Questions Before Answers at American Magic

American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson. Ivo Rovira / America’s Cup

It stings when an America’s Cup campaign ends without the sailors hoisting or chugging from the Auld Mug like they dream about. But when it’s the New York Yacht Club that comes up short, the loss seems a lot heavier. Bearing that burden in Barcelona today is American Magic’s skipper and President of Sailing Operations Terry Hutchinson who will spend the next few months trying to figure out what led to a second straight exit from the challenger semifinals and what to do better next time—should there be a next time.

American Magic was once again eliminated by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team’s fast silver AC75 to a 5-3 victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals, an improvement from 2021 when they returned to Pensacola winless following a capsize and near sinking of its first-generation Patriot off Auckland that effectively ended the campaign.

“What could we have done better? Why are we in this situation and how can we improve if we’re given the opportunity to go forward? I mean, we could always be better. But it’s not a criticism of any one thing because these things are hard and the competitors are very good.”

Terry Hutchinson, American Magic Skipper and President of Sailing Operations

While Luna Rossa takes on Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia for the right to face two-time defending America’s Cup champion Emirates Team New Zealand, American Magic will begin debriefing and packing up to return to Pensacola, where the team is building a $15 million training center.

A few big questions hang over the end of this Cup campaign, however, which has been largely financed by principals Hap Fauth and Doug DeVos in the latest attempt to return the Auld Mug to the NYYC’s clubhouse on West 44th Street in Manhattan. Cup pundits and fans will long wonder how much American Magic’s performance was affected by the loss of co-helmsman Paul Goodison who broke five ribs before the semifinals when he fell into an open hatch while helping to carry the mainsail across the deck.

Lucas Calabrese was subbed in for the more experienced Goodison to helm opposite Tom Slingsby. “We’ve been asked a couple times, you know, would it be different? It’s simply, the boat’s performance was good,” Hutchinson says. “Lucas did an outstanding job. We had trained for it. And, you know, you can’t really engage in a hypothetical because it’s a hypothetical. And out of respect to the guys on the boat, I think that’s a disservice to the entire team.

Hutchinson says the rough sea state off Barcelona was as advertised. “Managing the ride height through the sea state is a hard thing to do. And so, what you see with all the teams this year, they’ve all done a good job of doing it in a different way.” Ian Roman/America’s Cup

“But I can tell you that the boat’s performance was good and they raced it well and they did a lot of things really well. And so, in that vein, it was good.”

Praising the work of designers Aaron Perry, Britt Ward and Pete Melvin, Hutchinson said the newest Patriot was “a great boat. I would say the guys punched well above their weight for the amount of time they had.”

Speaking a few days after elimination, Hutchinson said it was time to move on from talking about the disappointment and focus on the why. “Like, what could we have done better? Why are we in this situation and how can we improve if we’re given the opportunity to go forward? I mean, we could always be better. But it’s not a criticism of any one thing because these things are hard and the competitors are very good.”

Hutchinson is game to continue pursuing the America’s Cup and says, “You’re never going to back away from a challenge and this is definitely a challenge.”

Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton suggested recently that if the Kiwis retain the Cup, the next edition could come as soon as 2026, which seems to fit well with Hutchinson’s thoughts for the next regatta.

“If Team New Zealand was to win, the challenge is to sit down and have a good conversation with Dalts about how to move the America’s Cup forward, how to move it into the 21st Century, really,” Hutchinson says. “We have all the correct technology pieces to the puzzle. And so, what it needs is continuity and marketability. The opportunity is there because the boats are so cool and so I think we want to model ourselves after what other sports have done.”

He mentions Formula One and even SailGP, the global league backed by former America’s Cup winner Larry Ellison that features many sailors from the America’s Cup. “What SailGP has done is really good. It doesn’t have the lure of the America’s Cup, but it’s still a great platform,” Hutchinson says. “Let’s look at those things and see how we can grab, are they good pieces, and incorporate it into the America’s Cup.”

The post Questions Before Answers at American Magic appeared first on Sailing World.