Americas Cup news
Americas Cup news and the new foiling cat has been revealed. Here’s what makes it special and the reason why the big change has come about
In contrast to the usual razzamatazz of a busy press conference hosted in the next Cup location, (I wish), the announcement of the new class for the next America’s Cup has been a quiet online affair and yet represents a huge change.
Americas Cup news
Out goes the AC62 and in comes a 48ft wing masted foiling cat as the boat that will be raced in the 35th America’s Cup in 2017 in Bermuda.
In the last 24 hours the new class rule has been published and sets out the detail of the new boat.
But while the change required a majority vote, and as yet no team has said it is pulling out, not everyone is entirely happy. Since the vote no one has heard from Luna Rossa and the Kiwis, while they have accepted the new design, are believed to be less happy about the prospect of not having a regatta in Auckland as part of the challenger series in 2017. (Given how Team New Zealand’s funding from the Government depends on hosting an event and the team’s view that they have an arrangement with the organisers, this looks likely to be a debate that could rumble on for some time.)
So what of the boat, why the big change and what sparked such a significant move midway through the next Cup cycle?
Word has it that the initial idea for a smaller boat came from Larry Ellison himself who, having seen what his team were doing with their development cats asked why this couldn’t be used in the next Cup. The message got passed on, the question asked, the debate fired up and a vote …read more
