America's Cup: On an equal footing with the defenders?

The verbal exchange on Facebook and Twitter after the christening and first training laps of the British America's Cup team Land Rover BAR with its new test catamaran T2 sounded promising. Fans of the American title defenders were quick to post that they thought their models were faster anyway. The response from Land Rover BAR's skipper Sir Ben Ainslie, whose sailing crew is very national in character in contrast to Oracle Team USA, was not long in coming: "If you think you're so fast, why don't you let real Americans sail?"

The new British test catamaran is a further development of its predecessor, the T1, which was launched a year ago and in which renowned Formula 1 experts and engineers from the aircraft industry were also involved. Both test models are based on the AC45 catamarans, but are significantly more powerful machines with which the teams are preparing for the 35th America's Cup.

With their second model, the British are now on a par with the American defenders and the Swedish team Artemis, who are also already in action with second test models. Although the second British model is the same length as their first test model, it is wider and, unlike the first, has a cockpit and a steering wheel for the helmsman. On foils the size of wakeboards, this catamaran is designed to "fly" over the course with a weight equivalent to a fully occupied London taxi.

With this video, the British America's Cup team Land Rover BAR has now presented its second test catamaran T2 - a further development of its predecessor T1, which was launched a year ago

As in previous Cup times, the teams are trying to prevent a closer look at the further development of the foils and other attachments by covering them up. Andy Claughton, Land Rover BAR's Head of Technology and two-time America's Cup winner, says: "This is the most technologically advanced boat I've ever been involved with." Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie is also delighted with the new toy: "We in the sailing team are grateful and honoured to be able to complete test flights with this unique flying machine." The British call this model a "fighter jet".

With T2, Team Land Rover BAR now has three boats: the OneDesign base model AC45f (modified version of the former AC45s), with which the teams compete in the America's Cup World Series, which precedes the America's Cup. Then there is the T1 test catamaran, which is around a year old and served as the first development boat. And now T2 with its ultra-modern electro-hydraulic control systems, which should open up new horizons for the team.

The later Cup catamarans, of which each team is only allowed to build one prototype, will be slightly longer at 50 feet and considerably more powerful than the test models. They may be completed a maximum of 150 days before the start of the first Cup races and will therefore not be seen in action before the end of 2016. Land Rover BAR's General Manager Martin Whitmarsh told YACHT online that although the future Cup catamarans will be smaller, they are expected to be faster and significantly more manoeuvrable than the giants with which Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand competed for the trophy in 2013.