Cup Experience

Many America's Cup fans say this is their best source of information.

By

What the Designers Have Been Doing

You probably know that the AC Class yachts that will race in 2017 are largely one design – the shape of the wing, the hulls, the pod under the wing and the crossbeams are all fixed by the class rule. The same is true for cockpits and grinding pedestal positions. This leaves aerodynamic fairings, daggerboard shapes, rudder shapes, wing internal structures and control systems as the area for the designers to work their magic. The teams have been testing design ideas on their “AC45X” experimental boats – sometimes called “turbo” or “sport” boats.

Daggerboard design

In light air the boats will need longer wings on the daggerboards to provide enough lift for foiling. In stronger winds teams will use shorter wings with lower drag. Crossover conditions will be challenging to decide whether to use the high lift or the low drag boards. There has been a lot of talk about upwind foiling and foiling tacks, but those techniques require sailing longer distance over a less direct course.

You can see the long wing and the reverse curve of the daggerboard on the port side of Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC45X test boat. On the starboard side you can see how the reverse curve gets the board out to the maximum beam to increase righting moment. (The sea otter seems to want a close look.)

In a New York Times article, Oracle designer Scott Ferguson talks about longer daggerboard wings for light air and shorter daggerboard wings for medium to heavy air. Like the Kiwis, Oracle has been testing longer foil wings as this photo shows:

Rudders and boat building strategy

Groupama Team France mounted their rudders in the hulls so they can save money by using the rudders from the test boat in their race boat.

Land Rover BAR and Emirates Team New Zealand wanted to test the geometry of the slightly longer AC Class race boat, so they built special rudders that could be hung on gantries off the stern.

Team France and ETNZ will use most of the components of their test boat to build their race boat, saving money. Essentially, they will just change the hulls. Like Oracle, Artemis and Team Japan, BAR will have a test boat and a race boat in Bermuda so they can do two boat testing.

By

Results from Fukuoka

All six races were run in light, shifty conditions. Land Rover BAR and Artemis Racing tied on points, with BAR winning the regatta by finishing ahead of Artemis in the final race. Oracle finished third. Team New Zealand finished off the podium again and out of the points for the overall series. They were hurt by a poor sail choice in the last race, when they kept their jib in its bag and sailed upwind with their big Code 0 while all the others were using jibs.

In the first race on Sunday, BAR picked up a penalty in the pre-start but were able to push both Oracle and Team New Zealand past the end of the starting line, preventing both of those teams from threatening the Brits’ overall series lead.

There were several interesting penalty situations that I’ll explain in next week’s newsletter.

Remember: the blue light means a boat has a penalty; the green light means they are near a course boundary or a rounding mark.

Here we see how Team France picked up a penalty for not keeping clear and making contact with BAR near the leeward gate in Race 5.

Team New Zealand had a double penalty in Race 5. I’m getting a clarification and will explain it next week. If you want to get a head start on understanding what happened, read Rule 44.4(c) in the Racing Rules of Sailing – AC Edition, which you can download here.

By

AC World Series Final Standings

The AC Qualifiers begin on 26 May 2017 and will eliminate one challenger. The winner of the Qualitiers – Oracle or a challenger – will earn a one point lead to start the America’s Cup Match.

At the AC World Series in Fukuoka, BAR extended their lead. Oracle stayed ahead of Team New Zealand. Artemis Racing moved ahead of SoftBank Team Japan, the only change in the leaderboard.

Remember that these standings will be used as the tie-breaker at the end of the AC Qualifiers – they could determine which challenger is eliminated and who gets a one point lead in the America’s Cup Match.

By

Ruthless Move in Final Race Surprised Spithill

After clinching the AC World Series with one race to spare, Ben Ainslie tried to help Team New Zealand bump Oracle out of second place. Since the winner of the round robin Qualifiers will start the America’s Cup Match with a one point lead, Ainslie got right to work trying to make sure Oracle does not win the Qualifiers by trying to help the Kiwis get the bonus point for second place in the AC World Series.

Oracle received a penalty for not keeping clear of BAR, to leeward. Oracle rounded the first mark in last place but managed to finish ahead of New Zealand and hold on to the bonus point. Click the photo to watch the video. You’ll see the action and hear the post race interviews. Image: ACTV.

By

Land Rover BAR and Oracle Collect Bonus Points

Leaderboard for the round robin AC Qualifiers that begin 26 May 2017 in Bermuda:

Land Rover BAR and Oracle earned the bonus points from the AC World Series. At the end of the Qualifiers, ties will be broken according to the final results of the AC World Series.