Disruption or Progress?

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt
The 34th America’s Cup changed from the monohull to the multihull to improve the marketability of the event, with the idea that high performance boats will elevate the oldest international sporting trophy to a prominent entertainment product. If more people will watch it, more companies will sponsor it.

But match racing catamarans? For sure the game changed, with nimble tactics replaced with speed-saving maneuvers. Thankfully, the breakthrough in 2013 edition was the foiling tack, allowing AC72 teams to effect a covering strategy upwind. I mean, if you can’t control while ahead, what’s the point?

But was this disruption or progress? It depends on how attached you are to history, or how much weight you put into the miraculous 1-8 comeback by Oracle Team USA. If they didn’t win, the much ballyhooed “Summer of Sailing” on San Francisco Bay would have been more remembered by one boat races, a cheating scandal, and a horrific fatality.

Every holder of the America’s Cup gets their turn as host, and the current defender is in full stride, with changes to the 2017 edition hoping to embrace HD monitors the world over. But the trickle down of the America’s Cup cannot be contained, and now another longstanding event is leveraging this tidal flow.

Aston Harald, manufacturer of the M32 racing catamaran, bought in June the iconic World Match Racing Tour, and now plans a dramatic revamp of the leading professional match racing series. Launched in 2000 and now in its 16th season, the tour in 2016 will be replacing the various monohulls used at each event with the M32 multihull.

So now, with countless monohull match racing events around the world, the two top competitions are in multihulls, both fueled with marketing motivation. What becomes of the pathway to the top? Will there be more trickle down? That’s the question now being asked in Bermuda.

The Argo Group Gold Cup, the oldest match racing trophy in the world for competition involving one-design yachts, just completed its 79th edition last week, but now its World Match Racing Tour status hangs in the balance.

As The Royal Gazette reports, Gold Cup organizers are having to decide whether they amend the class rule from the International One Design sloop to the M32 catamaran for their event is to retain its World Match Racing Tour status.

Peter Shrubb, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club rear commodore, who is responsible for international events, said discussions between the Gold Cup organizing committee, Tour officials and Gold Cup title sponsors Argo Group are ongoing.

“We are negotiating with our sponsor and the new owners of the Tour on what’s the best direction for us to go,” Shrubb said. “As soon as we have completed negotiations on any deal that’s satisfactory for all stakeholders we will make an announcement.”

Mark Watson, the Argo Group chief executive, believes the Gold Cup will retain its Tour status.

“Bermuda is a fantastic sailing venue and let’s not forget that the America’s Cup organizing committee picked Bermuda as its venue,” he said. “So, it’s hard to imagine that we won’t have some sort of World Match Racing Tour event here in Bermuda, but it’s got to work for everyone.

“Things change and we need to recognize that when things change we might want to consider that. On the other hand, I don’t think we should feel pressured to change quickly because the reality is that this event has one of the longest histories in yacht racing.

“It’s one of the most prestigious regattas in yacht racing, and the sailors look forward to coming here because of the way it’s organized. The prize money is important. But there’s a whole lot of reasons that professional sailors come here so we need to think about all those things.”

Watson added: “We have talked about keeping tradition in mind when making decisions about the event going forward and the reality is it’s a business. Professional yacht racing is a business and people are going to follow the money, too.

“We need to make the right decisions for the event for the long term — but that’s really up the organizing committee.”