When the LV Acts starts on May 11th in Valencia, every syndicate will have one thing in common : an ACC measurement certificate with Ken McAlpine’s signature on it.

Come race time, all boats, old and new, have to pass muster with McAlpine and his colleagues James Dadd, Shaun Ritson, Don Martin and Guy-Rolland Perrin - the fivesome known as the America’s Cup Class Technical Committee - before being cleared to race.

Ken McAlpine, 53, from Perth, Australia, says it’s just a matter of ensuring each of the boats are ready for racing, and in class before racing begins in May.

"Almost all of the boats have been modified or changed since racing in Trapani last year", he says. "So to make sure we have what we think we have, we make some checks. The boats with minor modifications don’t have to go through a full measurement, but we check off some key places. For extensive modifications, the boats will be fully measured again".

"We have a programme where we open our doors for business and work with the teams to assign measurement slots", McAlpine adds. "We spend these days going from compound to compound and working with the teams on everything from sail measurement to flotation measurements with the boat in the water".

The measurement programme started on the 26th of April and concludes the day before the first race of the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts 10 & 11, the 10th of May.