Hutchinson, one of the most highly regarded monohull sailors of our time, never really got to grips with the cats. Although he showed his class at times in the America's Cup World Series in the match race competitions with the AC45, he was unable to keep up with the young guns such as Jimmy Spithill, Chris Draper or, most recently, newcomer Ben Ainslie in the fleet races. Artemis Racing has now introduced a new sailing director in the form of three-time British Olympic medallist Ian Percy, who joined the Italian +39 team as a star sailor in Valencia in 2007, where he picked up his first cup honours.
Back in autumn, Artemis introduced the Australian Olympic skiff champion Nathan Outterridge as helmsman in San Francisco, who also knows how to handle hydrofoils like the Moth very well. The Swedes also brought in Loïck Peyron, the French multihull god, who stood in as helmsman for Alinghi in 2010 when they lost to BMW Oracle in Valencia. Peyron, who won the ACWS regatta in Newport with the small Energy Team, still lacks an AC victory in his extensive trophy collection. Argentinian Tornado sailor Santiago Lange will also be there. It remains to be seen who will ultimately take the helm of the AC72, which has been plagued by technical problems (mast breakage during last summer's wing tests, structural problems during towing tests on San Francisco Bay).
Two protests are now pending before the international jury. The first concerns espionage during the training of the two AC72s of Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa in Auckland. There, a motorboat from Oracle equipped with measuring devices allegedly disregarded the 200 metre distance prescribed in the rules when "observing" the competitors. The second protest revolves around the cancellation of the ACWS regatta in Venice in April, which was replaced by a US event, although neither the venue nor the date have been confirmed. This manoeuvre, it is said, lacks the sanctioning of the teams that have to take part in the ACWS in order to be admitted to the "real" Cup.
