America’s Cup: Wanna be a spy?

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
When I visited the American Magic team in 2020 as they were training in Florida for the 36th America’s Cup, I was staying at the same hotel as the defense, Team New Zealand. We were both in town to get an update, however, only one of us was invited… me.

But in advance of the 37th America’s Cup, I won’t be seeing the Kiwis again in Pensacola according to this report from americascup.com:

Ever since the winged keel in ’83, the reconnaissance game has been part and parcel of every Cup, with teams using spies armed with long lenses to get an insight into what design direction competitors are heading in and if any of their new ideas are worth considering themselves.

However, for the 37th America’s Cup, the spy game has been reinvented.

As a cost reduction measure, instead of each team sending one or two people to spy on every other team, thus creating a small recon army, the teams have agreed to join forces and have created the Joint Recon Program to streamline the process and share the gathered intel with each other.

The Recon Management Panel selects a team of two, one RIB driver and one Photographer / videographer, to shadow each team on each and every sailing day, collating reports, photos, videos, and interviews which are then uploaded to a single source for all the teams to view and process independently.

With teams based in Auckland, Mallorca, Barcelona, Pensacola, and Cagliari, there is a need for qualified local people who know their sailing, the Cup, and what to look for from one day to the next and are capable of capturing good recon at 45 knots.

Foils, sails, elevators, trimming, crew movements, maneuvers, downtime, wind speed, sea state, down time, flight time, time on the water, top speed, take-off speed – just about every aspect you will be watching and documenting for some of the smartest minds in sailing to digest.

If you think you have what it takes, live in one of the team locations, and can commit to being on-call weekdays, weekends, and holidays, in order to never miss a sailing day, forward your CV, and references to recon@americascupmedia.com.

Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period opened December 1, 2021 and runs until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup may be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the venue reveal, confirming it would be Barcelona on by March 30, 2022.

Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)

Training timeline: www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2022/04/21/training-calendar-for-37th-americas-cup/
Additional details: www.americascup.com/en/home