At a press conference in Barcelona today, AC Management (ACM), the event authority for the 33rd America's Cup, presented the new Competition Regulations, including the event format and schedule, and elaborated on the new AC90 class. Announcing the dates for the Trials and the America's Cup Match marks another step towards a 2009 event. Attending the presentation were Michel Hodara, CEO of ACM, Tom Schnackenberg, ACM class rule and competition regulations consultant, Rolf Vrolijk, Alinghi principal designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian, TeamOrigin principal designer, and Agustín Zulueta, Desafío Español general director. The AC90 yacht, in summary, will be 90ft overall (27.4m), 6.5m in draft whilst racing, retracting to 4.7m. The beam will be 5.3m, up from 3.5m for many of the ACC V5 boats. It will have a displacement of 23tons, a mast height of 37.9m above the deck, a maximum bowsprit distance of 15.5m from the mast and unlimited spinnaker area. With a crew limit of 20 people, this will be a very demanding and exciting boat to sail (there are three more crew than on a V5 boat and approx 50% more sail area!). In recognition of the demanding nature of the new yacht, the crew weight limit has been removed. This rule is a product of six weeks worth of exhaustive design consultation between the five entered Challengers and the Defender under the leadership of Tom Schnackenberg, ACM class rule consultant.
The objective is to create an even more spectacular sporting event for the 33rd America's Cup by introducing several new measures aside from the new AC90 yacht. ACM aims to limit costs for competitors through outlawing two-boat testing (the only permitted opportunity for one AC90 yacht to sail alongside another is when racing in ACM organised Practice Race or the Event), introducing "no-sail periods" and limiting the total number of sails produced. The 33rd edition will be divided into four phases: Acts, Trials, Challenger Selection Series and the America's Cup Match, with the Defender being able to compete in the Acts, the Trials and the Match, but not in the Challenger Selection Series. Practice Racing has been introduced as a replacement for two-boat testing. Any team can request a practice race and the regatta director will arrange an official practice series. This will be a carefully organised schedule publicised well in advance and providing equal opportunity for all Challengers who wish to participate. These are due to start as early as October 2008 and will continue up until April 2009. They will include a mixture of fleet and match racing round robins.
The 33rd America's Cup Match scheduled to start on July 18th 2009.
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