America's Cup update, Interview with Grant Simmer of Team Oracle USA

An excellent two part interview of Grant Simmer COO of Team Oracle USA by Richard Gladwell 

Part 1:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Oracle-boss-says-Kiwis-favourites---for-the-moment/108108

With just over 20 weeks left on the clock until the start of the 34th America’s Cup, Grant Simmer, COO of Defender Oracle Team USA, is playing the usual psychological games, picking challenger Emirates Team New Zealand to win the America’s Cup.

'Emirates Team NZ is the favorite. I would say that they are the favorites to win the Cup, at the moment - from what we have seen of their on the water performance.

'We are obviously working to overcome the lead that they’ve had, and are confident that we are going to get there.'

An Australian, Simmer makes a grab for the underdog role, the high ground so beloved of teams from either side of the Tasman Sea. Then he twists the thumbscrews further on the New Zealand team, adding 'at the moment they are the favorites, and when you are the favorite it puts you under a lot of pressure. 

'I would say that Dean (Barker, skipper of Emirates Team NZ) has got a lot of pressure on him, not only from within the team, but the whole nation.

'New Zealand is so into the America’s Cup, that it is putting a lot of pressure on him and his key guys.

'It is a matter of whether they can maintain that advantage, and if they can keep developing,' he finished, taking the opportunity, once again, to rattle the Kiwi’s cage in a very measured way.

Of the other two teams, Simmer says 'Luna Rossa clearly have a good boat. From what we have been able to see, they haven’t been able to beat Team NZ in any of the practice racing they have been doing.

'Even though they have been working together very closely it looks like there is a performance difference, at the moment, between Team NZ and Luna Rossa.

'Artemis sailed with us for just a short time, and they apparently weren’t very happy with their configuration. They’re modifying their boat, as has been reported, and we’re hoping they will be out on San Francisco Bay in the next few weeks. We would be happy to line up with them and do some racing when they turn up again.'

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Part 2:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-The-more-things-change,-the-more-they-remain-the-same/108153

Part 2 of the interview with Oracle Team USA's COO, Grant Simmer, a mechanical engineer, whose experience spans nine America's Cup campaigns, including three wins in 1983, 2003 and 2007.

The story so far, is that while Oracle have suffered their setbacks, Simmer is of the view that they are well positioned to successfully defend in September. But as with all America's Cup campaigns, time is the one commodity whih is limited and can't be bought.

That was true in his first America's Cup campaign in 1983 as the 26-year-old navigator of Australia II. And even more so in his previous gig as design team co-ordinator for the 120ft giant catamaran Alinghi 5, which lost the 33rd America's Cup Match, to Oracle Racing's 120ft wingsailed trimaran.

Simmer picks up the story, revealing that the launch date for Oracle Team USA’s second AC72 will be prior to the end of April, and elaborates on the program through to the end of the America's Cup Match.

'It will take a while to commission the new boat, then we will have two boats capable of lining up against each other. There will be some one-boat sailing, particularly with the new boat, and there will be days when we take both boats out and we will be able to test certain configurations.
'This Cup is not like in Version 5 monohull boats, used in the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia. We are looking for big developments. There will be no argument to stop the development of our Boat 2. We are trying to make that boat the best boat possible.

'It has been evolving during its construction process, and I think it will continue to evolve, with appendages and various other changes and new equipment as we head towards the Match.

'I think we will keep learning even in the America’s Cup Match.

'We are set up to be open and able to discuss what’s happening on the water, the mistakes and what you the other competitors doing. If you can keep doing that to the very end, then you’ll keep getting stronger and stronger.'

Simmer points out that it is difficult to do one boat testing because it is a fraught exercise trying to accurately determine windspeed because of the variation in wind profile above the water.

'That is why historically people go through the expensive two boat testing process,' he says.

Simmer believes that the big speed differences between boats will make two boat testing less important. For Oracle Team USA, the main purpose of the two-boat sailing is to help get the racing crew ready for the Match.

'We don’t get to sail against all the other Challengers throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup. So that is a disadvantage for the Defender and we have to try to mitigate that,' he explains.

The Challengers are expected to run single boats only in San Francisco. Logistics are cited as being a significant barrier to launching and retrieving two AC72 catamarans a day.

Simmer is confident that Oracle Team USA can get the job done with one shore crew and a single crane.

'It takes us 45 minutes to launch. We don’t have to pull the boats out each night. They are reasonably well behaved on moorings. The logistics of dealing with two boats in a single day is still a big task. We are going to ease ourselves into it and see how it goes.

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