Aussies join British America’s Cup team

Britain’s America’s Cup team, INEOS TEAM UK, is set to join the 2018 GC32 Racing Tour with four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the helm for the team’s debut in the 32-foot foiling catamarans.

Ainslie will be joined by fellow Finn Olympic gold medallist, Giles Scott, resuming the role of tactician that he undertook during the 35th America’s Cup. Also joining the team are two Australians – two-time Olympic medallist Iain Jensen as a mainsail trimmer and two-times America’s Cup winner Joey Newton as jib trimmer.

In the previous America’s Cup in 2017, Jensen had been with the Artemis Racing challenge from Sweden while Newton was part of Oracle Team USA, the unsuccessful defense.

Newton will be rotating the role with Nick Hutton, a two times America’s Cup World Series winner. 2017 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup Champion, Neil Hunter completes the line up as float.

“The GC32 is a high-performance foiling multihull, so it’s not the monohull we have in the America’s Cup,” notes Ainslie, “but being out on the foiling circuit gives the sailing team an opportunity to get out and race together, put ourselves under pressure as well as get to grips with technique and boat handling which we hope will put us in good stead for the America’s Cup World Series which restarts in 2019.

“We are pretty fresh to this class of boat so we are under no illusion that the type of competition we are going up against, the line-up of the teams and sailors is really strong. But we’ve made some big changes to the team, both on and off the water, we’ve brought in some new key sailors who have vast experience in America’s Cup and high-performance racing and they’ve been a great addition to the team already.”

INEOS TEAM UK joins the circuit in Portugal (June/July) and will continue on at events in Palma de Mallorca, Spain (July/August), Sardinia, Italy (September) with the 2018 circuit concluding in Toulon, France (October).

INEOS TEAM UK 2018 GC32 Race Squad:
Ben Ainslie, Helm
Iain Jensen, Mainsail
Joey Newton, Jib Trim
Giles Scott, Bow / Tactics
Neil Hunter, Float
Nick Hutton, Jib Trim

Tour detailsFacebookYouTube

2018 GC32 Racing Tour schedule
23-27 May: GC32 World Championship / Riva del Garda, Italy
27 June-1 July: GC32 Lagos Cup / Lagos, Portugal
31 July – 4 August: 37 Copa del Rey MAPFRE/ Palma de Mallorca, Spain
12-16 September: GC32 Villasimius Cup / Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy
10-14 October: GC32 TPM Med Cup / Toulon, France

About the GC32
The GC32 is a 10m long (12m including bowsprit) by 6m wide foiling catamaran conceived by Laurent Lenne and designed by Dr Martin Fischer, now part of the Groupama Team France design team. It is built in carbon fibre by Premier Composite Technologies in Dubai.

The GC32 is fitted with T-foil rudders and J-shaped daggerboards/foils, conceptually similar to those used on the America’s Cup catamarans, with adjustable rake on all appendages. However relative to the boat’s size, the foils are substantially larger, allowing the GC32 to foil even in low wind speeds and with much great stability and ease. Despite having big foils, GC32s are fast! Alinghi holds the record with a peak speed of 39.21 knots.

Unlike the AC catamarans, the GC32 features a more manageable soft-sail rig, has one design sails and no hydraulics. It is demountable with a two piece mast for easy transportation.


Key America’s Cup dates:
✔ September 28, 2017: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
✔ November 30, 2017: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
✔ January 1, 2018: Entries for Challengers open
✔ March 31, 2018: AC75 Class Rule published
June 30, 2018: Entries for Challengers close
August 31, 2018: Location of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed
August 31, 2018: Specific race course area confirmed
December 31, 2018: Late entries deadline
March 31, 2019: Boat 1 can be launched
2nd half of 2019: 2 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events
February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched
During 2020: 3 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events
December 10-20, 2020: America’s Cup Christmas Race
January and February 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
March 2021: The America’s Cup Match

Protocol of the 36th America’s Cup
Key Points of the Protocol
Deed of Gift
AC75 Class Rule (v1.0)

Story by Scuttlebutt Sailing News

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