Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
by Anne Hinton
Glenn Ashby received the President's Award at the Yachting Australia Awards in 2010 for his part in assisting fellow Australian James Spithill to win the 33rd edition of the America's Cup for BMW ORACLE Racing in Valencia, Spain, in 2010. Ashby had taken on the role of multihull coach to former monohull match racer Jimmy Spithill and, under his tutelage, Spithill rapidly acquired the skills necessary to drive the BMW ORACLE Racing USA trimaran to victory over the America's Cup Defenders, Alinghi.
Glenn Ashby receives the President's Award at the Australian Yachting Awards 2010. Image copyright Andrea Francolini.
Ashby's America's Cup career was preceded by top level international catamaran sailing. Ashby hails from Together with Darren Bundock, his skipper, they won the 2009 Tornado World Championships on Lake Garda, Italy. Going into the 2008 Qingdao Olympics the pair were ranked number one in the world by ISAF; they came away with Olympic Silver medals, as the Spanish took gold.
Darren Bundock (left) and Glenn Ashby with their Silver medals in the Tornado Class from the 2008 Qingdao Olympics. Image copyright Clive Mason/Getty Images.
Darren Bundock is now running 2BSailing with his partner, former Olympic sailor, Carolijn Brouwer. Brouwer was fourth at the Tornado Worlds in 2009, and her crew from that event, Jeroen van Leeuwen, now sails with Bundock in place of Ashby. Bundock and van Leeuwen have had an extremely successful partnership, most recently winning the Gaastra North Sea Regatta last weekend, sailing the C2 Formula 18.
Glenn Ashby (left) and Darren Bundock, winners of the 2009 Tornado World Championships, Lake Garda, Italy. Image copyright Zane Hacker.
Glenn Ashby has a wide-ranging background in catamarans and has won a variety of national and international titles in Formula 18, etc. However, he is particularly keen on A-class catamarans, generally known as A cats. He now has seven A cat World Championship titles and eight Australian National titles in this singlehanded class to his credit, illustrating his excellence as a helm as well as a crew.
Glenn Ashby wins his eighth Australian title in A cats. Image copyright Mia Hacker.
Ashby joined Emirates Team New Zealand late in 2010, initially to perform a similar role to that he had undertaken at BMW ORACLE Racing with Jimmy Spithill, by coaching ETNZ skipper Dean Barker in multihull sailing. We put some questions to Glenn Ashby recently to ask him how it was going, for his thoughts in regard to the catamaran sailing that he is now doing for the America's Cup, and with a brief look to the future.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: You trained Jimmy Spithill and BMW ORACLE in multihull sailing, and on this AC cycle have switched to Dean Barker and ETNZ. How did this change of team come about, please?
GA: I was keen on a new challenge and was happy to be close to home (Melbourne) and enjoy living in NZ and the culture.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: What general things do monohull match racers, like Jimmy and Dean, have to un- or re-learn when switching to multis, please?
GA: Making quick decisions and learning how the multis accelerate more than monohulls and looking further to the edges of the playing field as well as pushing the boats to the edge.
AH: You started with Dean in A cats. Was that a deliberate choice as the best way to learn multihull sailing? Why A cats, please?
GA: Yes as they are light and give you a good appreciation of when you are right and wrong in both steering and trim which gives a good guide to the feelings you have on a bigger boat with more crew.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: It seemed that Dean was fastest upwind at the Australian A cat nationals, in his new DNA with curved boards, at his first event in the class. What were the secrets to this, please?
GA: A very good sail!
Note from SailRaceWin: Glenn Ashby is a sailmaker, and both he and Dean Barker, amongst others, used his new 2011 design Ashby Sails MAXX at the Australian A cat nationals this year. It should also be noted that the relatively new DNA A cat, with its curved boards, is well regarded, and has been sailed to many victories around the world. However, ultimately it is the sailor who has to make all the equipment work for him or her!
Dean Barker finished 5th in the Australian Nationals st the beginning of January 2011, having only commenced sailing A cats late in 2010. Image copyright Mia Hacker.
AH: Are you and ETNZ planning more A cat sailing, or has the switch been made to team sailing with the AC45 and Extreme 40 now, please?
GA: We will continue to sail small and medium sized Cats in our continuous learning on our way forwards to the AC72.
AH: Are you now coaching the crew on multihulls as part of the team (although obviously Rod Davis was team coach on the RIB in Qingdao), please?
GA: I have taken on more of a sailing role as wing trimmer although am involved in some coaching aspects.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: How has the team’s preparation (gym/other off-boat training) changed from monohull sailing to multis, please?
GA: I think more endurance and all round fitness will be needed for sailing the bigger multis. The grinders for example will need to be light on their feet and agile. Crew members will need to be able to multi task.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: Given that the core of ETNZ consists of people who have been sailing with and against each other for much of their sailing lives, and the fact that you were initially coaching Dean on cats, how easy was it to change to being crew in ETNZ too, please?
GA: The guys have all been really good in welcoming me into the team and I feel fortunate to be involved with a great group of guys that love their racing and sailing as much as I do. I feel we will have a very successful relationship working together in the years to come.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Chris Cameron/Emirates Team New Zealand.
AH: How easy is it for either an experienced sailor, or a complete beginner to start in multihulls – and to progress rapidly to the Extreme 40 and AC45, as some match racers are doing at present with the change of boat for the 34th America’s Cup, please?
GA: Good guys will always cross over from class to class, across different disciplines and be successful.
AH: The progress of both Dean (A cats onwards) and the ETNZ team (leading the Extreme 40s for much of Act 2 in Qingdao) in multis seems absolutely awesome! Obviously, with such a steep learning curve, there is now a lot of consolidation of things learnt to be done, as well as continued improvements and refinements. Is this progress also reflected in the AC45 sailing, which they have been concentrating on since delivery of the boat, please?
GA: The learning curve is very steep at the moment in Multihulls. This goes for the experienced multihull sailor and the experienced monohull sailors. The wheel keeps turning quickly and you must continue to move fast to stay on top of it.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: How do you find both the Extreme 40 and the AC45 to sail as multihulls? Please could you expand on this beyond the obvious points of greater volume forward on the AC45, making downwind sailing and bear-away easier, and the wing sail of the AC45 versus soft rig of the Extreme 40?
GA: They are both great boats and have their place in sailing today. I enjoy sailing both boats and it is great to share some good rides and great racing on both boats with your mates.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: How do you see the development of match racing – and boat-on-boat tactics – beyond the emphasis on speed, with the wing-sail cat sailing for the next America’s Cup, please?
GA: New skills will need to be learned and all teams are only just scratching the surface at the moment in this area.
AH: Are there any features that you would like to see added to, or removed from, the AC45, please?
GA: There are a few but as all the boats are “one design” I am happy to enjoy the close racing with what we have.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: From your experience of the AC45 and other multihull sailing, what is your perspective on racing the even bigger AC72 for the America’s Cup, please?
GA: It will be awesome.
AH: Do you plan to stay in America’s Cup multihull sailing, or will you return to the Olympics as multis have been brought back in for 2016, please?
GA: I would love to have the option of having to make that decision.
AH: Many thanks for your time and all the best for your sailing.
Emirates Team New Zealand's Extreme 40. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OCThirdPole.
James Dagg has been with Emirates Team New Zealand through multiple America's Cup sailors. As such, he has principally sailed monohulls, in the role of trimmer, but is now learning multihull sailing along with most of the rest of the team.
Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Dean Barker, winners of the New Zealand National Match Racing Championships 2004. Left to right: Dean Barker, Ray Davies, Jared Henderson, Tony Rae and James Dagg. Image copyright Anne Hinton - all rights reserved.
Crewing presents some different challenges from helming on multihulls. For example, there is relatively little lateral movement around the boat on a monohull, whereas the width of a multihull often necessitates running to get to the other side of the boat. Again, a monohull has a solid hull on, or within which, to stand, and thereby provides a (relatively) steady platform as a base on which to work compared with the trampoline of a multihull. It is, therefore, interesting to ask James Dagg, as a long-term top level monohull trimmer how he is finding the transition to multihulls.
Emirates Team New Zealand's Extreme 40. Left to right: Glenn Ashby, Dean Barker and James Dagg. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OCThirdPole.
AH: How do you like multihull sailing compared with monohulls, please?
JD: It's great fun as it is a whole new learning curve as far as sailing goes. As far as how I like it compared to monohulls, it is to early to tell, but multihulls are fun for sure.
AH: What was the first multihull sailing that you did, please?
JD: The Clairfontaine regatta in France, with Dean and Hamish Pepper in 2001, was the first one. The second regatta was with the Extreme 40 in Oman this year.
Emirates Team New Zealand's Extreme 40. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OCThirdPole.
AH: How has your on-shore training changed (different exercises in the gym, etc) to accommodate multihull sailing, please? (You clearly have to run around a trampoline on the cats, so has the training included short sprints on bouncy surfaces?!)
JD: Yes there is a lot more strength/ cardio training now than I have done before. The AC45s are very physical boats to sail for sure.
Note from SailRaceWin: Paul Cayard commented that "The average heart rate for wing trimmer Sean Clarkson is 150, with peaks at 180, during the 30 minute heat" in 15 knot breezes on the Artemis Racing AC45 during the test regatta in Auckland last month.
Emirates Team New Zealand's Extreme 40 leads the fleet. Image copyright Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OCThirdPole.
AH: What is your role on the Extreme 40, please?
JD: Jib and gennaker trimmer.
AH: What is your role on the AC45, please?
JD: Same as the Extreme 40 - jib and gennaker trimmer.
AH: What do you think of having a wing sail, as opposed to soft rig (from a sailing perspective – trim, etc), please?
JD: Wings are very efficient to trim with low drag, which can go through a large range of windspeeds very effectively compared to soft sails.
Emirates Team New Zealand match racing ORACLE Racing in AC45s. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
AH: How has the ETNZ crew a whole adapted to multihulls, after being in monohulls for so long, please?
JD: It is a big learning curve for the whole team and will continue to be for a long time.
AH: Thank you very much indeed for your time and all the best with the multihull racing!
Emirates Team New Zealand match racing ORACLE Racing in AC45s. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
ETNZ is on a steep learning curve for multihull sailing, but their results, defeating all the previous winners of earlier years from the Extreme Sailing Series in Act 3 in Turkey last weekend, as well as Dean Barker's even more rapid assimilation into A cats than Jimmy Spithill's initiation a few years earlier, bode well for the future.
Although there was some match racing during the AC45 test event in Auckland in April 2011, and the Extreme 40 events all include a little match racing, the America's Cup teams new to multihull sailing are concentrating on bedding down their multihull skills at present. Application of their monohull match racing skills to multihulls, which must necessarily be different in a number of areas, will occur later on down the development path.
Emirates Team New Zealand are showing excellent progress to date in their 34th America's Cup programme.
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45 leads the ORACLE AC45 into Auckland. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
Emirates Team New Zealand's AC45 leads the ORACLE AC45 into Auckland. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/www.americascup.com
In addition to the interviewees, Glenn Ashby and James Dagg, SailRaceWin would like to thank Darren Bundock (2BSailing), Craig Heydon (Australian Sailing Team) and Gilles Martin-Raget (AmericasCup.com) for access to images for this article.
Ashby Sails
2BSailing
Australian Sailing Team
Emirates Team New Zealand
America's Cup
