Alinghi, cause the new class rule, declined to partecipate in the 34AC! I read that this morning!
Here is their statement:
Alinghi, two times winner of the America’s Cup, has today announced that it will not enter a team in the 34th edition of the prestigious sailing trophy and instead has launched a new programme that will see the Swiss team participating in the Extreme Sailing Series.
After a careful evaluation of the protocol and other initiatives taken by the American Defender and its Challenger of Record, Alinghi considers that the existing conditions make it impossible for the team to participate in the 34th America’s Cup.
Alinghi remains interested in the America’s Cup and will be closely following its developments in the coming months but for the immediate future it will concentrate its efforts in other world class challenges. The Extreme Sailing Series, a championship raced with 40-feet catamarans that is expanding geographically and commercially in 2011 whilst maintaining a truly level playfield and exciting competition, provides the perfect ground for Alinghi to develop its international sailing activity. In parallel,
Hi Alan. What a pity that the Swiss will not compete in the 34th cup. Americans usually screw up everything and want to make sure no one has a chance. Very
bad sportmansship. How is your AC100 doing? Probably waiting for spring. Regards
Norman
minus one !!
claudioD
Minus three actually Claudio … don’t forget TEAM ORIGIN & Prada and officially out also.
Hi Norman, I’m sitting on the fence about AC 34 multi-hulls circus, still holding on fast to mono hulls mate, lots of funny rumours floating about, but let’s wait and see …yes the spring thaw will be back into of AC 100 project & finishing new AC 120 project as well.
The last showdown happens tomorrow between USA and New Zealand in Louis Vuitton Trophy final … a tear in one and joy in the other if ETNZ manage to pull it off ! fridge full of Steinlagers (Kiwi Beer) & chips for final goodbye to Ver 5.0 monohulls.
Cheers Alan :zbeer:
Probably appropriate to post an update -
while there may have been 3 teams who have decided NOT to race, it now looks according to news reports that they have a total of ten (10) teams that have (or will) give formal notice by the end of the month. Of noteworthy news, one of the teams to formally announce was “CHINA TEAM” which will make it their second America’s Cup event participation.
Regardless of what you think of “Larry” - a hats-off to him for promoting an event that truly brings a good number of multihull teams to San Francisco Bay and will probably introduce the Cup and fast sailing yachts to the general, non-sailing public in a positive way - hopefully the lawyers will be busy with other things.
Somehow I think the entire sailing community will win from this effort.
Cheers …
One of the best things to come out of the new set up is the AC45 class of catamarans.
These are going to provide some fine racing for the cup teams and the chance to get to grips with the technology and tuning of wing sails at a smaller scale than the full size AC75.
The idea is in the future to provide a platform for younger sailors to be introduced to the cup style craft as well which can only be good for the sport.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv9RhyC6qfE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhrnVB2Wa0Y&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_lDXQVcRaE&feature=relmfu
This last clip shows four of the AC45`s in flight…wow.
Sorry to say but from inside the AC circuit… If your not Oracle then things are not that ‘rosey’ at all…
Wait and see how many teams can afford to get to SF.
Very, very tight budgets and Oracle are going to win again… and that’s that.
Proverb - " He who has most money, wins boat race"
On the other hand, expect to see Alinghi, Prada, UITG, Origin Etc sailing the MJ 90’s as long as they can find another buyer for the last one out of six…
Story is - they hope to operate from VLC and run from the bases there.
Be more interesting and reduce “pecker” size if they sailed Lasers or some similar singlehanded boat. At least the sailing community could see who the “good” sailor was - not the team he could buy.
Dick I agree, I like the one design concept…but they could go back to the old 12meters, megles, alabcores, lightnings… Hamptons…J 24’s
as much as I like to see the new gee whizz techno stuff, I like to see sailing against skippers, not deep pockets…
I agree that watching multi’s race will be fun…
I agree with Jim …being a one eyed Kiwi here:rolleyes: I believe the only real contender capable of possibly winning AC 34 would be ETNZ, if it were to happen? (BIG IF)…there would be the possibilty of the next cycle changing back to mono-hulls.
No question Multi’s are impressive going up wind using wing sail technology, but I’m not convinced it is going to be close exciting racing AC 72 on other points of the wind or rounding marks.
I think AC 45 could be a great “development class” concept that should continue and it attracts young blood which is a great thing, however, as it is a one design class, it will be only time of this cycle where we will see a real comparison of sailing skills on similar boats …AC 72 as Jim says is about money and not sailing skills…that’s the saddest part of AC 34.
I can hear Americans belly-aching about being the best sailors in the world … :sing:YAWN :sleep:
Cheers Alan
Everyone wants to be “different” - so hey … let’s start yet another class. 
The C Class is there, it is all the development you need, crew numbers are minimum of two (2), a 25 foot long boat that is much easier to travel/haul/transport, and a well respected class development program behind it for - oh a “few” years ! And - if it is the young blood that is desired, the A Class can provide the first step up in wing and boat design/development. And those are only a single handed boat and they fit on a standard cat trailer (wing exception to be considered).
The same “desires” keep springing forward eveyday - how many 40 foot monohull classes are there now? :scared: :rolleyes:
Great idea Dick …why not ! we now have two class boats for the first time in history for the AC … one is a level playing field for sailors (AC 45) which is great and will be exciting & the other as is about who has the most money wins (AC 72) …come’on tell us how exciting is that going to be again ?
Well at least as RC sailors our proverb could be?: He who dies with the most toys wins ! :lol::lol::lol:
Cheers Alan :zbeer:
Sure, just look at Ben Ainslie go!
Press has announced that there are now 15 entries!
This is an interesting opinion expressed on VSail…
"Simple fact of the matter is that although there may be 15 entries only one team currently have the funding to mount a credible AC72 challenge. This isn’t hating, this is fact.
Looking at Oracle’s program from months ago, in terms of schedule and venues, you’ll notice they’ve come nowhere near fulfilling their duties. One could argue their plans were too ambitious, or you could argue, and convincingly in my opinion, that they’ve been pulling the wool over peoples eyes for years and while there are fools who believe every word their PR machine churns out, they wont be stopping anytime soon."
Too bad the “author” didn’t stop at the fact of 15 boats, but had to introduce his own personal opinion (and I did notice your post started with the “opinion” disclaimer). But as I hear quite often, opinions are like A$$holes - everyone has one. I think you stated some time ago, one will have to wait and see.
BUT - It does seem like a lot of money to put on the line for 15 boats only to give it up for any that are a non-show/compete … but stranger things are done every day.
They did drop the entry fee by a substantial amount… That’s why they gained so many new potential challengers.
Quite a U turn as at first they didn’t want people just to sign up without having confidence in their own funding.
It is what it is…
The official number stands today at 13. Two more entries are still being vetted making a possible 15.
The teams that won’t go the distance will probably compete in the AC45 circuit, burn all their cash trying to design & build a AC72, then fizzle out.
Here is the real figures - just to get you started…
From VSail…
“In euro terms, teams are facing an expense of around one million in the next couple of months, and with the exception of Oracle Racing, Artemis Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand, no other team has made a public announcement on their funding”.
I have to add
In 2007 the teams running costs were nearly €1,000,000 per month!..
the carping has been constant — no teams will register, san francisco will reject the bid, the boats can’t match race, the americans are blowing it … yet tell me this, what was the last cup with 15 teams from 12 countries? … when was the last time you saw boats come off the line like what’s happening with the AC45s … hiccups, maybe … funding shortfalls, maybe … successes, major progress already …
Gidday tmark,
We eat the “marketing machine” PR (hey they have a bottomless pit of money so it’s going to be good) and we carp out our opinions…progress on AC 45 has been awesome, no question & it has resulted in impressive number of entries, so it was good ROI, well done to Oracle.
The next stage is an on and off the water dress rehearsals in Auckland April 25-29 and May 2-6. Led by America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM), the first test session will include race course configurations to plan close tactical racing. I believe this will be the tipping point of general opinion, especially with the sceptics of AC multi’s, like myself.
AC 45 “one class design” is peanuts compared to what the AC 72’s will cost. It was announced that any of the currently entered teams, can participate in the common study of hull platform, wing sail, and appendage designs which will produce a baseline AC72 that all can use as the starting point for their 2013 yachts. Designers, plans, and performance data may be shared among teams up until June 1, 2012.
The resulting “ACRM” AC 72 boat might be sufficient for start-up teams with deep resource pockets, but short arms when it comes to funding, but the teams with the most money are likely to be the only real AC 72 contenders.
With the first AC72 boats set to launch as soon as January 1, 2012, and the start of construction imminent in the second half of 2011, the pressure on the AC 72 class is immense…let’s wait and see how many teams make it to the “real AC 72 starting line”.
Cheers Alan :zbeer: