The Kansai Yacht Club in Japan has this week announced their intent to challenge the Americas Cup in 2017, proving that maybe the second downsizing of the boats has in fact been beneficial to the worlds most high profile sailing series.

Japan last challenged for the cup 15 years ago with their two 12m yachts JPN-30 and Japan 41, collectively labeled the Nippon Challenge. They failed to make the cup, but ex-bowman Kazuhiko Sofuku is back as skipper and plans to be racing against Oracle Team USA in 2017, albeit in a much faster boat than he was crewing on back in 2000!

The new name for the challenge will be a nod to their primary sponsors, SoftBank Group who are footing most of the bill for the design, training and racing of the new AC48, a cutting edge catamaran design. This new 48ft boat is the benchmark for all teams contesting the cup in 2017, and has been the subject of much debate, and even causing a few teams to pull out of the race altogether. The idea behind the smaller boat size was to minimize development costs for new teams wishing to enter the race, by requiring less materials and reducing the loads on components. It seems as though it’s working, with not only the Japanese team coming out of the woodwork, but another two teams rumored to be in development. Not in development (as far as we know) is the Australian Team, who were headed by Bob Oatley from Hamilton Island and pulled out of the race a few years ago, back when the boat size was almost double.

With two years to go before racing gets underway in Bermuda, there’s plenty of time for new teams, old teams and everything in between to have their say on the cup; but rest assured, get ready to see some fast boats, close racing and fierce rivalry between countries!

#News #Sailing