The AC45s will stay on their moorings during the Cascais America’s Cup World Series, but I caught these pictures for you before racing began.Green Comm Racing “steps” their AC45 wingmast in Cascais
The wing sits on this small ball so it can pivot…
Mast “step” for AC45. So the wing can pivot…
That black arm (in the middle of the red and white stripes) controls “twist” in the top of the wing… (note the wing structure, too)
And here is the control system at the foot of the wing…
Foot of the wingmast of AC45
And a closeup…
Closeup of AC45 wingmast controls
And sometimes you need to slice out a panel to work on the controls inside the wing… The surgery was a success – Spithill finished first in all 3 races today (but was DSQ in the first race).
Jimmy Spithill’s wing opened up for minor surgery.
The main controls on the wing are for camber and twist. Think of the flaps on an airplane wing – “flaps down” adds camber giving more lift, like for takeoff. (More on camber.) Twist: Imagine holding the ends of a plastic ruler and twisting it. When you twist a wingmast you can reduce the power. Remember that these boats are supposed to race in 3 to 33 knots of wind. Sometimes you need to reduce power…
How do you like this info? What else would you like to know? Leave a comment!