First workhorse

We speak to TeamOrigin's Mike Sanderson and Alinghi's Grant Simmer about the British team's acquisition of SUI 75

This week Mike Sanderson, Sir Keith Mills and their growing posse have been in Valencia furthering the British prospects for the 33rd America's Cup.

Yesterday the team announced the acquisition of Alinghi's SUI 75, the boat the Swiss team built for but never raced in the 2003 Cup and which they campaigned in the Acts in 2005 and 2006. During these Acts SUI 75, minus the Hula (or 'JayLo') she'd had slapped on in Auckland, but upgraded to Version 5 of the AC rule, was without doubt the form boat. Even last season when she was up against the newly built state of the art Version 5 boats of Emirates Team NZ and Luna Rossa she was by no means off the pace. As Sanderson puts it: "I’m sure Team New Zealand have come a long way since they launched NZL 84, but she held her own against 84. She was certainly a chunk quicker when no one had their new boats - it was very much in a league of its own. So she’s not a generation older, but possibly half. That is a pretty good start for us."

Alinghi Managing Director Grant Simmer, agrees that SUI 75 is a fine choice of starter boat for the fledgling British team: "I think it is a good choice for them because it is a really good boat and it was right on the pace with the other boats. SUI 75 was fine even against the new generation boats and we’ve modified it a bit since we were in Auckland. They need a boat to get sailing on and it has got lots of new ideas on it, so they’d be keen to have a look at those and I think it would be a great platform to kick off a new challenge."

The reason Alinghi have let SUI 75 go is that they obviously have two new Version 5 boats in SUI 91 and SUI 100 and according to Simmer, for emotional reasons team proprietor Ernesto Bertarelli would like to hang to SUI 64 it being his 2003 America's Cup winner.

According to Mike Sanderson TeamOrigin bought SUI 75 to give a clear indication of the level at which they are pitching their campaign. "There is no doubt that Alinghi for the last few years now have had something special going on and we’re going to own a small piece of that. We think it is going to be a wonderful starting platform. We think it would still be in the top half of the current fleet anyway, plus we can get our hands on it straight away."

Once the America's Cup is done and dusted then SUI 75 will be rebranded into TeamOrigin colours and presumably renumbered to GBR 75. TeamOrigin will test sail her in Valencia sometime mid-July, before shipping her back to the UK. As she is at present in Spain under a temporary import license (as are all the AC boats here from outside of Europe are - this was a condition of the contract ACM negotiated with the Valencian and Spanish governments) TeamOrigin will not officially take over ownership of SUI 75 until she reaches UK shores.



Under the protocol for the 32nd America's Cup teams are now allowed to buy assets from other teams (although there are timing limitations on this) and this includes design information. Before this was introduced a team would buy an old Cup boat from another team and would not be allowed the technical information to go with it - hence for example a team changing the keel on their newly acquired secondhand Cup boat, only for it to - surprise, surprise - fall off...

TeamOrigin haven't bought Alinghi's design know-how as this wasn't part of the deal, but Simmer expands on what they will be getting: "We give them enough information so that they can maintain that boat. There are a limited amount of drawings they get with the boat. Just in terms of the rules they are not a challenger in this Cup and we haven’t given them any information yet anyway. We will assume the protocol will be the same for the next Cup in terms of design information, because there always needs to be a way people can buy equipment from the previous Cup which is exactly how you saw young teams here buying boats off other teams and getting started."

So TeamOrigin will get the engineering spec for the boat - ie the information telling them what the boat is rather than how their design team got there. "That is pretty helpful," says Sanderson. "You would never expect to get CFD results or tank data from it, but it is certainly nice to get construction details." Aside from the boat they have paid a little extra to get one of Alinghi's more recent masts plus they get a suit of sails.

Simmer says Alinghi will work with TeamOrigin's new shore support team to show them the ropes: "They are going to take it off and they have to maintain it and these boats need constant maintenance because they are pretty fragile pieces of equipment."

Exactly where in the UK GBR 75, as she will be, ends up is uncertain at present. Plans for the boat, as well as the team in general are awaiting the outcome of this America's Cup and news of where and how the next event will take place.

"The plan this year is very much getting our ducks in a line and getting ready to do things properly at the beginning of next year," says Sanderson. "There is no point in us rushing out to do one of these regattas at the end of this year. We are not going to be ready to enter at the level we are hoping to enter. We are better to make sure this year is about getting all the structures in place, getting the whole machine primed nd ready to run."

One suspects though that if Alinghi win and the next Cup will be held in two years, TeamOrigin will be out of the blocks faster than this.

The time frame the next Cup takes place in for example will determine first whether TeamOrigin need to buy a second training boat and whether they are a two boat team. It is possible for example that if the next Cup is held over a two year cycle the new Protocol may only allow teams to build one new boat .

"If it is a four year cycle, depending upon who wins it, then for sure we are going to have to look at getting a second boat," confirms Sanderson. "If it is a two year cycle then we might agree to build one new boat as early as possible, and turbo up 75 as much as we can within the rule and race her in the early Acts and then look at further turbo charging her out of the rule once we have a new boat. She is certainly in structurally sound condition to have a fairly long life to come for a Cup boat."

Sanderson is aiming at having two crews ready to go sailing by the end of January 2008 for as Sanderson says: "One thing the Louis Vuitton Cup to date has shown is that once again it is a sailing regatta and you have to push these things around the track and to create that environment in house you have to go racing and to go racing in these boats you need two sailing teams."

While there are rumours of plenty of crew being signed up, possibly even the star double act of Ainslie and Percy, Sanderson gives the impression it is too early to assume this. "Lots of the key guys who we are hoping to get are still wrapped up in contracts, restraint periods, first right of refusal and that kind of thing. I have kept it no secret, but I have extracted a front line team out of the people here in Valencia." Basically experience of the 32nd America's Cup is a prerequisite for joining.

Sanderson at this stage can't say the percentage of Brits that will form the sailing team but given the talent available in the UK then it is likely there will be a smattering of non-Brit Cup old timers in the afterguard and on the foredeck and probably a reasonably large number in the middle of the boat. Given Sanderson's background as a sailmaker it is likely he will hold a lot of influence on TeamOrigin's all-important sail program and it would make sense if the trimmers and sail designers came from a similar lineage as his own.

"There is no doubt that there is a fantastic group of Brits who have the credentials to get the spot, but they need to fit in with the team and want to be a part of it, and that is probably the biggest criteria," says Sanderson. "There are a few spots where there just aren’t people of a high enough calibre."

Who are in the crew, as well as the TeamOrigin design team, will be announced over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile Sanderson is having to rein in on some of his additional projects, not only because of his commitment to TeamOrigin but also because wife Emma (nee Richards) is four months pregnant. Sanderson is unlikely to get to campaign as much as he hoped the Pindar Open 60 that is to launch in one month's time in Auckland. The Transat Jacques Vabre conflicts nicely with the birth of Sanderson Jnr so it seems likely that Sanderson may only get to sail the Rolex Fastnet Race on his new steed.

Sanderson may also do a few races on Mike Slade's new Leopard depending upon how it fits in with his job at TeamOrigin. "At the end of the day I am totally dedicated to this America's Cup team. I would love to do the Fastnet on the 60, if it all fits and it doesn’t clash with anything. I’ll give whoever a hand with the TJV, but apart from that I’ll do some bits and pieces at the weekends, but it’ll be as my entertainment. My world is now dedicated to this America’s Cup for a few years yet and so it should be."