Cat sailors and Cup fans have two more varied weekends ahead of them. From 10 to 19 September, the current nine teams will once again compete in dozens of races. After the opener off Cascais, the ACWS circus with the 45-foot, 1.4-tonne wing-rigged catamarans will make a guest appearance in Plymouth.
Plenty of spectacular images are expected, as the Channel's bulge is notorious for downdraughts from the surrounding hills, for twisters and current edges - a challenging spot. In late summer, the gradient wind can also blow around the houses. After the light wind conditions in Portugal at the beginning of August, this would be the first real test for boats and crews.
The first sailors have been training in Plymouth Sound for a week, including Brit Chris Draper, who is actually a 49er sailor in the English national team. He had already impressed with Team Korea in Cascais and beat four-time Cup winner Russell Coutts, the most successful Cup skipper of all time, in the match race.
Loïck Peyron from Energy Team also arrived at the weekend; the French multihull expert was in the same place just three weeks ago - back then with the maxi-tri "Banque Populaire", which he skippered to line honours and a new course record in the Rolex Fastnet Race.
Austrian Tornado world and European champion Andreas Hagara makes his debut with China Team. While his brother Roman will be competing in the Extreme Sailing Series for Red Bull, Andreas replaces Mitch Booth, who left as skipper and helmsman in disagreement - reportedly due to money problems. The skipper of the China Team is now tactician Charlie Ogletree.
The latest news and dates for the regattas can be found directly on the AC-Homepage. Live streams during the races, daily summaries and background reports are best viewed on the dedicated YouTube channel which provides various views and commentaries in multi-channel mode. If the picture jerks at first, it is advisable not to change the channel frantically, but to stay on it. The picture quality and bandwidth will gradually improve if the number of hits does not overload the servers.
Interesting in connection with the tour stop in Plymouth is another report from England, according to which Ben Ainslie is now also travelling on two hulls. The most successful British sailor at the Olympic Games was recently welcomed by Mark Turner, organiser of the Extreme Sailing Series, via Twitter - as skipper of Oman Air.
The Extreme 40 cats were "only" the blueprint for the AC World Series, and they almost became part of the pre-regattas. However, they still attract a lot of attention and are considered the perfect training ground for anyone who wants to prepare for a longer-term multihull future without an AC campaign.
"Will he master it as quickly as Dean Barker?" asks Mark Turner. Barker, at least, is currently the measure of all things on the AC-45 after his opening victory in Cascais and second place in the match race.
Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
