Lots of fanfare, little concrete information, but this was presented with the special America's Cup logic that seems to be immune to critical questions from outside. This was the impression one got yesterday from the half-hour press conference in San Francisco, which was supposed to provide clarity on the next steps after the Artemis disaster.
Tom Ehman, vice-commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club and America's Cup mouthpiece of Oracle boss Larry Ellison, opened the event by stating that a six-member committee of experts had been appointed, including race director Iain Murray and other Cup insiders such as race director John Craig or Sally Lindsay Honey, the wife of Stan Honey, who is responsible for the TV graphics, or multihull designer Vincent Lauriot Prévost, who was part of the Oracle design team at the last Cup. The task of this committee is to investigate the circumstances that led to the capsizing of the Artemis catamaran and the death of Andrew Simpson last Thursday and then to make recommendations for the participants and the organisers so that the regattas, as Ehman explained, "can be made as safe as possible".
This commission cannot begin its work until Thursday at the earliest, but according to Ehman, it is already certain that the Cup will go ahead as planned. When asked what the big effort was for, Ehman replied that it was about the whole "enchilada", by which he probably meant the appearance that had to be maintained. "We know some facts informally, but we don't want to pre-empt the police report and the commission's report. But we are absolutely certain that the regatta can take place once we have got to the bottom of the matter." Although it is not known with absolute certainty whether all teams will take part, it is expected that they will. "We certainly hope so," said Ehman.
Murray outlined rather vaguely what this commission would be looking at: precisely because the sailing performance of these AC72 cats had exceeded all expectations, it was necessary to consider how best to cope with these incredible speeds and dynamics and how to ensure the safety of the sailors at all times, both on board and from the periphery of the course. "We have to scrutinise everything, how we sail, where we sail, when we sail and how much wind we sail in, but also the different aspects of the design. We have an open book."
Speaking of an open book: there are still no video recordings of the accident or telemetry data that would allow any conclusions to be drawn about the cause of the accident. When asked about the structural integrity of the Artemis catamaran, which was the only one of the seven AC72s built that did not sail completely on its foils, Murray was unable or unwilling to answer. Curiosity about this is more than justified, as the boat was heavily modified in the spring, for example by changing the grinder cockpits in both hulls and installing additional stiffeners. According to the Australian newspaper Newcastle Herald Artemis helmsman Nathan Outterridge had told his father that the cat had "broken into pieces and collapsed like a corn tortilla" when it capsized. This report was "completely incorrect", Ehman explained in response to a reporter's question.
In the wake of the Artemis disaster, Sailing Team Germany caused a stir by announcing its withdrawal from the Youth America's Cup, for which the crew led by skipper Philipp Buhl and helmsman Erik Heil had qualified. Some media representatives wanted to know what impact this would have on the Youth AC. "Let me clarify that," Murray replied. "The German federation (sic) has withdrawn its support for the German Youth team, which has qualified. As it stands at the moment, the federation (sic) has decided that they don't want to be involved with the youth team, (but) we are giving them the opportunity to honour their commitments and obligations to the event. At the moment, those sailors who have qualified are still on the entry list." But Ehman added: "If this team doesn't make it ... there are several others who would step in."
