Updated CupExperience News | ACWS No News | Foil Arm News | AC75 Comparison

In September 1902, impatient for word of Sir Thomas Lipton's third challenge, the New York Herald ran a front page headline to let readers know that ... there was no news.

On 30 November 2019, in compliance with the Protocol, Luna Rossa, challenger of record and ETNZ, the defender (COR/D), announced that they had chosen dates and venues for two AC World Series events, but they wouldn't tell us the dates or places. You can read the official non-news here.

We've known for over a year that there would be no ACWS in 2019 and that the first event would be in Cagliari in April 2020. It would have been news if COR/D had amended the Protocol to eliminate one of the 2020 regattas or to allow Stars+Stripes to skip Cagliari. Thankfully, neither of those was announced.

Likely venues and dates: Portsmouth in June and Auckland in October.

COR/D notified competitors in early November that seven Foil Arms had been ordered last June and that an eighth Foil Arm was ordered in October. It's not clear why one team initially only ordered one Foil Arm for their second boat. As soon as the first four Foil Arms are built and tested, each team will receive one. It's not clear how useful one Foil Arm is or how long the teams need to wait for the second one.

An interesting comment in COR/D's notice is that if a team suffers major structural damage to one of their Boat 1 Foil Arms, that team will be the first to receive a Foil Arm from the second batch and the other three teams will get theirs next. Obviously, there are no Foil Arms for Stars+Stripes in the current production runs at Persico.

The outlines below show the static wetted surface and the relative positions of the foil cant axis of each yacht. The beam distance of the cant axes is fixed at 4.1 meters by the class rule. The outlines on the right show the differences in beam of the four yachts.

Defiant: Narrowest hull, lowest foil cant axis. Hull shape like a big windsurfer.
Britannia: The biggest deck area. Relatively low foil cant axis. Slightly more v-shaped hull than Defiant
Luna Rossa: Losange-shaped static wetted surface, long narrow keel.
Te Aihe: Chines. Torpedo-shaped static wetted surface. Highest foil cant axis.

See more at Voiles et Voiliers.

Three new inductees were honored at the Robbe & Berking Yachting Heritage Center in Flensburg, Germany on 16 November 2016.

Dyer Jones - President of the International 12 meter Class Association, past Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, Regatta Director for the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, Chairman of the of the NYYC Race Committee during the historic Match of 1983, Dyer Jones is known and admired throughout the America's Cup community.

Henry Racamier - 1912-2003 Tall and elegant with a twinkle in his eye, French businessman Henry Racamier became part of America’s Cup history in 1982 the moment he agreed to sponsor the official ''Challenger Races for the America’s Cup’’ organized by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (the Challenger of Record) in Newport. Associating Louis Vuitton (LV) with the America’s Cup was a logical and clever decision: founded in 1854, LV was a contemporary of the Cup (first awarded in 1851). Soon after, in the summer of 1983, he presented the newly created Louis Vuitton Cup to the winners, John Bertrand and Alan Bond.

Bill Trenkle - Bill raced and worked with Dennis Conner in eight America’s Cup campaigns over a 24-year stretch from 1979 through 2003, winning the America’s Cup three times. During that period, Trenkle evolved from a “possible” crew as a Cadet at the State University of New York Maritime College (Class of 1980) into Conner’s longtime Director of Operations.
In his book, Comeback, Conner said, “Bill is a seaman in the best sense of that term. He understands from both an academic and a practical standpoint what it takes to make a boat go. Give a job to Bill, any job, and you know that it will be done to perfection.” That is high praise from a demanding skipper.

In time for next year's 150th anniversary of the first defense of the America's Cup, yachting historian Steven Tsuchiya has created a beautiful and accurate chart of the America's Cup Race Courses of Matches I-VII. It's now available for purchase.

From 1870-1887, Cup yachts raced on the NEW YORK YACHT CLUB COURSE--which snaked through New York Bay, out to Sandy Hook Light Vessel, and return--and, on the OUTSIDE COURSE--a two-leg course, free of obstacles, on the Atlantic Ocean.

The chart, measuring 35" x 20" (88.9 cm x 50.8 cm), is a lithographic print with a satin finish to reduce glare.

Tsuchiya researched charts of New York Bay and Harbor published in the 1870-80s to determine, among other things, the correct positions of the navigational markers and the shoals. For context, he also identified various landmarks including the clubhouses of the New York Yacht Club from the 19th century to the present.

To reconstruct the start/finish lines and the legs of the race courses, Tsuchiya relied on the New York Yacht Club's race committee reports and other eyewitness accounts, such as those by yachting writers Captain Roland Coffin and A.J. Kenealy.

Available for $45.00 plus shipping.

"You Better Book Your Hotel Room Now."
-Grant Dalton AC Overture 31 August 2018

Grant Dalton said he expects hundreds of thousands of visitors to Auckland for the 2021 America's Cup. He pointed out that "Emirates Team New Zealand" was the most clicked on internet term in New Zealand for the past two years "... higher than All Blacks, anything." Dalton says it will be "all on" in Auckland during the America's Cup, so "You better book your hotel room now."

Will you be in Auckland for the America's Cup?

You, the Blind Men and the Elephant - What Do You Like?
You know the story of the blind men and the elephant - depending on where you touch the elephant, it might seem like a tree, a wall, a firehose or a rope. The America's Cup can look like a sailing race, a design contest, a courtroom battle or a luxury lifestyle activity. What do you like about it? Click as many as you like! Help me prioritize topics to write about. I'm setting up pages and gathering content for each of these topics. I'll keep you posted about the ones you select.

Key Facts

Dates Met

28-Sep'17: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
30-Nov'17: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
1-Jan'18: Entries for Challengers open
31-Mar'18: AC75 Class Rule published, important details TBA
30-Jun'18: End of "Challenging Period" (avoid $1M late fee)
30-Jun'18: Last day Defender and COR can change AC75 Rule; after this date, changes require unanimous agreement from all competitors
29-Jun'18: Specs for AC75 Foil Cant System (FCS)
31-Aug'18: Venue of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed 26-Mar'18
31-Aug'18: Drawings & Specs for AC75 one design mast
31-Aug'18: Specific race course area confirmed
30-Nov'18: Late entries deadline ($1M late fee)
31-Mar'19: Boat 1 can be launched Delayed to Sept-Oct 2019.
31Mar'19: Venues (and dates) of 2019 AC World Series Cancelled.
1-July'19: Late Challengers must confirm (and pay fees?) or withdraw.
DutchSail and Malta Altus withdrew
Stars+Stripes "confirmed" their challenge but did not pay fees or order the supplied equipment Foil Cant System and Foil Arms.

Future Dates
Some of these dates can be found in the Protocol. Others were added in the AC75 Class Rule v1.1, e.g. setting the dates for freezing restrictions on how the FCS can be used (30-Nov'19) and for modifications to the FCS by ETNZ/Luna Rossa

One event has been announced for Cagliari (ITA) in October.
One more event remains to be announced.
2nd half of 2019: 1 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events
(Unlikely to be held)
30-Nov'19: Venues (and dates) of 2020 AC World Series
30-Nov'19: Foil Cant System usage restrictions frozen
20-Dec'19: Match Conditions: Notice of Race and Conditions for Racing
1-Feb'20: Boat 2 can be launched
30-Jun'20: Challenger Selection Series (Prada Cup) Conditions
31-Aug'20: Foil Cant System updates frozen
During 2020: 3 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events
1-Nov'20: Sailing Instructions for AC Match and CSS
December 10-20, 2020: America’s Cup Christmas Race
February 2021: PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series (CSS)
March 2021: The America’s Cup Match