America's Cup: USA's Terry Hutchinson on the upcoming Preliminary Regatta
by Magnus Wheatley, America's Cup Media 21 Jul 11:38 NZST
American Magic - AC75 - Day 17 - June 4, 2024 - Barcelona © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup
Representing the most famous yacht club in the world could be a burden for some but not for New York Yacht Club American Magic, one of the most thorough and process-driven teams in this Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.
After the start of their campaign in Pensacola, Florida where they launched their warhorse AC75 ‘Patriot’ from the last Cup, this is a team that has been operating at the highest level ever since.
Led on the water by International Moth World Champions and Olympic Gold medallists Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison, NYYC American Magic is about as sporty and competitive as can be. Tom Burnham has done a peerless job overseeing training and encouraged the likes of Andrew Campbell, Mike Menninger, Riley Gibbs and Lucas Calabrese into creating healthy internal competition for key places whilst the cyclor programme has been intense and attracted world-class, elite athletes.
A win in the opening Preliminary Regatta at Vilanova i La Geltrú was an early high but a fair reward for endless hours of detailed, structured on-water training in both the AC75 and the team's two AC40s and certainly confirmed their top billing status.
When the team revealed their new AC75 in May, it was greeted with gasps and admiration. A low-profile bow section, recumbent cyclor positions and side-by-side helm and trim cockpits, screamed radical. NYYC American Magic is in Barcelona to win, there really is no second, and the team have the ultimate shot at regaining the America’s Cup trophy and taking it back to the West 44th Street clubhouse where famously it sat for 132 years from 1851 to 1983.
Leading the syndicate in his role as Skipper and President of Sailing Operations is the highly experienced, top-flight sailor, Terry Hutchinson who brings not only a racing edge to the operation but a management skillset that would befit the CEO of a major corporation. His take ahead of the third and final Preliminary Regatta is one of pure focus on the main goals of the campaign as he alludes: “We are approximately 5-weeks out and we are not focused on this event per se. We continue to work on developing our speed, boat handling, and learning Patriot. In the month of August our eye will naturally turn towards this event.”
That dedication to working through the speed upgrades on ‘Patriot’ is everything and with many experienced commentators saying that the coming month will be make or break for nearly all the teams, it’s a concept that Terry understands well: “It will be good to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Patriot against the fleet. Learning what mode to sail off the line and how to use Patriot’s speed.”
On the water, NYYC American Magic have taken every opportunity to hook up with their competitors usually on alternate tacks and gybes to get a handle on where they are in terms of speed and there's a good chance that they know exactly who’s hot and who’s not. Terry, however, remains the model of diplomacy as he knows that almost nobody is in full race trim just yet: “All teams are our competitor. Each team has clever thinking and so we will look to see what we can learn and how we can improve from the fleet not just one team. There is a lot of development for every team between now and the start of the Preliminary Regatta. The true test for all the teams is to be learning as much as they can between now and the start of this test event.”
Barcelona’s conditions during the Preliminary Regatta could well dictate overall results and still be a poor marker for outright success in the Louis Vuitton Cup and the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match. Late summer transitional conditions can be tricky at best and it’s something that Terry is more than alive to having sailed the waters competitively in the TP52 class and others: “Mother nature always has the final say. We can prepare, practice, and develop but the beauty of our sport is the conditions ultimately dictate. How each team has designed and developed for the conditions in Barcelona will be on display.”
Terry doesn’t expect any sand-bagging to happen during the Preliminary Regatta, believing, like others, that everyone will want to test at full pace with so little time ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup but is enthused to get racing, saying: “Very excited! It is what we do, and racing is ultimately what drives our team day in and day out.”
Regarded by many as having a super-quick platform in Auckland in 2021 before ultimately a capsize when leading Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the beaten finalist, by some considerable margin, led to catastrophic damage of the yacht, NYYC American Magic certainly know how to build and sail a quick AC75. Many people’s pick to go very deep and certainly a team that everyone fears, will this be the time where one of the great stories of the America’s Cup history is written? Time will tell, but the ‘Magicians’ look more than good in 2024.