The maintenance of the AC 75 for the next two editions
Cost reduction being the common thread running through all the syndicates, the AC75 hydrofoil monohull has been renewed as the official support for the next two editions. Teams will be allowed to use boats built for the last edition, subject to certain equipment modifications.
One Design, already applied in 2020, will continue to be the norm for the next edition. For teams wishing to develop a new boat, only one AC75 can be built per team. Following the example of certain rules applied in Formula 1, the change of certain elements (foils, mast, fairing) will also be controlled and limited.
Teams that have built a new boat will not be allowed to sail until September 17, 2022. Only teams with an older generation AC75 will be allowed to train from June 17, 2022, for a maximum of 20 days. Registration will open on December 1, 2021 and close on July 31, 2022.
Fewer team members but more diversity
As a prelude to the Cup, each team will have to equip itself with an AC40, which will be a reduced version of the AC75, and which will carry 4 crew members. This boat will be used for all the preliminary races, the calendar of which is still to be defined. In order to develop the mix of teams in the Cup, the first Women's America's Cup will be raced in an AC40, and the Youth America's Cup will be renewed.
Thereafter, the crew of an AC75 will be reduced from 11 to 8 crew members. The new protocol requires that all crew members be of the same nationality, or resident for more than 18 months in the country concerned. An exception could be granted by the Defender for emerging nations on the Cup. As with every edition of the Cup, the legal departments of the major syndicates will be looking for any possible loopholes in the new protocol.
For safety and management reasons, each syndicate is usually equipped with an armada of heavily motorized tenders capable of keeping up with an AC75 travelling at 50 knots. In order to benefit from the know-how of the teams' design offices to the environmental cause, it will be imposed to the syndicates to develop and build two tenders with foils and hydrogen propulsion. Their minimum length will be 10m and their general characteristics will be defined in the protocol.
Finally, in order to improve the media coverage of the event and to put forward the backstage of the teams, a documentary series will be realized so that the general public can discover the daily life of a Cup syndicate. A new paradox in an environment where secrecy and intoxication are legion.
The return of a French challenger to the Cup?
The last participation of a French team goes back to the 36th edition of the Louis Vuitton in Bermuda, with Groupama Team France under the leadership of Franck Cammas. The crew led by the current co-skipper of the Ultim Edmond de Rothschild finished in last place.
The calendars of the various classes led by French stars are very dense in the years to come. As well as members of the Olympic staff, who are actively preparing the selections for the Paris Olympic Games, which will fall in the same year as the 37th edition of the Cup.
There is a famous saying that a dollar invested two years before the cut is equivalent to $10 invested one year before the cut, $100 invested six months before the cut and $1,000 invested one month before the cut. After that, you can invest all the money you have, but you won't be able to catch up.
Having not participated in the last edition, France is starting with a blank sheet of paper, no funding has been announced, and the venue for the next Cup has not been revealed. In a unique twist in the history of the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand, it is possible that the next Cup will not be held in Auckland. See you on March 31st for the announcement of the venue and the schedule of races for the next America's Cup.
