United Internet Team Germany has a second skipper

A real America’s Cup veteran joined the first ever German challenger on Thursday. David Dellenbaugh, 53 years old, comes in as tactician and second skipper, and will helm the German boat should Jesper Bank have to miss a race.

David Dellenbaugh’s America’s Cup story began in 1987, when he contested the defender trials for the 26th America’s Cup as tactician aboard Heart of America. He subsequently sailed as tactician and starting helmsman for the America3 campaign in 1992 and as the only man on the otherwise all-female Mighty Mary program in 1995. Dellenbaugh has made a name for himself in other classes too, along the way winning the Lightning world championships, the Hinman Trophy and numerous national championships in the USA.

We met with David and talked about the current state of the German team as well as his goals in the shorter and longer term.

Valencia Sailing: What do you think of your new team?
David Dellenbaugh: I haven’t been here for a very long time, but my opinion is that they are very hard workers and they are committed to trying to be as perfect as they can be and I think that as a coach person that attitude and kind of people is that you want to work with, not the kind of people that think they know everything while they don’t. Obviously they are very good sailors, Jesper Bank has won two gold medals, perhaps he hasn’t done as much match racing as other people, but that’s what we are going to practice for the next year.

Valencia Sailing: What weaknesses have you seen in United Internet Team Germany during Louis Vuitton Act 10?
David Dellenbaugh: It’s very difficult to distinguish between a weakness in the team versus a weakness in the boat. When you have a boat that is a little slower you don’t look very smart. It makes you look more stupid than you are and you sail a little bit differently. If you have a boat that is a little slower and you go exactly as the other teams, then, eventually, they are going to get ahead. As a result, in your effort to get ahead and stay ahead you might do things that you wouldn’t do with a better boat. These are things you have to live with and adapt to a slower boat.

Valencia Sailing: Certainly, but they have also lost to teams with older boats, such as +39 or Mascalzone Latino – Capitalia Team.
David Dellenbaugh: I would say that the Mascalzone boat is faster than some of the other boats, and as for +39 they seem to be equal in these conditions. They could have won the race against +39, but both teams made mistakes and hopefully learned from them. We talk about every race afterwards, look at what we did and maybe try something different if it didn’t work. My job here is to ask questions, based on my experience, and hopefully to get them to think about everything they should be thinking about.

Valencia Sailing: Realistically speaking, what is your goal for United Internet Team Germany?
David Dellenbaugh: My personal goal is to learn as much as I can and do a good job for my new team.

Valencia Sailing: What result would you be satisfied with?
David Dellenbaugh: It is very hard to tell until I see the new boat and what the potential is, it is very difficult to answer today. In the shorter term, realistically, I think that in Louis Vuitton Act 12 we could be two or three places higher, but it could go either way. It depends on the wind, how the other boats sail, always with GER-72. Longer term, it is very hard to predict, although I think they have a chance for the fourth place in the semi-finals. Obviously, there are three extremely strong challengers, but the issue of the fourth spot is still open. Nevertheless, I think that anybody that is serious about the America’s Cup has to do it once or twice before they can realistically claim a top position. Just look at our neighbors here. Mascalzone Latino is in its second America’s Cup campaign, the Spanish in their fourth.