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A Closer Look at the Artemis Racing AC45 “Turbo”

 

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ARTEMIS RACING WILL TEST AC62 DESIGN IDEAS ON THEIR FOILING AC45 DEVELOPMENT BOAT.

 

Test platform for AC62 design ideas

(Oops – make that “ACC”)
The AC62 rule was replaced by 49 foot “America’s Cup Class” in April 2015

The Artemis Racing AC45 “Turbo” has flared hulls to make room for cockpits, wheel steering and a grinding pedestal. The crossbeams are longer than on a standard AC45, giving a length to beam ratio useful for testing AC62 design concepts. The main crossbeam and the daggerboards are further forward. Like an AC62 there is a “pod” or “longeron” under the wing. Raising and lowering the daggerboards and rake and cant are controlled by hydraulic systems. Like on their AC72 and unlike the standard AC45, the jib is self-tacking.

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LOOKING MORE LIKE AN AC62 THAN AN AC45

 

One design AC45 for America’s Cup World Series racing

Remember that this boat will not race in the America’s Cup World Series – it is purely a development boat for testing design ideas for the AC62 catamaran that will race in the America’s Cup in 2017.  I explain the rules for one design “racing” AC45’s and “development” AC45’s here and here.

Artemis has another AC45 from the previous campaign, which has also been modified as a test boat, but not (yet) as extensively as the “Turbo.” They will acquire a third, new AC45 for racing in the America’s Cup World Series as a one design foiler.

Six teams at four different places in the AC62 design cycle.

Oops – Luna Rossa withdrew their challenger the AC62 was dropped for the ACC.

Artemis and Oracle are both currently ahead of Luna Rossa and Ben Ainslie Racing, who have so far only shown test AC45’s that use the standard hulls and beams. Emirates Team New Zealand and Team France are just beginning to convert standard AC45’s to the one design foiling version in order to begin racing in the America’s Cup World Series in June. ETNZ will then build a test boat using the AC45 they have acquired from Team Australia. Team France has only this month (February 2015) acquired a standard AC45 which they will modify to the one design standard for racing. They have no plans at the moment to build a development boat.

 

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Artemis and Oracle Launch AC45 Development Boats

 

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LOOKING MORE LIKE AN AC62 THAN AN AC45, ARTEMIS’S TEST BOAT SPORTS WHEEL STEERING AND GRINDING PEDESTALS IN COCKPITS, PLUS HYDRAULIC CONTROLS FOR THE FOILS AND THE WING, AND A “POD” BELOW THE WING.

 

America’s Cup aficionados were treated to photos and video of the exciting new development boats launched by Artemis Racing and Oracle on San Francisco Bay in mid February.

At 0:54 into the video, watch Kyle Langford aggressively trimming the wing, just as he did on the AC72.

As your editor explained here and here, the Protocol for the 35th America’s Cup allows virtually unlimited development on boats with the same lower hull shape as an AC45 catamaran.  The new boats are dramatically different than the foiling AC45’s we have seen to date. The hulls have been flared to make room for cockpits with grinding pedestals and wheel steering. Hydraulic controls raise and lower the foils and control foil and rudder rake for stable foiling. A “pod” below the wing extends the wingspan, like the pod on Oracle’s America’s Cup winning AC72. The pod is required by the AC62 design rule.

 

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ORACLE’S AC45X DEVELOPMENT BOAT

 

Boys will be boys of course …  The two teams had an informal brush on the first day they were both sailing. Some observers thought Oracle looked faster and more stable, but we are a long way from racing AC62’s in the America’s Cup in Bermuda.

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ARTEMIS RACING AND ORACLE TEAM USA LINED UP FOR AN INFORMAL SPEED TEST IN SAN FRANCISCO ON FEBRUARY 18, 2015

 

(More photos and sailing news at Pressure Drop.)

Luna Rossa and Ben Ainslie Racing have been sailing slightly modified AC45’s. They changed the daggerboard cages to allow rake control on the foils, but they kept the platform unchanged – original tubular beams, tiller steering and no cockpits. We can’t see what powers the daggerboard rake controls – nothing would prevent them from testing with a powered system.

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BEN AINSLIE RACING’S FOILING AC45. NOTE THE TILLER STEERING AND STANDARD CONFIGURATION, INCLUDING THE BOWSPRIT. IMAGE COURTESY BAR.

 

Luna Rossa converted both of their AC45’s for foiling. Rumor has it that one design version of the AC45’s that will race in the America’s Cup World Series will be based on the Luna Rossa foil control system.

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LUNA ROSSA SAILING BOTH THEIR FOILING AC45’S IN CAGLIARI, SITE OF THE FIRST AMERICA’S CUP WORLD SERIES, IN JUNE 2015

 

Artemis Racing and Oracle have gone well beyond the modifications made by Luna Rossa and Ben Ainslie Racing. In the image below, we see at the bottom Oracle’s standard AC45. Compare this to Artemis’s early modifications to an AC45: the “platform” is virtually unchanged, with the daggerboards and main crossbeam in the same location. The two upper images show Oracle’s and Artemis’s highly modified AC45x boats, with the main beams and daggerboards located further forward. Note also that the wing is stepped further aft.

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EVEN IN THIS IMPERFECT COMPARISON WE CAN SEE THAT ORACLE AND ARTEMIS HAVE MOVED THE CROSSBEAM AND THE DAGGERBOARDS FORWARD ON THEIR “AC45X” DEVELOPMENT BOATS.

 

Add your comments below! Questions? Ask Jack!

 

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America’s Cup Stars on 100 Footers in 2014 Sydney Hobart Race

 

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WILD OATS XI IN THE 2013 RACE. CANTING KEEL VISIBLE UNDER WATER. IMAGE: CARLO BORLENGHI

 

America’s Cup stars will be will be fighting for line honors in the 2014 Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day, December 26, 2014 on board the 100 footers.

Wild Oats XI

Seven times line honors winner Wild Oats XI is once again the favorite. Wild Oats XI is owned by Bob Oatley, of former America’s Cup Challenger of Record, Hamilton Island Yacht Club. On board will be Iain Murray, recently named Regatta Director for the 2017 America’s Cup and formerly head of Team Australia. Oracle Team USA designer and former Alinghi navigator Juan Vila will plot the course as navigator on board Wild Oats XI. Wild Oats XI has been continuously modified since her first season in 2005 when she took the “treble” – line honors, course record and overall winner on corrected time. Wild Oats XI has so many appendages she is called the “Swiss Army Knife” – see the photo of her “Dynamic Stability System” horizontal foil that provides lift and extra righting moment.

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DYNAMIC STABILTY SYSTEM FOIL ADDS RIGHTING MOMENT WHEN EXTENDED ON THE LEEWARD SIDE. IMAGE: INFINITI YACHTS

 

Commanche

Netscape founder Jim Clark and his australian wife Kristy Hinze Clark built Commanche for speed – to take line honors every time they race and to set course records when the weather is nasty enough. This will be Commanche’s first big race and she is filled with America’s Cup talent: LiveLine developer Stan Honey will navigate. Mainsail trim magician Warwick Fleury, another TNZ, Alinghi and OTUSA veteran will be joined by Artemis Racing mainsail wizard Sean Clarkson. Another Artemis alumnus, Julian Cressant is also on board. OTUSA skipper Jimmy Spithill has postponed elbow surgery to join the Commanche crew. Volvo Ocean Race veteran and America’s Cup helmsman turned TV commentator Ken Read is skipper and overall manager of Commanche.

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COMMANCHE FULLY POWERED UP WITH ONE REEF IN THE MAIN.                         PHOTO: ONNE VAN DER WAL

 

Perpetual Loyal

Perhaps the sentimental favorite (if there is any sentimentality in grand prix offshore racing) is Anthony Bell’s 2011 line honors winner, “Perpetual Loyal,” with OTUSA’s strategist and sailing team manager Tom Slingsby as primary helmsman. Tom is forgoing his (hefty) fee, donating it to Bell’s Loyal Foundation which supplies hospital equipment for new-borns and infants. A 100 foot offshore racer is a long way from the Laser in which Slingsby won Olympic gold and five world championships. Launched as “Speedboat” in 2008, “Perpetual Loyal” is famous for dramatically losing her keel in the 2011 Fastnet, when she was called “Rambler.”

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PERPETUAL LOYAL                                   PHOTO: CROSBIE LORIMER

 

Rio 100

Owner Manouch Moshayedi lives in southern California and has his eyes set on the the “Barn Door Trophy” that goes to the Transpac line honors winner, so to qualify for the Barn Door, Rio 100 has none of the tricks of the the other 100 footers – no canting keel, no water ballast, no powered winches. She does have two times America’s Cup winning navigator Peter Isler on board, though. Unfortunately, the weather forecast looks unlikely to provide the light conditions that would suit Rio 100.

 

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Loïck Peyron wins Route du Rhum in Record Time

America's Cup Loïck Peyron, single handing a boat

On 9 November 2014, Loïck Peyron crossed the finish line in Guadeloupe, 7 days and 15 hours after departing Saint Malo in Brittany. The maxi trimaran is longer, wider and has a taller mast than an AC72 catamaran and was originally built for a crew of 10.

Loïck is a member of the design team for Artemis Racing in their challenge for the 2017 America’s Cup.

 

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Olympic Gold Medalist Paul Goodison Joins Artemis Racing

 

Olympic gold medalist Paul Goodison has joined Artemis Racing. Winner of the Laser event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Goodison has also won world championships in the Laser (2009), Melges 32 (2012) and Melges 20 (2014). He recently started racing a foiling Moth, taking 12th place in this year’s Moth world championships, won by Artemis Racing’s Nathan Outteridge.