Some argue that this will be the watershed moment for sailing - that to bring a global audience of the magnitude that football or the Olympics draws, the racing must be spectacular in the truest sense of the word, beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way. It should be modernised just like F1 has been, and that requires the cutting edge technology and designs that reflect the fastest possible avenues.
Others argue the opposite. The Cup has been the domain of the monohull for almost all of its 161 year life, and where multis have joined the fray, the competition has not been fair or in the spirit of which the Deed of Gift was signed in 1857 - 'as a perpetual challenge trophy to promote friendly competition among nations'. Most will remember the 2007 32nd AC in Valencia, Spain as the most successful edition ever, with 12 challengers, exciting, close racing and a 1 second delta finale that could have gone either way. Indeed, the two editions in Auckland had the elements of world class competition that drew in massive publicity and tourism dollars for New Zealand and solidified the case for NZ being the best sailing nation in the world. To mess with this is tantamount to spitting on the trophy.
Both arguments have merit, but unfortunately for the sailors, this isn't 2007 anymore. The money plunged into Valencia to turn it into a world class sporting venue now hangs over the regional government to the tune of €21 billion in debt that means there is little or no money to pay for schools or healthcare. Cities are not lining up to pay the €1-3 Million hosting fees asked for hosting rights to ACWS regattas.
Gone are the days of 150+ people to a team, first class flights and foie gras. The Cup has a history of losing challengers in the lead up to regattas but the drop off has been astounding for this cycle. From the first days of the launches of the AC45s in Auckland, teams announced then quietly dropped off the face of the earth - it is interesting to note that of the two Oracle AC45s, one was originally supposed to be for Mascalzone Latino, and in some of the first Oracle press releases it states that it is chartered to Oracle until Mascalzone is ready to take it on. In other words, a clever way of getting around the 'everyone gets the one, then you can come back for seconds' rule. Some remember Venezia Challenge (they managed to sign Torvar Mirsky, but never actually paid ACEA for their AC45), GreenComm Racing, and Aleph as the teams that petered out before the challenge deadline.
Would this have happened had the design rule been a canting keel 72' monohull with a turbo sail plan?
Yes, probably.
While there may be only 3 challengers this time round and plenty of pretenders to the throne, every cycle has had announcement after announcement of teams launching themselves in a desperate attempt to gain publicity and sponsorship dollars. The difference this time round is that teams can buy (or attempt to) an AC45, enter the ACWS as a more concrete way of fundraising for the cost of €700,000 and yearly running costs. More expensive than a press release and a few empty promises, but an excellent vehicle for sponsors to see the potential.
And besides no one wants to sponsor anything, let alone the domain of sailing, considered by many to be the domain of the wealthy and elitist.
So why does this cycle differ? If the design rule had gone to monohull, it is unlikely that the World Series regattas would have occurred as early or as frequently - there would be no canting keel 45' sled simply because sailing a 70' mono is more widely understood, and the primary purpose of the AC45 was to help the teams learn how to sail multis and at the the same time give sponsors valuable publicity. Perhaps something similar to the Louis Vuitton acts during 2005-2007 would have occurred with the 70's but it is unlikely that any videos of the boats wiping out would have had over 2 million views like the Oracle Coutts pitchpole in San Francisco Bay did. Like it or not, Russell busting through the wing put sailing back in the public consciousness after a bitter court battle largely ignored or misunderstood by non-sailors.
And while those in the industry hope for a return of the days where everyone had a job with a team if they wanted one, and there was money flowing in all directions, it is unlikely to be the case in the next few years. The compression on the ladder that is the pro sailor pecking order is hurting those trying to get a foot in the game because those sailors traditionally suited for an afterguard role in a Cup campaign are now taking the roles on other pro circuits like the TP52s, RC44s and Melges 32s for example. Most blame this on the fact the AC has gone to a more physical class of yacht that demands a fitness level above what the tacticians and strategists of past years could attain, but in reality, this wave of pros in their 40s and 50s are the first generation of fully professional sailors that proved their mettle in the 80s and 90s working as hired guns. Before that sailing was an unpaid perk of working as a sailmaker or boatbuilder that might lead to glory but certainly not a big payday. They want to spend more time enjoying life at a pace they set and being flown in for regattas for multiple owners accomplishes that. They are still sharp, still enjoy it and are still in demand. It just so happens it stops the young guns from grabbing the next rung.
The last and probably most important point is that to attain the expected performance out of a 70' canting keel raceboat, the engine needs to run continuously (ie not human power). This was the main sticking point when the concepts for the rule were being developed. While technical, the IACC v5 yachts were certainly not speedy, and the racing was exciting for avid yachties, but the yachting equivalent of a One Day International cricket match for the general public. Hard to get excited when the boats do 20km/h in all directions. Resistance to using engines in the end pushed the concepts off the table and brought the wingsail catamaran into focus (as a side note, CupInfo has an excellent interview with Pete Melvin about this selection process that went on in 2011http://cupinfo.com/en/
So like it or not, the next America's Cup starting in less that 7 months will be for the first time raced with cats.
What does that mean for the eventual winner of the process?
Well, its essentially a given that if Oracle defends successfully, there will be little to no changes to the rule, considering the massive amount of time and money spent developing it. And logic follows that the same could be said for Artemis, although this is less likely.
Traditionalists simply assume that ETNZ and perhaps Luna Rossa will immediately go back to monohulls if they win, because thats what they like, its the tradition etc. They even quote Grant Dalton from an interview years ago saying exactly that.
The problem with this? Larry Ellison said exactly the same thing after the 2010 Match. Also, to win the Cup the best team must be able to beat everyone else, and thus have the best multihull design and sailing skills in the regatta. It is slightly counter-intuitive to throw away this work and know how, just because its how it was done before and to satisfy the most diehard of leadmine fans, who are likely to watch the racing whatever the boat. The vision of Russell Coutts was to make sailing exciting again, something he has in fact accomplished. To turn around to sponsors, sailors and designers and say its going to be less exciting next time because 'its how it should be' will not sit well.
Then again, who knows what is going to happen come September 2013.
It is the America's Cup after all.
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