Yachting: Faster, slicker and more fun to watch

The AC45 catamarans have been showing off their potential. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget

When Oracle chief executive Russell Coutts unveiled his plans for a the 34th America's Cup, he promised an event that would appeal to the Facebook generation rather than the Flinstone generation.

He wanted to abandon the image of sailing being the domain of stuffy rich men in blazers he said, flanked by some nervous looking men in blazers.

His plans included a move from traditional monohulls to ultra-high-tech wing-sailed catamarans, aimed at producing faster, more action-packed racing to appeal to a wider audience.

Over the last two weeks his bold vision for the America's Cup has been taking shape on the waters off Auckland with organisers testing innovations that will be used during the lead-up world series and the event proper in 2013.

It's a brave new world with magic buttons, shore-based television umpires, race officials on jet-skis, super-high-tech tracking equipment and on-board cameramen.

One of the key challenges for cup organisers has been to try to win over those traditional sailing fans who opposed the extreme direction the event was headed in.

Craig Thompson, chief executive America's Cup event authority, said since the teams have been out on the water testing their super sleek and agile AC45 yachts there are strong indications those resistant to the changes are starting to come around to Coutts' way of thinking.

"There was a lot of resistance initially when we first announced that change, which is normal in sports, it is a traditional sport and they wanted to protect its values," said Thompson.

"But what we're getting now is more and more of the sailing community are getting excited about it - people like John Bertrand [former America's Cup-winning skipper with Australia II], he was just here sailing the other day and he came off the boat thrilled, he was really excited."

But the main driving force behind the changes was to win new fans, not just excite old ones.

And the last couple of weeks of testing has shown how they plan to do so.

The first week focused on race management, evaluating race course configurations, umpiring systems and racing rules, while this week was dedicated to testing television and graphics as well as onboard cameras.

The courses have been narrowed to ensure the racing remains tight and the sailors are challenged, while fleet racing will be introduced as part of the programme during the world series regattas to make things a little more interesting.

"It will be like Formula One on the water," Thompson said.

"It's good for the sport because the faster, tighter and more dangerous sailing is going to appeal to a broader audience."

They plan to lure in that broader audience by creating an exciting broadcast package - which is where Thompson has been heavily involved.

"A lot of thinking has gone in to how to make it a better product for television," he said.

Take the introduction of television umpires, for instance. Skippers are now able to challenge the rulings of the on-water umpires by pushing "magic buttons" on board, which will alert the race committee sitting in a booth back on shore. They review the footage and text the outcome to the boat.

Thompson said this will make it more exciting for audiences.

"It adds a sense of drama to it, because the umpires will be under pressure and the teams will be wanting to challenge if they feel the call is wrong."

Capturing all the drama onboard will be five HD cameras as well as an on-board cameraman, all aimed at giving the viewer the feeling of being on the boat.

Thompson said the America's Cup event authority would invest heavily in the television production, developing their own specialised production crew that would supply the coverage to broadcasters.