After the magnificent show in Toulon, Fukuoka is hosting the last ACWS this weekend.We will finally know the big winner of these nine Acts that have been running for two years.The final stretch will then begin for the six teams entered to improve on their AC50 before starting the first phase of the competition: the Qualifiers, where a challenger will be eliminated.Each team now has its own AC45 Test.A boat still in laboratory mode and which will take its final form at the end of December, as authorized by the regulations.It will then suffice for each team to replace the hulls of its AC45T with those of the correct length for the gauge of the AC50.An operation that should only take a few days.The French and the Kiwis can finally devote themselves, since this summer, to the development of their AC50.The Japanese already have one, and the Americans, Swedes and English two.It's a race against time to optimize the work of the design office, test as many configurations as possible and above all work on the automatic systems on board.Work on an extremely physical boat where you have to constantly charge the batteries on two columns of winches.The Qualifiers will start on May 26.Until then, the teams will have to travel to Japan, to Fukuoka, for the last ACWS.This will reward the best team, the one who will have scored the most points over the 9 Acts run between 2015 and 2016. The English, at the top of the general classification, seem to be off to a good start.They are ahead of the Americans by 14 points and the Kiwis by 17. If we left it at that and the English manage to go as far as the match against the defender Oracle, the latter would start the confrontation with -1 point, knowing that the winner is the one who manages to score 7 points.A significant advantage for the English, but still have to reach the end and beat the other challengers.In the meantime, only three teams are already in Bermuda: the Americans, the Swedes and the Japanese.They regularly train together.We recently saw the Japanese and the Americans demonstrating foiling tack, just to put pressure on the other challengers.Succeeding in this maneuver is essential to hope to win.The Americans succeeded with great difficulty in the last edition.The level will therefore be raised from the Qualifiers.The French meanwhile will settle in Bermuda in February.Time to have their AC50, which will take a month to come by sea in January.“We have decided to deliver our AC50 in January.It's a period when we sail very little in Bermuda.It's winter there too.We are therefore going to sail as much as possible in France until December, to complete all our developments.We will be operational again in February, and this time in Bermuda, where we will have three to four months to finalize our training,” explains Bruno Dubois, the team's team manager.The team goes out as much as possible on their AC50.She sails at the Lanvéoc-Poulmic naval base, where she benefits from better wind and safety conditions for training.Plus, she can do it out of sight.“We have been trying since July to establish a rhythm in the week.We give ourselves a day off, a maintenance day, and the rest is sailing as soon as we can”, explains Bruno Dubois.The boat goes out in the same wind range defined by the protocol, between 5 and 25 knots.The team will have a second wing at the end of December, which is currently nearing completion.She has already built two pairs of foils, which she tests relentlessly, and launched the construction of a third.Progress on board is noticeable.“Between day one and today, our progress can be counted in knots gained.We are on a very strong progression curve.The speed of these AC45Ts has nothing to do with the AC45s, and even less with the GC32s”, enthuses Franck Cammas.The wind looks light and unstable this weekend.Land Rover has a good chance of winning like Oracle or the Kiwis.The stakes are high and the Defender has invited himself to the party to disturb the selection of challengers.If the Defender finishes 2nd it gives a good advantage to the first challenger who will start the Qualifiers competition with 2 points.But the interest of the Defender will also be to bet for the challenger who will not be able to go to the Match.Otherwise the Defender will have one point less.Conversely, if the Defender wins this weekend, the Challenger will start at -1 for the Match.The stakes are not so negligible after all.Special Offer €0.23 per day for 1 year!6 issues per year + Access to the site + Newsletter