The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the
America's Cup yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
race. The challenger,
Emirates Team New Zealand
Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup i ...
, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender,
Oracle Team USA
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...
. It was held on the
Great Sound
The Great Sound is large ocean inlet (a sound) located in Bermuda. It may be the submerged remains of a Pre-Holocene volcanic caldera. Other geologists dispute the origin of the Bermuda Pedestal as a volcanic hotspot.
Geography
The Great Sound d ...
in
Bermuda
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from June 17 to June 26. The races were conducted using
hydrofoiling AC50 America's Cup Class yachts, which are slightly larger than the AC45F yachts used in the
2015–16 America's Cup World Series.
It was Oracle's second defence of the America's Cup, four years after its first successful defence. Emirates Team New Zealand defended the cup in the
36th America's Cup. The format was changed since the last Cup, to the current best-of-13.
Venue
The 2017 America's Cup course was on the
Great Sound
The Great Sound is large ocean inlet (a sound) located in Bermuda. It may be the submerged remains of a Pre-Holocene volcanic caldera. Other geologists dispute the origin of the Bermuda Pedestal as a volcanic hotspot.
Geography
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in
Bermuda
)
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, the venue at the
Royal Naval Dockyard.
In June 2014, media reported the venue of the
34th America's Cup
The 34th America's Cup was a series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay on September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team New Zealan ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, was no longer in consideration to host the 35th edition.
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and
Bermuda
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were listed as being still in the running. In July 2014, americascup.com reported that
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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was dropped from the running, and finally on 2 December 2014, Bermuda was announced as the host of the 2017 America's Cup. The
Premier of Bermuda
The Premier of Bermuda serves as head of government of Bermuda, under appointment by the Governor of Bermuda, in the governor's capacity as representative in Bermuda of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. The position was created b ...
,
Michael Dunkley
Michael Henry Dunkley, JP, MP (born June 18, 1957) is a Bermudian politician and businessman who served as the 12th Premier of Bermuda from 2014 to 2017. He was an MP and member general of the One Bermuda Alliance political party and an activ ...
, welcomed the teams, sponsors, and spectators at a press conference in New York.
The financial package included in the bid by Bermuda was worth approximately
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
77 million, including a $15 million sponsorship fee, $25 million for infrastructure improvements, $12 million operating costs and a $25 million guarantee against commercial sponsorships. Dr. Grant Gibbons, Bermuda's Minister for Economic Development, stated that the America's Cup had a possibility of generating revenue of up to US$250 million in Bermuda.
Security arrangements at the Dockyard were assumed by HM's
Royal Bermuda Regiment
The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single Territorial Army (United Kingdom), territorial infantry battalion#British Army, battalion tha ...
after termination of contract between the local security provider and the AC35.
Challenger of Record
On 1 October 2013, Australia's
Hamilton Island Yacht Club
Hamilton Island Yacht Club was established in 2009 by Bob Oatley. It is situated at Hamilton Island (Queensland)
Hamilton Island is an island of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia. It is approximately north of Brisbane and s ...
was confirmed as the "Challenger of Record" for the 35th America's Cup, after submitting their paperwork only moments after the win by
Oracle Team USA
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...
. The HIYC challenge was accepted by the
Golden Gate Yacht Club
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is a San Francisco, California, U.S. based yacht club founded in 1939.
History
In 1939 the first members built a clubhouse on a barge in the San Francisco Marina. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely ...
, who was the Defender and Trustee of the America's Cup. Australian businessman
Bob Oatley
Robert Ian Oatley (11 June 1928 – 10 January 2016) was an Australian businessman, winemaker, yachtsman and philanthropist. He was perhaps best known for owning the nine-time Sydney-Hobart-winning yacht ''Wild Oats XI''. He bought Hamilton I ...
, founder of
Rosemount and owner of famed super maxi yacht ''
Wild Oats XI
''Wild Oats XI'' is a maxi yacht, most famous for being the former race record holder and a nine-times line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Launched in 2005, she was owned by Bob Oatley (Oatley's estate since his death in ...
'', was confirmed to be the main financial backer of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club challenge.
On 19 July 2014
Russell Coutts
Sir Russell Coutts (born 1 March 1962) is a world champion New Zealand yachtsman.
Early and personal life
Coutts was educated at Otago Boys' High School (1975–1979) and is a Life Member of Paremata Boating Club, where he learnt to sail in ...
, Director of the America's Cup Event Authority (ACEA), announced that the Hamilton Island Yacht club had withdrawn Team Australia from the 35th America's Cup.
Team Australia claimed that the entry fee rules agreed to in the official protocol created too much risk due to the uncertainty of the then unknown venue and schedule of the event.
The Challenger of Record Committee (CORC) represents all of the challengers' interests and negotiates with Oracle over mutual concerns.
Luna Rossa
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on their first attempt in 2000, but ...
replaced HIYC as the challenger of record. In April 2015, Luna Rossa withdrew its challenge bid, pulling out of the 2017 America's Cup in protest at rule changes reducing the size of the boats.
Rule changes
On 5 June 2014, it was announced that the regatta would be sailed in 62-foot-long (18.9 m) foiling catamarans, the
AC62
The AC50 (defined in the America's Cup rules as AC Class yacht, or ACC) was a wingsail catamaran development rule that governed the construction of the yachts used in the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup and the 2017 America's Cup. Like the larger AC72s ...
. The entry fee was $3 million. Each challenging team could build only one boat while Oracle Team USA could build two. A nationality rule was agreed, requiring 25 percent of the crew to be from the entry's country. This nationality rule had been lifted prior to the
2003 America's Cup
The 31st America's Cup was contested between the holder, Team New Zealand, and the winner of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, Alinghi.
Build Up
The 2002–2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, held in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand saw nine teams fro ...
. The rules specified the combined weight of the crew could not exceed 525 kg. The neutral International adjudicating yachting panel was dropped in favour of a three-man panel appointed by the defender.
In March 2015, the teams voted to reduce the size of the boats to the 45- to 50-foot range, leading to the withdrawal in protest of Luna Rossa. This in turn led to a joint statement from four teams attacking Team New Zealand which had supported Luna Rossa.
Teams
The America's Cup was contested by its defender
Oracle Team USA
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...
, who represent the
Golden Gate Yacht Club
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is a San Francisco, California, U.S. based yacht club founded in 1939.
History
In 1939 the first members built a clubhouse on a barge in the San Francisco Marina. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely ...
. The challenger was
Emirates Team New Zealand
Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Team New Zealand became a household name in their home country following their consecutive wins in the America's Cup i ...
, for
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is a New Zealand yacht club, and the club behind New Zealand's America's Cup campaigns, under the guises of New Zealand Challenge and Team New Zealand. It held the America's Cup from 1995 until 2003, bec ...
, who had defeated the other four challengers to win the
Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Playoffs trophy.
Technical development
Teams were allowed to take one-design
AC45
The America's Cup World Series are match races and fleet regattas used as heats for the 2013 America's Cup and the 2017 America's Cup.
The Yachts AC45 and AC45F
The World Series uses AC45 catamarans, a one-design wingsail catamaran designed spec ...
s out of measurement by modifying crossbeams, wings and rudders, adding hydraulic systems, as well as produce a maximum of six custom
daggerboards to test on the existing platform ahead of building their race boat. All teams took advantage of this opportunity: Oracle Racing modified three AC45s, selling their first development boat to SoftBank Team Japan as part of their technology-sharing agreement and subsequently conducted a two-boat testing program with their last two boats; Land Rover BAR modified three AC45s and conducted a two-boat testing program with their last two boats; Artemis Racing modified two AC45s and conducted a two-boat testing program with them. Groupama Team France, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand modified one AC45 each. Luna Rossa later gifted their boat to Team New Zealand.
The winning Emirates Team New Zealand yacht design team, led by Technical Director
Dan Bernasconi, also modified SL33 foiling wingsail catamarans to try new ideas for its race boat, in which they produced a number of distinct features absent from other boats in the fleet: two four-handed grinding pedestals on their development AC45 were replaced by four cycling stations; Peter Burling was the only helmsman to be relieved of daggerboard controls in order to focus on steering only; instead "
cyclor" Blair Tuke undertook daggerboard deployment, trim and overall responsibility of pitch angle and ride height; Daggerboards were lengthier than those of other teams by virtue of a distinct dihedral bend in the middle of the hydrofoil tip.
The rise in foiling catamarans encouraged competing teams to enter into technical partnerships with companies specializing in aerospace technologies.
Land Rover BAR
INEOS Britannia is a British sailing team that is the challenger of record for the 37th America's Cup.
The team was established in 2012 with the ambition of winning the America's Cup for Great Britain and to 'bring the cup home' to the Un ...
allied with
Red Bull Advanced Technologies, headed by ten-time
Formula 1 World Constructor's Championship car designer
Adrian Newey
Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...
.
Oracle Team USA
Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...
entered a technical partnership with
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
.
Artemis Racing allied with high performance engineering giant
Cosworth.
Luna Rossa Challenge
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on their first attempt in 2000, but ...
had partnered with
Lenovo to analyze and predict race simulations, assisting in the design of their boat.
Qualifying events
The America's Cup World Series was won by Land Rover BAR, earning two points to take into the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers Round. The runner up was Oracle Team USA, earning one point to take into the Qualifiers Round.
Oracle Team USA won the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers Round, earning one point to take into the 2017 America's Cup competition. Emirates Team New Zealand, Land Rover BAR, Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan advanced from the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers Round to the Challenger Playoffs Semi-finals, while Groupama Team France was eliminated from further competition.
Emirates Team New Zealand eliminated Land Rover BAR in the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs Semi-finals, advancing to the Challenger Playoffs against Artemis Racing who had eliminated SoftBank Team Japan in the other semi-final.
Emirates Team New Zealand won the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs Final against Artemis, 5–2, advancing to face Oracle Team USA in the 2017 America's Cup.
Cup Match
Races were held from 17 June. The first team to seven points wins and becomes the Defender of the America's Cup. Due to Oracle Team USA's win in the
America's Cup Qualifiers, Emirates Team New Zealand started the match with a score of −1.
The first race of the day is scheduled each time at 2:00 pm
ADT. The race data were published on the official noticeboard.
References
External links
*
*
America's Cup websiteArtemis RacingBen Ainslie RacingTeam New ZealandOracle RacingGroupama Team FranceGolden Gate Yacht Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:America's Cup, 2017
2017 in Bermudian sport
2017 in sailing
2017 in American sports
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
June 2017 sports events in North America
Sailing competitions in Bermuda
2017 in New Zealand sport