- What does each crew member do on an AC45?
- How do you trim the wingsail and how is trim different when they’re foiling?
- What course will they sail and what tactics will they use?
- What do those blinking lights on the boats mean and how do penalties work?
- Who has rights at mark roundings?
ACEA has not published the Sailing Instructions or the Racing Rules, but looking back at the 2011-13 AC World Series we can learn a lot about what to watch for in Portsmouth. These videos will help you understand the racing.
Watching all five videos will take you about 25 minutes, so you may want to take them one at at time.
Video 1: Crew Positions on AC45F Catamarans (4:43)
One major change for the 2015-16 AC World Series: Foil controls
The deck layout is unchanged except for the addition of the pushbutton controls for the daggerboards, visible in the photo below. Rudder rake can be changed between races with an adjusting screw at the top of the rudder stock.
Video 2: How They Trim the Wingsail (4:16)
This video explains how the crew sets camber and twist and shows the controls. Since the boats are now foiling, the crews are sailing with the wing flatter – less camber, less twist – than with the displacement mode AC45.
Video 3: How They Sail the Course – What Happens at Each Mark (9:06)
The course will be a variation of the layout shown in this video. The marks are likely to be soft buoys rather than boats.
Video 4: Understanding the Penalties – What the Blinking Lights Mean (4:43)
This video explains tactics near the course boundaries and shows a penalty situation.
Video 5: For Racing Sailors – Understanding Rule 18 (2:36)
I made this video during the 2012 AC World Series when they experimented with using a mark instead of a gate for the windward end of the course. But whether there is a gate or a mark, the rule for “mark room” is the same – inside boats have rights if there was an overlap when the first boat reaches the three boat length zone.