The organizers of the 2017 America's Cup "are planning to dramatically reduce team operational costs by racing in smaller boats," according to the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Commercial Commissioner Harvey Schiller said, "After reviewing prototypes of the new AC45 sports boats being tested on the water over the past several months, it is clear that if we raced smaller boats in 2017, we could dramatically reduce costs without sacrificing any of the spectacle or the design, engineering and athletic challenge fundamental to the America's Cup. ... The existing operational costs of teams is much too high with a boat like the AC62. We discussed making this change early last year at a competitors' meeting in London but at that stage only Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand were in favor of using a smaller boat. But now that the teams have seen these new boats in action there is a clear majority of competitors who support the idea. I'd like to be able to say we have unanimous support from all the teams but that is not the case" (NZ HERALD, 3/26). STUFF's Duncan Johnstone wrote boat speed in the new boat "is expected to be similar to what was achieved in the last America's Cup as gains are made through increased time foiling and advances in design and engineering." Oracle reported it was achieving speeds of close to 45 knots in testing its foiling 45-foot catamaran in San Francisco "before it was shipped to Bermuda for training and trials at the host venue." Team New Zealand "admitted to being forced to operate off a smaller budget as sponsorship and funding cuts hit." All staff "have reportedly taken salary cuts for the next challenge." Reducing the crew size in a scaled down boat "would represent significant savings and the 45-foot catamarans would be much easily transported." British, Swedish and French syndicates "voiced their approval in Thursday's statement" (STUFF, 3/26).
