Africa’s first America’s Cup hopefuls Team Shosholoza started out with the aim of winning a race or two.
Now, despite having the oldest boat in the challengers’ series, the South African team have raised their sights and are determined to make this year’s semifinals.
”At the beginning of last year we were taking it as it came and hoping to win a few races but now we’re in a position where to come fourth, to make the semifinals, is something in our minds,” said skipper Mark Sadler.
”It’s going to be bloody hard and difficult to get that right but it is a possibility and that’s where we’re aiming.
”It started off as an adventure … but after winning a few races we are a fully fledged America’s Cup team. We’ve achieved more than we expected to already and whatever more we take away is a bonus,” Sadler said as the team prepared to travel to Valencia in Spain where the Louis Vuitton Cup — the challengers’ elimination series — will be held.
The team hope to do justice to their name — ”Shosholoza” is a Zulu word which means to go forward — when they tackle the last of the pre-qualifying rounds against the world’s best sailing teams in April.
Superstitious sailor
Team Shosholoza have been focusing on the April competition since March 2004 when a group of relatively inexperienced club sailors were brought together by Italian sailor Salvatore Sarno, the managing director of a shipping company in South Africa.
”Everything is in the hands of the team. They have to work together, sail together as much as possible. The crew has to be synchronised just like a machine,” said Sarno, a superstitious sailor who ensures the boat always has a red chilli on board to ward off ”evil spirits”.
Sadler said major modifications to the boat were made in December to try to coax more speed from what will be the oldest boat in the competition.
”The boat’s been upgraded and refitted so it’s got some new gear. It’s a slightly different shape. It’s things that we’ve learnt over the last year that we think will make the boat a little faster,” he said.
Principal designer Jason Ker, speaking from Valencia, said the team decided not to build a second boat as most others had done, but rather to modify and improve the existing craft.
”We’ve made changes to the bow, stern and appendages to get more speed through the water,” he said.
Ocean Ferraris
Speed is vital and milliseconds could open the door to a place on the winner’s podium, with the top three teams — Oracle, Prada and Team New Zealand — considered to be the Ferraris of the open ocean race.
Just like Ferrari they were also beatable, suggested Sarno.
”The team will make the semifinals otherwise they will have to walk home from Valencia without shoes,” said Sarno, only half-jokingly.
Certainly, by advancing to the semifinals, the team would improve their chances of securing future sponsors to help sustain the pioneering work of Team Shosholoza.
The Louis Vuitton Cup, a regatta series, determines which team become the official challengers to the America’s Cup holders, currently Alinghi of Switzerland.
The team that wins that challenger series will face Alinghi in a series of races for the America’s Cup from June 23 to July 7.
Team Shosholoza plan to carry out structural tests on their improved boat this month and then spend the following two months practising starts, honing their boat-on-boat tactics and fine-tuning a regimen which replicates as closely as possible conditions on race day. – Reuters