The final race of the 2021 America’s Cup took place on March 17, and since that day when New Zealand beat Italy 7-3 to win the 36th edition, efforts to dethrone the defending champions have quietly begun anew. Five challengers have come forward, and their fate will now be decided at the 2024 Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series in Barcelona, Spain.
The Double Round Robin Series will run from August 29 to October 7, with a final round of September 8. The defending champion will participate, but their races will not count. It will be over a month before they compete again in the 37th match. For the challengers, one team will be eliminated at the end of this phase.
Based on their performance in the pre-regatta from August 22 to 25, that team would be the French one. Here is their explanation:
The Orient Express Racing Team enters the Louis Vuitton Cup knowing what it has already achieved and fully aware of what it now has to achieve.
“We have to be clear about where we come from and, above all, where we can go. If everything goes well, we can go far,” said Thierry Douillard, coach of the Orient Express Racing Team.
“The team spirit is strong, so we have to focus on pure performance. And there are so many aspects of the boat, so many parameters and so many departments of the team involved that even though there are eight sailors on the boat, the whole team is on board.”
The Orient Express Racing Team’s AC75 recently showed great potential at the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta and the crew took the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the high-tech foiling yacht, which they sailed for the first time in June.
“We learned the right settings and, at the same time, how to optimize our maneuvers,” said Douillard.
“It sounds so simple, but it is extremely complex because these are very sophisticated systems. You have to analyze the situation properly to know whether the maneuver can be carried out or whether it needs to be adjusted. It is a compromise that is not easy.”
A particular focus was the critical pre-start phase at the beginning of each match race. Douillard explains: “We are very late compared to our competitors, we have to catch up, so there are a lot of things we have to learn very quickly and from a purely racing point of view we obviously couldn’t devote much training time to the pre-starts. We were very busy getting the boat running in every respect: mechanical, electronic, hydraulic.”
“We knew that we would be behind in terms of our starts in the pre-regatta, possibly even more than expected. But we have been working on it and have made good progress – now we need to put our learnings into practice.”
The Orient Express Racing Team finished level on points with Alinghi Red Bull Racing – their first opponent – at the bottom of the provisional regatta table, both with a one-point lead.
Skipper and pilot Quentin Delapierre and his crew – co-pilot Kevin Peponnet, trimmers Jason Saunders and Matthieu Vandamme and the strong Cyclor crew – consisting of Timothé Lapauw, Olivier Herlédant, Antoine Nougarède, Germain Chardin, Maxime Guyon, François Pervis and brothers Rémi and Thibaut Verhoeven – know that everything is at stake in the waters off Barcelona.
View details – Race information – Weather forecast
Challenger Selection Series 2024
29 August – 8 September: Double Round Robin
14 – 19 September: Semifinals (Best of 9)
26 September – 7 October: Final (Best of 13)
The races start at 14:00 CET (08:00 ET) and last until 16:30 or 17:00, depending on the schedule.
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on 17 November 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalised on 17 March 2022. The entry period was from 1 December 2021 to 31 July 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup could still be accepted until 31 May 2023. The defending champion was due to announce the venue of the match on 17 September 2021, but postponed the announcement and finally confirmed Barcelona on 30 March 2022. The 37th America’s Cup will begin on 12 October 2024.
The following teams will challenge defending champions Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
Provisional Regattas 2023-24
14th-17th September 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
30 November – 2 December (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22 – 25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
Challenger Selection Series 2024
29 August – 8 September: Double Round Robin
14 – 19 September: Semifinals (Best of 9)
26 September – 7 October: Final (Best of 13)
America’s Cup 2024
October 12th – 21st: 37th game (Best of 13)
Click here for competition details.
In addition, 12 teams will participate in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Event details: www.americascup.com/en/home
