Barcelona, August 7 (EFE).- The preliminary regatta of the 37th America’s Cup, which begins on August 22, will clarify one of the competition’s great unknowns by pitting two AC75 ‘twins’ on its second day. Emirates Team New Zealand and French Orient Express differ only in their colours.
Because the last-placed French team didn’t have enough time to design one, New Zealand team director Grant Dalton, keen to get a fifth contender, agreed a technical deal and sold him a design package for his AC75. ‘Taihoro’, for the team of Stephen Kandler and Bruno Dubois.
However, this is not the first time this situation has occurred. In 2013, Italian Luna Rosa bought a similar package from New Zealand’s AC72 team to compete in San Francisco, and in 2017, Japan’s Softbank Oracle bought a set of AC50 foil catamaran from Team USA.
Until now, they haven’t been seen traveling together because regulations prevent teams from training against other rivals, but the differences, at least outwardly, are minimal.
Although Dan Bernasconi’s design for New Zealand’s ‘Taihoro’ is a more advanced version of ‘De Rehutai’, which won the last edition of the Cup (2021), many experts point to the work of the chief designer. Orient Express, Benjamin Muil, about this design collection, extraordinary.
Muyl didn’t want to “reveal too much”, though he said they were “absolutely committed” to the design they bought, and didn’t hesitate to acknowledge the work of the New Zealand team’s designers, saying “they’re great”. the world.”
“We were clear very early on not to change the design too much. It’s a shame to buy a great design and then think you can improve it with less resources and time,” said the French chief designer. Team.
Instead, Hare focused on training crews in simulators (designed by himself) and working on tools to assess performance and progress in competition.
From April 19, the technical agreement was suspended, and the French could no longer exchange data on the ship’s development and performance with the New Zealanders.
The latter have worked hard over the past five months to improve their own boat, while the French team has recruited Australian Glenn Ashby, a former New Zealand team member and 2017 and 2021 Cup winner, to seriously prepare the crew at the helm of the AC75.
Although Orient Express has never competed in the America’s Cup, it plays with an advantage at group level as its two captains, Quentin Delabier and Kevin Bebonnet, and its two trimmers, Mathieu Vandamme and Jason Saunders, have competed together for France over the years. on the SailGP World Circuit.
Team leader Delabier explained in statements to EFE that “even though all the teams have had their AC75 before,” they also “have things to say.” “I think we’re not too far from where we want to be,” he said.
“When you are a new team and come late, it is not easy to catch up, but we have all the resources we need. If we are smart enough, we will catch up from the first day of the competition. If we fail. In terms of details or objectives, we will not compete,” Delabier concluded. EFE
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