The America’s Cup rewards experience like few other sports. For evidence, take a look at the people involved with the top four teams on the 2006 Louis Vuitton ACC Championship. There simply aren’t too many rookies on board. It’s hard enough to tackle the America’s Cup as an experienced challenger, with all the intellectual property, hardware and know-how gained from previous campaigns.
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To start a campaign from scratch, challenging from a country that has very little sailing infrastructure is monumental work. But this is the task that China Team has set itself. To shortcut over some of the common speed-bumps, the team forged an alliance with Le Défi, a French challenger from the two Auckland editions of the America’s Cup. The arrangement means the team instantly gained hardware CHN 69 and CHN 79 and expertise, critical to help it overcome a late start.
"From the beginning we knew this was going to be a long term project."
Pierre Mas
Even with this, the goals of the team are modest; China Team is taking a long view of challenging for the America’s Cup. In this edition, the team is trying to integrate as many Chinese sailors as possible and raise the profile of the sport in China.
“From the beginning we knew this was going to be a long term project,” says skipper Pierre Mas. “We didn’t expect to raise a big budget for 2007, but we have the feeling that now things are going well and we hope to continue this team beyond the 32nd America’s Cup.”
Reality check
Certainly, based on performance to date, it would be sensible to keep expectations in check. The team has struggled to stay competitive, and didn’t win a match in 26 starts in 2006. In the fleet races of Louis Vuitton Act 11, the high point was a single ninth place finish, sandwiched between two last places. After damaging the boat, the team didn’t race in the final two contests.
So based on the evidence from the race course at least, 2006 wasn’t the best year for China Team. But the squad has a reason to believe better days are around the corner. Since completing Louis Vuitton Act 12, China Team has been working on two main projects: developing sailors and promoting the Cup at home, and building its new boat – the first Cup boat to be built in China.
“We have just returned from Qingdao where we have done some small boat training with our Chinese sailors and also a lot of media and guest events,” explains Mas. “We’ve hosted a few thousand guests and organised many promotions, both on-site and on television.
“On the technical side, we’re working to complete the new boat. The construction is happening in Dong Guan, in the south of China. The hull is nearly finished and we are starting to build the deck. We expect the boat to be in Valencia in mid-December.”
China Team is pinning a lot of hopes on its new boat. Like other teams racing older generation boats in 2006, China Team simply didn’t have the horsepower to compete. Integrating up to five Chinese sailors (with no previous Cup experience) into the race crew also made racing challenging. But with an off-season of training and a new boat on the way, the team is hopeful.
More competitive
“We expect to be taking a big step in boat speed and performance with the new boat,” Mas says. “We are happy with the design and the build so far. We hope to win some races and be in the pack fighting for a win every day. Next year we will have some more Chinese sailors and the standard of these sailors is increasing all the time. We know we won’t be among the top four, but I’m sure we will be competitive with some of the others.”
And that would represent an enormous leap forward for the team. Showing it can at least compete with the other Cup teams might be the key to raising enough support that the project blossoms beyond the 32nd edition of the America’s Cup.
“Everything is changing and moving very quickly in China. When we started this project two years ago, sailing was essentially nowhere and the America’s Cup was completely unknown and the idea of sponsoring and sports marketing was quite novel,” Mas explains. “But in two years, a lot has changed. Now China Team is well known and both the public and companies who would perhaps be sponsors welcome the team warmly and know what the America’s Cup is about…I’m sure that next time China Team will be much stronger with a bigger budget, an earlier start and better performance on the water.”
"The main excitement is to sail the new boat."
Pierre Mas
But before that, there is training this month in Valencia, before heading to China for another short training camp. The big moment comes near Christmas time with the arrival of the new boat. It should be ready to sail early next year.
“We begin sailing next week in Valencia and in November we are in China again and we are also racing in a few match racing events around the world. But the main excitement is to sail the new boat,” Mas says. “For us, the new boat is a very big step and the entire team is anticipating the first sailing day with it in Valencia in February.”
Statistics
China Team has won three matches out of 59 starts. Over +39 Challenge on October 1st, during Trapani Louis Vuitton Act 8, by 3:05. One of +39 Challenge crew members fell in the water during this race and the Italians were penalised whilst leading the race. For China Team, this was the fifth race with its first Chinese sailor on board, Fei Zhao, as strategist.
China Team beat Luna Rossa Challenge across the starting line by two seconds in both of their 2006 matches. They also led Alinghi at the start by two seconds on June 24th 2006 during Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 12.
In the 2006 season China Team held the lead at the first mark once, against +39 Challenge on June 23rd 2006.
The last match China Team won was against +39 Challenge during the Trapani Louis Vuitton Act 8 (see above). During the most recent match between the two, on June 23rd 2006 (exactly one year before the first race of the America’s Cup) China Team was leading and looking forward to its first win of the season when crew member Olivier Herledant felt overboard and +39 made the pass.
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