The latest generation of America’s Cup yachts are ready to make their debuts in the 34th edition of a sailing classic that promises speed, stealth and a little uncertainty.
The first of three World Series events this year is off the Portuguese coast in Cascais, where a newly-introduced class of catamarans will streak though the Atlantic Ocean at speeds of up to 48kph — some of the quickest that the oldest competition in international sport has ever seen.
The World Series is effectively a training exercise ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup, where boats will fight to become the designated challenger to defending champion Oracle Racing in the America’s Cup. Both cups will be raced in 2013 in San Francisco.
Photo: Reuters
In Cascais, seven challengers from six nations are looking to give Oracle cause for concern during a nine-day event that marks the first stage on the way to San Francisco, where the American syndicate will have to defend the Auld Mug trophy.
The AC45 wing-sailed class boats are 13.5m long, 21.5m high and sailed by a team of five. And they are just a prelude to the massive 22m long multihulls that will be used come San Francisco.
Getting your feet wet is important.
“From a racing standpoint it’s going to be brutal at times, but that’s part of the growing pains — it doesn’t come without hiccups,” Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said on Friday. “These are so high-tech that when they are pushed to the limits that’s where you can see mistakes.”
The “fast cats,” as America’s Cup organizers label them, certainly present a big jump for the competition, with Energy Team skipper Loick Peyron coining “turbo engine” feel to describe the new series.
While America’s Cup sailing has been called Formula One on water before, the changes are more than just down to speed.
“It’s quite physical, the boats are unbelievably high performing — it’s just a new lease on life,” Artemis skipper Terry Hutchinson said. “What we’re getting ready to embark on here is something we’ve never seen before.”
Oracle Racing is the overwhelming favorite as it comes into the series with an advantage on all competitors after using the technology to beat Alinghi in a one-off series against the Swiss in February last year.
The courts forced the pair to race after a long-running feud born out of the 32nd edition in Valencia, when Alinghi beat Team New Zealand. Alinghi abandoned the America’s Cup after losing the title.
In Cascais, Oracle Racing has brought two crews, for boats 4 and 5, just as it will in the summer of 2013 when it must train on its own while the challengers duel it out for their spot in the final.
Despite the technological advantage, Oracle Racing No. 5 skipper Russell Coutts knows the boats are difficult to handle after capsizing in June. The Kiwi skipper fell nearly 7m into the water.
“You have to get everyone up to speed as quick as you possibly can because you know that someone will get hurt — it’s not a matter of if someone is going to get hurt but when,” Hutchinson said. “So everyone on the team has to be on pace with the boat to step in.”
“A capsize is possible if you make a mistake because every mistake becomes so much more graphic in these boats,” Coutts added.
Coutts could not understand how Peyron — a veteran of multihull racing — was not expecting problems.
“He said he’s never capsized — that’s too conservative a way to race,” said Coutts, who is 14-0 in America’s Cup races. “If you’re not pushing these boats to the limit then it’s just shocking.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but