MAGIC MOMENTS
Last winter, as New York Yacht Club’s American Magic America’s Cup team put its 38ft (11.6m) half-sized test horse ‘The Mule’ through its paces, I watched in awe. The location was not important at all. Pensacola, Florida? Must be near Disneyland…
When the invitation came from Helly Hansen (official apparel partner to the team) to fly there and go behind the scenes at the base, I very quickly learned that Pensacola is the westernmost town on the Florida ‘panhandle’, just 200 miles east of New Orleans, home to a US Naval base. The appeal for sailing is reasonably reliable winter breezes, reasonable climate and immediate access to deep, sheltered water.
The American Magic winter base itself is a relatively unprepossessing compound assembled from containers around a temporary structure in the heart of the commercial port. Each 40ft container houses a different department: R&D, simulation, admin, technical, aero and catering. When the base travels, it is all repeatable and everyone feels equally at home.
When I visited, there was just over six weeks to the long awaited first America’s Cup World Series regatta, which had been due to take place late April in Sardinia. Every member of
