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  • About
  • America’s Cup Guide
    • AC Guide & Calendar
    • America’s Cup World Series – Race Results & Standings
    • Teams – America’s Cup 2017
    • Rules – America’s Cup 2017
    • old AC Guide & Calendar
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AC72 foil control systems

AC72 design – controlling the foils

The AC72 design rule prohibits (in paragraphs 8.6 and 9.6) movable control surfaces on daggerboards and rudders.  So, how can you “fly” – hydrofoil – with the hull lifted out of the water? Isn’t that like trying to fly an airplane with no flaps, ailerons or elevators?  Yep. So the clever AC72 design teams have figured out how to adjust the angle of attack by moving the entire daggerboard fore and aft, inboard and outboard. This is some of the most secret stuff and gives us America’s Cup fanatics lots of grist for our speculation mills.

PI49-3D-view

OTUSA-test-bed-foil-control

AC72-Oracle-R14-L2-both-buttons

AC72-design-foil-control-OTUSA-b1

AC72-daggerboard-cant

AC72-OTUSA-foil-control-PI52

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