HAVE THEY LOST DIRECTION?

Lack of progress in safety provisions frustrating America’s Cup in wake of Andrew Simpson death

Just two of original 37 proposals have been incorporated into the rules following death of British sailor

SUNDAY 16 JUNE 2013

Slow progress is being made in San Francisco on changes to the America’s Cup safety provisions following the death of Andrew Simpson during a training accident on the Swedish challenger Artemis.

With considerable fanfare, a review committee under the chairmanship of the regatta director Iain Murray produced a list of 37 recommendations, though the other members of the committee were told by the lawyers not to put their names to the proposals.

Over the weekend two, well one and a half, of the recommendations were incorporated into the rules for both the Louis Vuitton Cup (LVC) challenger elimination series and the match between the eventual winner and the defender, the locally-based Oracle Racing.

One covers technical matters surrounding the structure of the 40-metre carbon fibre solid wings and the dagger boards which lift the 72-foot catamarans so that they skim on foils above the water.

The second confirms that there will be no guest position when the yachts are racing. But it does not include, as originally proposed, a ban on on-board television camera operators. There is no indication when the remaining 35 proposals would, if at all, be adopted.

The opening exhibition race is scheduled for two weeks on Friday, 5 July, with the first LVC race between Emirates Team New Zealand and the Prada-backed Italians in Luna Rossa two days later.

An ETNZ proposal, backed by the Italians, to delay the whole event until 19 July and then run a condensed LVC was vetoed by the Swedes, even though they are indicating they may not be ready to race until 6 August and then only if their latest boat, which has yet to be launched, comes through all its sea trials successfully.

That veto is being investigated by two members of the international jury, one Britain’s Bryan Willis, the other a New Zealand lawyer, Graham McKenzie. But the whole thing may, as time runs out, have to be referred to the full five-person jury and the work of Willis and McKenzie is not due to start until Wednesday.

Nor has the United States Coastguard announced that it has granted the event a permit to race. The San Francisco Police Department is still preparing its report on ‘Bart’ Simpson’s death, though that will focus largely on criminality, and the Medical Examiner’s (coroner’s) report, a public document, has yet to be published on the causes of his death.

AMERICA’S CUP FOILING

GRANDSTANDS COMING DOWN

Artemis Racing, the Swedish sailing syndicate that suffered a fatal accident during training in May for the America’s Cup, released a scathing statement Monday regarding recently published comments from one its chief competitors, Emirates Team New Zealand.

Artemis characterized the comments as “out of line and unsportsmanlike.”

“In response to comments by Emirates Team New Zealand’s Managing Director Grant Dalton in a June 8, 2013 article in the New Zealand Herald, we would like to set the record straight,” the statement read. “Dalton’s proposals to change the (Louis Vuitton Cup) race would certainly not help Artemis Racing, as suggested, but make it even harder for us to compete.”

Dalton’s plan would start direct elimination July 19, rather than Aug. 6, and alter the format to eliminate the semifinals.

Late last week, Artemis announced that it would not be ready for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the round-robin event that decides the competitor for Oracle Racing’s defense of the America’s Cup in September. The LV Cup was scheduled to start July 7. Instead, New Zealand and Italian syndicate Luna Rossa will start without their Swedish counterparts.

Artemis announced plans to join the racing in August, allowing time to rebuild its damaged boat and still make a run at the finals. Race organizers agreed to the new plan.

Dalton took exception with the race organizers’ accommodation.

“So the whole thing is now geared to the needs of the weakest common denominator,” Dalton was quoted in the article. “I wonder what would happen if the Rugby World Cup had to stop and reorganize itself in an unsatisfactory way because Namibia had a few injuries. How would that go down?”

Dalton wasn’t done, saying: “We haven’t lost sight of the tragedy and we have said we are in favor of the safety recommendations, but Artemis can get away with this because there are not enough teams in the America’s Cup. If there were five teams, they’d be goners; they wouldn’t be here. But because there aren’t enough, the regatta will have to meet their needs. … ”

Artemis racing found Dalton’s tone objectionable, prompting Monday’s statement.

“Dalton’s proposals benefit no team but his own, and his public insults are out of line and unsportsmanlike,” the statement read. “Artemis Racing’s May 9 accident set us back immensely – on a human level and a campaign level. As competitors, though, we may be down, but we are not out.

“Our passion for the America’s Cup remains strong. We are committed again to competing. Anyone who knows our sailors knows that our team will not shy away from a tough challenge. We are doing our best to recover and our target is to be ready for racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup’s semifinals on Aug. 6, if not earlier. In the meantime, the race schedule should remain unchanged and the derogatory analogies should be left on the dock.”

Emirates New Zealand released its response late Monday, stating: “The joint proposal put forth by Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand of starting the Louis Vuitton Cup later in July was done so in the hope of enhancing the event with a full muster of boats from the beginning, and therefore, placing more importance on the racing from the first race, something for which fans and sponsors are craving right now.

“Normally the challenger series of an America’s Cup is run on terms that meet the wishes of the majority of challengers,” Dalton said in the statement. “This is not the case here with Artemis rejecting the proposal and wanting to continue running an event schedule in which, by under their own admission, they will not compete in the early stages.

“Obviously, it was assumed that 10 weeks after the Artemis tragedy, that having previously taken delivery of their second AC72, they would be ready to race. This is not the case.”

The back-and-forth between the two teams was the latest wrinkle for an event that has had tragedy and controversy in recent months. In addition to the death of Artemis sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson, who drowned during a training run May 9, the event has become shrouded with financial concerns.

Three competitors, down from an estimated dozen two years ago, remain to challenge for the Cup held by Oracle. That has resulted in lower estimates of the race’s economic benefits, and fundraising has slowed, meaning the city could be on the hook for significant expenses.

Grandstands coming down

America’s Cup officials said Monday they are refunding grandstand tickets for races through the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals because of the uncertainty of when challenger Artemis Racing will be ready to compete following the deadly capsize of its first boat last month.

Depending on when Artemis returns, there could be only five days of racing between July 7 and Aug. 1.

America’s Cup CEO Stephen Barclay said it’s the right thing to do to refund the tickets and take down the grandstands until Artemis returns.

Once the racing is over, no one will remember most of the details. Meanwhile is is a bit clumsy and fragile organization.

THEY JUST WON’T TURN UP

“They just won’t turn up,” said Kiwi boss Grant Dalton. “As part of the safety recommendations, the (US$100,000) fine (for not appearing in a race) has been waived and they can just keep on not turning up. It’s a Claytons schedule. I am not sure how they sugar-coated it in their statement, but Artemis vetoed the proposals. In the end, Artemis was the problem. They are the Challenger of Record and they can veto changes to the protocol – and they did.

“So the whole thing is now geared to the needs of the weakest common denominator,” said Dalton. “I wonder what would happen if the Rugby World Cup had to stop and re-organise itself in an unsatisfactory way because Namibia had a few injuries. How that would go down?

“We haven’t lost sight of the tragedy and we have said we are in favour of the safety recommendations but Artemis can get away with this because there are not enough teams in the America’s Cup,” said Dalton. “If there were five teams, they’d be gonners; they wouldn’t be here. But because there aren’t enough, the regatta will have to meet their needs and Luna Rossa are paying the price.”

The schedule has been amended so advanced ticket holders may be holding tickets to a non event.

The group, the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, is now supposed to raise about $22 million – down from an original $32 million – to defray the costs of things like permits, and increased police and Muni service. But it still owes the city about $800,000 on $1.6 million in costs from December. At the end of the month the group will receive another bill of about $3 million to $4 million for things like liability insurance, putting up railings around the perimeters of piers and signs to help cyclists and pedestrians find their way to the action.

“Am I the only one tired of hearing Tom Ehman spin the America’s Cup? The ‘Summer of Sailing’, which I was sorely tempted to attend, has now degenerated into “the Match is the big deal” “Adrian Morgan.

The America’s Cup, which appears to have been trying to separate itself from sailing since the creation of the “New” boats and format; supplementing the event with concerts and other events. The participants stated to me last year that they felt like characters in a sideshow.

The Annapolis- Newport race , Rambler and Donnybrook are already finished. Track the fleet HERE.

SOAKING UP THE ENERGY

AMERICA’S CUP CONCERT SERIES

The America’s Cup concert series schedule is published; click: HERE so you won’t miss a beat.

FOILING ON THE BAY

Scenes from what is to come.

NEW SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE AMERICA’S CUP

While there are few surprises in the recommendations, the obvious extra cost is evident. More important, what exactly do the recommendations say about the sport of sailing?

1. AC72Yacht

Regatta Director Recommendations

Issued at 1600 May 22, 2013 (PDT) to AC34 Competitors, Golden Gate Yacht Club, & America’s Cup Event Authority

1.1. AC72YachtStructuralReview:CompetitorsinconsultationwithACRMto collectively identify and complete a process of competent third party review or testing process of the structural integrity of the platform and wing.
1.2. DaggerboardRakeControlHydraulicSystem:Competitorsinconsultation with ACRM shall identify and complete a process of competent third party review and testing process of their daggerboard rake control hydraulic systems to ensure an acceptable safety margin and level of reliability.
1.3. RudderElevators:
a) minimum total area 0.32 m2 per rudder;b) minimum depth of elevators on rudder span of 2.1m;
c) maximum elevator span of 1.4m;
d) rudder elevators to be symmetrical in plan form and allowed to extend

beyond maximum beam of the Yacht; and
e) elevators permitted to be adjusted until warning signal.
1.4. CrewRestraints:Competitorstoeffectivelyrestraincrewthroughbearing-off manoeuvres, severe deceleration, or capsize, such as installation of cockpits, foot-straps, handholds, tether and/or belay points.
1.5. MaximumAC72YachtSailingWeight:Themaximumsailingweightspecified in AC72 Class Rule 5.10 shall be increased by 100kg.
1.6. SoftSails:Competitorslimitedtocarryingtwosoftsailsandeliminatingthe minimum weight in 26(c) of the AC72 Class Rule.
1.7. GuestRacers:NoguestracersaboardanAC72yachtwhilstracing.
1.8. ACRMPersonnel:AC72ClassRule25.1(b)tobemodifiedtoremovereferenceto“ACRM personnel” – this was originally intended to be a camera person and it
has since been agreed to remove such a person from the boat.
1.9. SoftCoveringsandSoftFairings:Softcoveringsandsoftfairingsshallbemade of predominantly see-through/transparent material.

2. PersonalEquipment

2.1. BuoyancyAids:Wornbuoyancyaidswornbycrewtohaveaquickrelease mechanism.
2.2. BodyArmour:Armourincorporatingprotectionforspine,punctureandimpact wounds is to be investigated by Competitors and managed by ACRM.
2.3. ElectronicHeadCountSystem:AnelectronicHeadCountSystemtobe investigated by Competitors and managed by ACRM.
2.4. CrewLocatorDevices:Underwatercrewlocatordevicestobeinvestigatedby Competitors and managed by ACRM.
2.5. BreathingApparatus:Underwaterbreathingapparatustobecarriedand capable of hands free operation, the volume of air to be carried to be

investigated by Competitors and managed by ACRM.

2.6. Helmets:Helmetstandards(highvisibilitycoloursandspecifications)reviewbyCompetitors managed by ACRM, with the assistance of recognised expert
advisors.
2.7. Self-loweringEquipment:Equipmentcapableofself-loweringtobecarriedbyeach crewmember.

3. AdditionalSupportEquipment

3.1. SupportBoatLimits:Removepresentlimitoffoursupportboatsper Competitor (art. 35).
3.2. TwoRescueBoats:MinimumoftworescueboatstosupporteachAC72yacht whilst sailing.
3.3. RescueDivers&RescueSwimmers:Twodiverswithsupportingrescue swimmers ready to enter the water immediately, one diver and one rescue swimmer on each rescue boat.
3.4. Paramedic:Aminimumofoneparamedic(oranappropriatemedical practitioner) on one of the rescue boats.
3.5. Defibrillator:AnAEDdevice(defibrillator)tobecarriedontherescueboat carrying the paramedic (or an appropriate medical practitioner) who shall be trained in its use.
3.6. RecoveryNets:Rescuenetstobeinstalledonallsupportingandrescue boats to recover crew.
3.7. SafetyChannelforCompetitors:Adedicatedsafetychannelforinter-team safety communications.
3.8. OneWayCommunications:One-waycommunicationspermittedfromAC72 yacht to chase boat during all sailing and racing operations.
3.9. Regardless:ACRM’svesselRegardlesstobenotified,andbeplacedonstand by for recovery operations upon each sailing of an AC72 yacht.

4. RaceManagement

4.1. Round Robins: Number of Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robins reduced from seven (7) to five (5) to allow for more maintenance periods.
4.2. Soft Marks: Soft marks to replace mark-boats.
4.3. Starting Procedures: Racing Rules to be reviewed by skippers andCompetitor rules advisers with ACRM to remove potentially dangerous
situations including agreeing an alternative starting procedure.
4.4. Wind Limits: Reduced to 20kts in July, 21kts in August, and 23kts in September (as measured pursuant to art. 21.1), but with additional wind limit adjustments fortide and sea state.
4.5. First Mark: First mark to boundary to be approximately 45 seconds.
4.6. Buffer Zones: Safe buffer zones around course boundaries and obstructionsto be determined by ACRM.
4.7. Start Time: Flexible start time and flexible pre/post race programme based on

wind and projected tidal flows.

4.8. Post Race Dock – In: Eliminate the planned dock-in after racing at Pier 27, but skippers to be transferred to a dock-in show at Pier 27 approximately 45 minutes after a race.
4.9. No-Race Fine: Remove fines for not competing (art 21.2 (d)).
4.10. Race Course Debris: Process to inspect and endeavour to clear course ofdebris and obstructions with assistance from Army Corps of Engineers.

4.11. Capsize While Racing: Upon a yacht capsizing it shall be disqualified and the

race awarded to the other yacht, to allow efforts to be concentrated on capsized

yacht.
4.12. Develop Standard Operating Procedures Between Competitors for

Rescue: ACRM shall develop common safety procedures between competitor’s rescue boats, medical personnel, and divers.

5. FutureSailing:EachCompetitormusttakefullandsoleresponsibilityfortheirown sailing arrangements.

6. ExistingACRMAC72SafetyRecommendations(revisedMay22,2013)

Except to the extent that some of the recommendations may have been altered by the above, the AC72 Safety Recommendations notified to competitors on November 21, 2012 as revised on May 22, 2013 (copy below) form part of these Regatta Director recommendations.

Important additional notes to be read in conjunction with the recommendations

(i) These recommendations are made by the Regatta Director after the Review Committee interviewed team personnel from all Competitors, and will be refined as the further work identified above is completed.
(ii) The majority of the Regatta Director recommendations represent a consensus of the Competitors.
(iii) These recommendations do not alter the responsibilities assumed and allocated by the provisions of the Protocol or any other rules or document referred to in the Protocol.

(v) Each Competitor is responsible for the method of implementing the recommendations.
(vi) No recommendations can cover all possible risks or address risks that are specific to Competitor specific designs.
(vii) No recommendations can ever eliminate risk of injury or death in what is an inherently risky activity, and the participants must assume full responsibility for all risks involved.
(viii) Each Competitor and crew member remain responsible for their own safety at all times. Each Competitor and crew member must continue to make their own decision to race, or to continue racing.

Iain Murray

Regatta Director

AC72 Safety Recommendations

(Issued November 21, 2012 & Revised May 22, 2013)

Safety Recommendations that should be implemented immediately

Personal Equipment
- ACRM recommends that each crew member wear:a) Personal flotation meeting the requirements of RRSAC 40(a) worn as the outermost garment. Note that crewmember names would need to appear on the flotation device
  b) A helmet meeting the requirements of RRSAC 40(b) c) At least one knife that is accessible by either hand d) A personal air supply of at least 45 liters
  e) A harness with a tether or belay device
- ACRM recommends that there be a separate maximum weight allowance for personal safety equipment.
Training

• ACRM recommends the following training:

a) Personal air supply training
b) Training which mimics escaping from under the net when the platform is

capsized
c) At least two crew members on board shall have completed First Aid

Training with specific course content focused on treating injuries more likely to occur on board the AC72’s and how to deal with them while out on the water

3. AC72 Equipment
• ACRM recommends the following equipment on the platform:

a) Righting lines permanently attached to each corner of the platform with all righting lines accessible when the platform is at any orientation
b) Knives in the four corners of the trampoline accessible when the platform is upright or capsized
c) Four spare personal air supplies of at least 80 Liters each on the trampoline

4. Rescue Boats and Equipment

A rescue boat with at least 3500 kg towing capability
ACRM recommends that the team rescue boat carry the equipment listed inAttachment A as a minimum.
Safety Recommendations that need to be considered

Establishing common emergency drop off zones with the local authorities.
Establishing common safe recovery areas for capsized yachts.
1K liters of flotation in the top of the wing to keep it afloat until a team rib can access it.
- The preference seems to be inflatable air bags
- ACRM believes it is best to allow the teams to determine how they prefer toimplement this.
- A separate minimum weight allowance would be added for this equipment.

Attachment A
Team Rescue Boat Minimum Equipment List

Medical Equipment

• Medical backpack
• Comprehensive First Aid Kit
• Spine Board x 1
• 2 x Yellow foam waist rings with tethers • 1 x bag of various pump/air splints
• 1 x small Trauma Kit

Cordage

• 2 x 130 tow rope, 25mm diameter nylon/polyprop, breaking strength of 5 ton. • 1 x 100 meter anchor line, Anchor.12mm polyprop
• 100m of 16mm spare line

Dive Equipment

• 1 x complete dive kit
o BCD with integrated weights
o Fins
o Mask
o 1 x regulator, gauge, low pressure hose

• 1 x drysuit/wetsuit
• 1 x Pony bottle with back harness and single regulator • 2 x 10 liter dive tanks

Salvage Equipment

• Airbags
• 4 x 500 kilo lift
• Trash pump with a flow rate of 1200 L/min or greater
• 1 x cable cutter with long handles capable of cutting rigging away from the platform • Powered abrasive cutter

NASCAR ON WATER

With All Due Respect: The Risk of Marketing Yachting as “NASCAR on Water” is That You’re Creating NASCAR on Water

Comments (0)By Joe Eskenazi Wednesday, May 22 2013

In the NASCAR-themed epic Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell‘s character explains that prefacing his statements with “With all due respect” allows him to subsequently say whatever he wants (in this specific case, telling his boss “With all due respect, I didn’t realize you’d gotten experimental surgery to get your balls removed.”).

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The fatal wreck.

More About

Today’s San Francisco version of “With all due respect” is unfurled by critics of the NASCAR-themed epic that is the America’s Cup: They issue de rigueur wishes for a successful boat race to preface a scathing evisceration of the planning and funding of the event. Sadly, in recent weeks, the definition of “success” was radically altered by the death of British Gold Medalist Andrew Simpson, after Team Artemis’ massive boat broke apart in routine conditions and trapped him beneath it.

Race organizers’ promise that they’d deliver “the crash and burn” of “NASCAR on water” has been one of the few elements of the regatta to go as envisioned — with disastrous results. Now event backers and critics alike will be on pins and needles during races, hoping no one else gets killed.

In the wake of Simpson’s death — and unnamed America’s Cup sailors venting in the New Zealand Herald that the AC72 catamarans are “Godforsaken deathtraps” that should be relegated to “museums and pictures” — race organizers last week opted to sail forward with the event with little deviation from the course at this juncture.

Let’s hope this plan works out. With all due respect, not much has.

The America’s Cup was pitched by erstwhileMayor Gavin Newsom as just the thing to compensate for the 49ers skipping town after spurning his plans for their new stadium to be built atop a radioactive Superfund site.

Rosy economic projections conjured up possibilities of 15 free-spending yachting syndicates taking up residence in San Francisco and helping to generate $1.4 billion in dinero, while providing work for 8,800 locals. These were numbers that inspired even stalwart America’s Cup supporters to tellSF Weekly at the time, “extremely optimistic is an understatement.” But they would be regurgitated, for years, even after the bloom was off the America’s Cup rose.

The promise of San Franciscans being able to remove their socks and shoes and wade through the money was used to justify forking over vast swaths of the city’s central waterfront to yachting billionaire Larry Ellison. This mayorally backed move would have cost the city and port hundreds of millions of dollars — and, SF Weekly reported in 2011, resulted in port staff clandestinely bending the ears of city politicos to halt a plan that would have eviscerated port finances.

Halted it was, leading to a tidier giveaway of less-vast swaths of the northern waterfront. This would have cost the city mere scores of millions of dollars and could have left the port reimbursing Ellison’s heirs into the 22nd century. This plan, too, was abandoned last year on the cusp of an all-but-certain Board of Supervisors’ vote of approval when, per inside sources, Ellison abruptly backed away.

That led to the current, pared-back Cup iteration (like Dr. Who, the regatta manages to regenerate into something new and peculiar every time it dies). In the current plan, the city isn’t reimbursing anyone into the 22nd century. But it’s highly unclear if the city will be reimbursed.

Despite years of unambiguous warnings from budget-minded officials that private America’s Cup fundraisers’ loose obligation to “endeavor” to reach their goal could leave the city holding the bag, just such a scenario manifested itself this year. This was the inspiration for Supervisor John Avalos‘ primal lament that “All the members of the Board of Supervisors were fucking played.”

Along the way, a welder inadvertently incinerated Pier 29, America’s Cup organizers tossed half their staff overboard in a cost-cutting move, preliminary races were nixed, projections confirmed port officials’ fears the Cruise Ship Terminal could be a money pit, teams publicly considered dropping out, and city residents are now menaced by pending appearances of 311 and Train during the America’s Cup Concert Series.

It started with a vision of 15 sailing teams out on the water. Now there are four — and the Jonas Brothers.

Simpson’s death exposes the macabre paradox undermining the sole element America’s Cup cheerleaders and haters could agree on — that the spectacle of massive boats hitting damn near a mile a minute within a few yards of shore would be exhilarating.

In order to maximize the new experience of near-shore yacht racing and create a television audience for an event normally as engaging as chess, organizers pushed the AC72s. There have never been ships like these hulking, cutting-edge marvels – and, now, there may never be again. Their vast power and speed — and the ever-lurking possibility of a fantastic smackup — were selling points; your humble narrator witnessed an America’s Cup official showing a gathering of marine professionals a five-minute “highlight reel” of oversize catamarans colliding, flipping, and sending Lilliputian crew members hurtling into the sea.

This is the essence of “NASCAR on water.”

Perhaps in the future, TV networks might pay to put America’s Cup races on the air – instead of the opposite, which is now the case. The marine professionals, however, didn’t seem overly enthused by the notion of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Yachting, and it remains to be seen how the nautically challenged take to the event. The great risk is that the America’s Cup is now too NASCAR for the yachting crowd and too yachting for the NASCAR crowd.

Of course, sailing these amazing but dangerous ships carries risks of a far graver nature. Let’s hope for no more unsuccessful boat races.

THE KETTLE CALLING THE POT BLACK

From William Sandberg:
The America’s Cup has decided to investigate the Artemis Racing tragedy and has named the Regatta Director, Iain Murray, the same man who said such a disaster was not on the committee’s radar screen, to Chair the investigation.

Let me see, the Army investigated itself in the My Lai massacre and laid all the blame on a Lieutenant. Similarly, the State Department is investigating itself on the Benghazi catastrophe and you can be certain they will get to the bottom of it. Sure, and now the America’s Cup is going to investigate itself too.

Might I suggest that it would have been far better to have a committee led by a person with no vested interest in the Cup, with Mr. Murray serving as liaison. Then look at the committee itself. John Craig and Sally Honey are immensely talented individuals, but one is the event PRO and the other is married to a member of the AC Committee. I’m sure they will do a very professional job, and I have only the greatest respect for both but it would be better if they chose people with no involvement with the Cup at all.

It seems it is business as usual and the show must go on. Very sad time for our sport.

Comment: Since the America’s Cup organizers are certain the event can remain on schedule, it seems safe to assume the accident occurred as a result of something unique to the Artemis Racing boat. Remember that the US Coast Guard has yet to issue an event permit, and likely will not do so if the review committee raises significant concerns about the safety of the sailors. – Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt

Category: america’s cup 34