Racing News
Countdown to the America’s Cup By Craig Ligibel
America’s Cup World Series and Christmas Race provided a first glimpse of new foiling AC 75s.
“I
t’s been a challenging year to say the least,” America’s Cup skipper and Annapolis native Terry Hutchinson told SpinSheet. Covid derailed the planned three-city World Series events this Summer. The American Magic team, along with teams from Italy and the UK, underwent quarantine in New Zealand. New AC 75s arrived every couple of weeks, replacing first generation boats with new technology. And the first-time boats were able to line up against each other for a little friendly competition recently. Hutchinson went on: “This is such a unique regatta, and it’s such a unique time. Because of the world and the environment we’ve been living in, all the teams are going to face the challenge of not really having raced in the last 12 months. Yet we’re on the eve of something we’ve been preparing for for the last three years. I’m excited by that. I’m confident in the team, and I’m confident in the trajectory that we’re on.” The December double round robin races on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbor (held December 17-20 as this issue went to print) were a precursor to the do-or-die Challenger Series scheduled to run Janu-
ary 15 to February 21. There, teams from the United States and the UK will battle it out with the Challenger of Record Italy’s Luna Rosa for the right to contest for the oldest trophy in international sport, the America’s Cup. The Cup itself will be run March 6-21, 2021. Emirates Team New Zealand is the defender, having wrested the Cup from the Americans in Bermuda in 2017. Led by the intense CEO Grant Dalton, the Kiwis have won the Cup twice before in 1995 and 2000. They have spent the past three and a half years building a program to ensure the Cup stays in New Zealand. New Zealand’s Peter Burling is the helmsman of the New Zealand boat, named ‘Te Rehutai. Born in New Zealand in 1991, Burling (then aged 21) was the youngest 49er sailor at the 2012 London Olympics and won the silver medal. Burling who was the skipper of the winning boat in the 2013 Red Bull Youth Americas Cup, joined Emirates Team New Zealand in 2014. In 2017, at the age of 26, Burling got another record by being the youngest ever helmsman to win an America’s Cup, sailing for Emirates Team New Zealand. He is a force to be reckoned with on the water,
combining an insatiable drive with youthful energy and a keen competitive spirit. The New Zealand boat was the last of the AC 75s to be launched. The team base has been off limits and under wraps since the boat was unveiled in mid-November. Battling Burling will be a who’s who of international sailing royalty. These skippers/helmsmen have raced with and against each other more times than they can count. American Magic’s team of Hutchinson and Barker faced each other most recently in Bermuda. “I think we’re about even over the years,” joked Hutchinson. “Glad to have Dean on my team this year.” Challenger teams and their helmsmen include: • Ineos Team UK is led by skipper Sir Ben Ainslie, England’s most decorated yachtsman. Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. He has competed and medaled at five Olympic games. In 2013, Ainslie served as tactician on Oracle Team USA’s miraculous come-from-behind victory at the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco. He is the first Briton in over 110 years to be part of a winning America’s Cup team.
##American Magic. Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget
60 January 2021 SpinSheet.com