Americas Cup

Here’s what’s happening on the America’s Cup radar as we count down to the May 2017 Louis Vuitton Qualifiers in Bermuda.

ETNZ on bicycle grinders Photo/Hamish Hooper

Races start May 26 and will continue into the America’s Cup final match through June 27, 2017.

So far, the hottest news is that Emirates Team New Zealand added bicycle grinding stations to their ACC, replacing the arm grinders with pedal power. Other teams rejected the idea early on for various reasons, one of which was because it is harder to get on and off the bicycle grinders.  Only time will tell if this is an asset that moves ETNZ closer to the Cup.

Jimmy Spithill Photo/Austin Wong

After ETNZ debuted their boat, Oracle Team USA unveiled theirs – 17 – that same day, Feb. 14. “This is the boat we’re racing to win the America’s Cup,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill, addressing teammates, family and friends. “We need to get this boat out on the water and put the hours in getting it ready to race. The long days will continue.”

According to TEAM USA’s website, over 15 designers and 50 boat-builders contributed to the design and build of 17, with more than 85,000 man-hours accumulated to date. The teams partners – Oracle, Airbus, BMW, Parker and Yanmar – provided technical expertise and support.

Photo/Austin Wong

When asked about ETNZ’s grinders, Spithill previously said that they had looked hard at the possibility of the bicycle grinders, but decided against them. Ky Hurst, former Olympian and surf lifesaving champion in Australia, joined ORACLE TEAM USA as a grinder.

2017 Races in Bermuda

• Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers
• Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoff to determine the challenger
• 35^th America’s Cup final match presented by Louis Vuitton

The Qualifiers and Challenger Playoffs will be raced in the AC45 one-design manned by a crew of five and the final matches will be raced in the new America’s Cup Class foiling wing-sailed catamarans, manned by a crew of six. In the final matches, the team to win the first seven races takes the beloved cup home. The question is – will the America’s Cup stay in America in 2017?

Photo/Austin Wong

Land Rover BAR moves on to the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers in Bermuda in May and June 2017 with the two point bonus.

Photo/Ricardo Pinto ACEA 2016

It was an exciting time in Fukuoka, Japan, especially Sunday, the last day of racing with double points for  winners. The top three contenders fought their way to the finish with light winds of five or six knots and where one puff made a difference. It was an afternoon filled with aggressive maneuvers directly against each other between Land Rover BAR, ORACLE TEAM USA and Emirates Team New Zealand. Land Rover BAR had secured the regatta by the end of Race 2,  but proceeded to sail a tight race to the end. Race 3 was a little more breezy and boats could get up on their foils.

ORACLE TEAM USA took second overall, giving them one bonus point going forward to the Qualifiers in 2017. ETNZ  came in third.

It was the most exciting day of racing in the World Series. The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series consisted of 40 races over nine events in eight countries.

Artemis had a great day
Photo/Ricardo Pinto ACEA 2016

The overall results overshadowed Artemis Racing’s great day at sea with two first place wins, though there was no way mathematically that they could have moved to the top of the leader board. Artemis was the hottest team out there and they did move up to fourth place overall. They tied overall with Land Rover BAR, each with 75 points for the weekend in Fukuoka. ORACLE had 70, ETNZ 65, SoftBank Japan 61 and Groupama Team France 59 points.