report two weeks ago about Jimmy Spithill re-injuring his recently operated elbow was correct – he is not in the lineup; Tom Slingsby will be on the helm. Olympic sailors have rejoined their teams and will be in Toulon. Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge will be back helming Team New Zealand and Artemis, respectively. Giles Scott is in the team list for Land Rover BAR. Teams are allowed to name 11 sailors and shore crew for each AC World Series. Here are the lists for Toulon. For Artemis we can assume that the last five names are the sailing crew; all the other teams list their sailors first.
Groupama Team France Happy with Testing
Team France christened their AC45X test boat on July 11 and began sailing two weeks later. They were happy to be foiling on their first day of sailing and happy that the boat performed very close to the predictions from their simulation programs. The performance numbers from the VPP (velocity prediction program) are based on the full aerodynamic optimisation of the final race boat, which is different from this test boat. Head of design Martin Fischer notes that this boat is about 90% of the race boat – everything except the hulls will be used in the race boat – wing, foils, rudders, crossbeams and longitudinal pod.
In the photos, notice the bulbous bow shape and the splash rail on the bow, just under “Groupama.” Neither is allowed on the race boat, but they add stability to the four foot shorter test boat. Note, too, the aft fairing that extends beyond the stern of the hulls. This will be flush with the stern of the race boat’s hulls.
Team France AC45X test boat, bow on. It looks like they are testing straight daggerboards with dihedral (upward sloped) winglets. You can clearly see the spray rails on the bows.
Getting Ready for Toulon
America’s Cup World Series racing resumes in just over two weeks on 10-11 September in Toulon, France. With just this regatta and the one in Fukuoka, Japan in November, all the teams will be fighting for every point. The top two teams carry bonus points into the round robin Qualifiers – the match racing that begins in May 2017. And every team has something at stake: the AC World Series results will be used to break ties at the end of the Qualifiers. If two challengers finish the Qualifiers tied for fourth, their AC World Series results will determine which one is eliminated.
We had thought that all the teams would be back at full strength after the Olympics, but that may not be the case… Reports out of Bermuda say that Oracle’s skipper Jimmy Spithill has re-injured his recently operated elbow and has returned to California for more surgery. Backup helm Tom Slingsby recently had back surgery, so the Oracle lineup for Toulon may have a different look than what we expected.
Nationality – Always an Interesting Topic
In Portsmouth three of the six teams were 100% nationals: Groupama Team France – 100% French, Land Rover BAR, 100% British and Oracle Team USA, 100% Australian. What’s your suggestion for a nationality rule? Join the conversation in the Cup Experience Facebook group.
Land Rover BAR Wins in Portsmouth and Takes Series Lead
America’s Cup World Series Leaderboard After 7 Events
America’s Cup competition format and scoring explained here.
Ben Ainslie and his all British crew had three firsts, two seconds and a fifth place to win the Portsmouth America’s Cup World Series. Again. They also won the event here in 2015. The win puts them at the top of the overall series leaderboard. Oracle Team USA got back on the podium, one point behind the Brits for the Portsmouth event.
Oracle takes over second place overall, pushing the Kiwis into third. New Zealand had big gaps on board in the two most important positions: Ray Davies handled wing trim for the first time since wing trimmer Glenn Ashby was on the helm replacing Peter Burling, off in Rio to prepare for the Olympics. Like Team New Zealand, Artemis was without their regular helmsman. Nathan Outteridge is also in Rio, hoping to defend his 2012 gold medal against silver medalist Burling. Francesco Bruni stepped in as helmsman – his first time ever to sail an AC45F. The rules prevent sailing the AC45F’s between events. The conditions were different each day, so there was no chance for Bruni to learn the boat. Artemis finished last in Portsmouth – a frustrating result after their win in Chicago last month.
Dean Barker and his men on SoftBank Team Japan confirmed their performance in Chicago with their second podium finish. Groupama Team France shared the lead after the first day of racing but fared less well in the stronger conditions on Sunday.
Crew Lineups for Portsmouth
Crew lineups have been shaken up with some of the top sailors off in Rio preparing for the Olympics. Skipper Glenn Ashby will be on the helm for series leader Emirates Team New Zealand replacing Peter Burling. Francesco Bruni will steer Artemis Racing since Nathan Outteridge is in South America getting ready to battle Burling for the 49er gold. More on that next week. Ben Ainslie will once again be without tactician Giles Scott, the favorite in the Finn class. Giles already missed the last AC World Series event, but the Brits showed the depth of their bench, taking second in the Chicago event.
The only opportunity to train in the one design AC45F’s is at the AC World Series events – sailing on Thursday and practice racing on Friday. Francesco Bruni has never raced an AC45F and Glenn Ashby has not helmed in previous racing. Both are top sailors but will have their work cut out for them. Ed Powys will once again handle tactics in place of Giles Scott on Land Rover BAR.
Key Moment for Grabbing the Bonus Points for the 2017 AC Qualifiers
With six of the nine AC World Series events completed, the teams go into Portsmouth with three teams fighting at the top of the leaderboard. One of them will end the series empty handed when it wraps up in Fukuoka, Japan in November. Emirates Team New Zealand continues to lead the series, with Land Rover BAR and Oracle Team USA tied on points.
America’s Cup competition format and scoring explained here.
Dean Barker and his men on SoftBank Team Japan hope to build on their good showing in Chicago, where they were on the podium for the first time. Franck Cammas’s Groupama Team France won races in Oman and New York and will try to bounce back from their poor results in Chicago.
Christening in Lorient
I was among the large and enthusiastic crowd on hand when Groupama Team France christened their experimental AC45X at their base in Lorient on Monday. That explains why this edition of the Monday New is appearing on Tuesday!
The Groupama Team France base is nestled between the WWII U-boat bunkers in Lorient – an incredible sight, and well worth a visit.
L-R, Michel Desjoyeaux, Franck Cammas, four time F1 world champion Alain Prost and former Jules Verne Trophy record holder Olivier de Kersauson were on hand for the christening. Prost spoke about how the French often underestimate themselves but are capable of big achievements when they dare. UK Bookmaker Ladbroke’s currently sets the odds of Team France winning the America’s Cup at 100:1 (Being British, they give Ben Ainslie 4:1 odds.) I think the French are a long shot, but not that long!
The aft fairing is a bit long for the test boat but will fit just fine when the hulls are replaced with AC Class compliant hulls in December. Except for the hulls, this IS the Team France race boat for 2017. The wing, crossbeams, pod, fairings, rudders, daggerboards and control systems will all be fitted to class compliant hulls later this year. With the smallest budget of six teams, Team France depends on outside-the-box thinking to be competitive. This photo also shows one very special feature on the starboard hull – can you guess its purpose?
In order to maximize sailing days and allow sailing in rough conditions, Team France design chief Martin Fisher reduced the risk of pitchpoling by adding volume to the bows of the test boat. Design team consultant Juan Kouyoumdjian added one of his signature features – the spray rails. Neither complies with the AC Class rule but both are perfectly legal on the experimental boat.
Building the AC Class Race Yachts for 2017
Boatbuilding crews are hard at work building the AC Class race boats (often called AC50). The hulls are built in three pieces. The lower section has most of the structure, including the cockpit floor and the reinforcement for the daggerboard cage. The upper section has cutouts for the crew cockpits. The 2.7 meter long bow section unbolts so the hull can fit in a 40 foot container. The skin of that bow section is the only part of the yacht required to be built in the country of the yacht club it represents. Oracle and Team Japan are having their boats built at Core Builders in New Zealand. Team New Zealand is also building their boat in New Zealand, at Cooksons. Artemis Racing, Land Rover BAR and Groupama Team France are all building their boats in their home countries, using tooling furnished by Core Builders.
Upper half of an AC Class hull – the “deck.” It will be joined with the lower hull section and the bow section will bolt on. Thanks to Richard Gladwell of Sail-World for the photograph. Richard has many more photos and lots of detail in two articles, here and here.