The birth of a new international regatta circuit
The AC50 catamarans will have only made one America's Cup season since after the New Zealanders won in 2017, they decided to build a new boat for the 2021 edition. No more flying multihulls, make way for flying monohulls With a new sponsor - Speedo - and a dirty engine, Ken returned to the dam in 1978 and became the first man to cross the 261-knot barrier and then the 269-knot barrier, with a peak at 275 n?uds?! A superb victory for a boat built on a very limited budget in a backyard.
But given the characteristics and performance of these rigid wing boats, it would have been a pity not to continue the adventure. Two America's Cup veterans - Larry Elisson and Russel Couts - have therefore decided to give a second life to these one-design catamarans 15 m long, equipped with a rigid wing and foils.
The Sailing GP circuit (based in London and San Francisco) was therefore created in 2018 and consists of events close to the coast and the public on bodies of water among the world's most popular races (5 stages : Sydney (AUS), 15 and 16 février?; San Francisco (USA), 4 and 5 mai?; New York (USA), 21 and 22 juin?; Cowes (UK), 10 and 11 août?; Marseille, 20-22 September.)
Each event will be held in a short format of stadium regattas:
- Day 1: 3 fleet races (6 teams represented)
- 2nd day: 2 rounds in fleets (6 teams represented) then final in match racing (the two best teams in the rounds)
- Day 3: Match-race Grand Final
At the end of the day, a million dollars in rewards for vainqueur?!
They are 6 national teams (France, USA, Australia, Great Britain, China, Japan) and will compete on super powerful and all identical F50 catamarans (the new AC50 catamarans), designed to reach incredible speeds of over 50 knots (nearly 100 km/h). On board the boats, there will be 5 sailors.
A French team full of ambition
The first round of this new circuit will begin in Sydney from February 14 to 16, 2019. The French team - led by the four-time world champions of Nacra17 Billy Besson and Marie Riou - will therefore make its debut on the Sail GP circuit, even though three of the six French sailors already know this type of boat from the last edition of the America's Cup. This will be a great first for Billy Besson, Marie Riou, Matthieu Vandame, Olivier Herledant and the very young Timothé Lapauw.
But all will discover the new format proposed by the SailGP circuit. For this first event, the French crew will be keen to sail cleanly against a more experienced foreign competition on paper.
