America’s Cup contenders: Sailing professor Mark Orams ranks the teams on the eve of Barcelona racing

Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team will be the teams to beat in Barcelona. Photo / Carlo Borlenghi

THREE KEY FACTS

• Team New Zealand defended the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021, before taking the defence to Barcelona
• The preliminary regatta starts this week, with Team New Zealand sailing against the challengers
• Louis Vuitton Challenger Series starts next week

Professor Mark Orams is a former NZ and world champion sailor, Team New Zealand member, author, environmentalist and Professor of Sport and Recreation at the Auckland University Technology.

OPINION:

Here we go again. The business end of the 37th America’s Cup is about to kick off with the preliminary regatta commencing at midnight on Thursday (NZ time).

This initial four-day regatta will set the form book for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series next week.

Emirates Team New Zealand have set the rules (with the agreement of the Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia) to allow themselves to compete in both the preliminary regatta and the first rounds of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series. This strategy is a smart play to reduce the single biggest risk for the America’s Cup defender: isolation.

By being able to sail in these early rounds, the Kiwis get to check in and see how their design decisions, configurations and modes stack up against the competition. They played another smart card by sharing their design with the new French challenger, Orient Express Racing.

As a first-time America’s Cup competitor, and the last to launch their new AC75 yacht, the French are unlikely to progress far in the Challenger Series but their basic Emirates Team New Zealand design package provides the Kiwi team with a surrogate – and vital knowledge – in the Challenger Series.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Alinghi Red Bull in pre-regatta racing off the coast of Barcelona in early August. Photo / Samo Vidic

Sail GP has also played into the hands of the Kiwis. The ETNZ crew were rusty in the first few races of the 36th America’s Cup regatta. They had only been racing against their chase boat and in the simulator for weeks while the challengers were competing on the Waitematā. The Sail GP series has given the core ETNZ crew regular racing in identical F50 foiling catamarans against their key competitors, and in a similar format to, the 37th America’s Cup.

That’s all good news for the Kiwis.

While this stacks the deck in favour of the defender, it won’t negate a challenger with a faster boat.

Apart from the French and New Zealand boats, which are nearly identical, the hull designs for this second iteration of the foiling AC75 class are quite different from one another.

Each team have come up with a solution to the design challenge meaning they will be faster in different wind and sea-state conditions. Barcelona is a tricky venue and as the season transitions from summer to autumn, it will become more variable. Adapting and moding the boats to the conditions for any particular race, and even within a race, will be vital to winning.

My rankings/predictions for this preliminary regatta:

Emirates Team New Zealand go into the regatta as favourites. Photo / Ricardo Pinto

1. Emirates Team New Zealand: The Kiwi team wrote the rules for this AC75 Version 2 design and have the advantage of being a step ahead with their previous Version 1 boat which was clearly faster overall than any challenger during the 36th America’s Cup. The addition of Nathan Outterridge as co-helm with Peter Burling is a great get. The team have few weaknesses and appear to be leading the way with their design, especially in the all-important foils.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have produced a beautiful design and a focus on all-round performance makes for a strong team. Photo / Carlo Borlenghi

2. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: As always, the Italians have produced a beautiful design focused on all-around performance. Their experience with a strong combination of America’s Cup veterans means they will be competitive and I expect them to be one of the top two challengers.

American Magic look to be very quick in certain conditions. Photo / Ian Roman

3. NYYC American Magic: The most innovative and radical design – the Americans have chased a breakthrough with the lowest volume/drag hull design and a focus on centralising crew weight. Their co-helms Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison are top-notch and I would not be surprised if the American boat is very quick in certain conditions.

Greater buoyancy with greater hull volume in Britannia II also means greater drag. But is good for big seas and take-off. Photo / L. Goldman

4. INEOS Britannia: In contrast to the American boat, Britain’s Britannia has a “robust” design focused on more hull volume and an ability to push hard in any sea state. Their most interesting feature involves moving their rudder and elevator located forward from the stern which has the advantage of reducing weight in the back end. This, potentially, puts focus on using the rudder elevator to drive more power into the entire set-up. Greater hull volume equals greater buoyancy, which is good for big seas and take-off on to the foils. The overall trade-off is increased drag. I expect the Brits to be close with the Americans despite their contrasting designs.

Orient Express have the ETNZ basic design package, which means they will be competitive. But inexperience will tell. Photo / Ricardo Pinto

5. Orient Express Racing: The new French outfit was the last to enter this 37th America’s Cup and the last to launch their new AC75 and as a result they have the least experience in these boats. Their advantage is having the ETNZ basic design package, so they will be competitive at times. I expect them to win a few races but their lack of experience in these boats at this level will tell.

Alinghi are a brand new team and have suffered a last-minute setback with a broken mast. Photo / Samo Vidic

6. Alinghi Red Bull Racing: It is extremely difficult for a new team to catch-up with established operations already progressing in a design development race. Breaking their mast 48 hours out from this preliminary regatta is a major set-back, no matter how they try to spin it. I expect the Swiss team to have their moments – but they will be chasing rather than leading.

Professor Mark Orams has raced in a winning crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race, was a member of Team New Zealand 2000 working alongside Sir Peter Blake and worked as an onboard scientific advisor for Sir Peter’s conservation endeavours with Blakexpeditions. He is now the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research at AUT.