The first AC75 launched
"It's an important moment for the team, not just because it's yet another new boat, but really because when we won the America's Cup in 2017, we had to come up with a new boat concept very quickly that would really continue to push the boundaries of innovation and technology on the America's Cup. So, in this relatively short time since November 2017 when we revealed that concept, to see it in the flesh today is a tremendous testament to the whole team's commitment to moving things forward, from concept to design to construction to interior finish." said Kevin Shoebridge, COO of Emirates Team New Zealand.
It took more than 100,000 man-hours to design and build the boat and about 65 people who worked in total secrecy for a year on this state-of-the-art boat.
It is not on this boat that the New Zealanders will race the America's Cup, but on the next model, which construction will soon begin. This first AC75 will serve as a training platform. Unlike the other challengers, Emirates Team New Zealand has focused on developing its first full-scale boat rather than building a smaller scale boat.
According to the Kiwis, "The AC75s are big, powerful, fast boats so there will only be a handful of them. But, according to our simulations, they will be inherently safer to sail than those of the last two America's Cup campaigns."
The next phases will be those of intense testing, which we look forward to discovering!
A high-performance monohull
The AC75 is a 75-foot monohull whose class allows designers some freedom, but also introduces some one-design elements. For example, the foils, the Foil Cant System (FCS) and the rigging will be the same for all teams. The electronic and hydraulic foil steering system moves the foils in and out of the water. It has been designed by Emirates Team New Zealand and assembled in Auckland before being distributed to the other teams.
The wing mast is 26.5 m long and has a "D" shape and weighs about 300 kg. It will receive a double skinned wing euros innovation of the 36 e edition of the America's Cup, which will be essential to the boat's performance. Many hours have been invested in its design.
The foils were built in Persico Marine, Italy and are the result of a project led by Luna Rossa Challenge in collaboration with the other Cup teams. Each carbon foil is 4.5m long and has a ballast.
The rest of the design remains open and allows for testing of different things since nothing has been tested yet on this new boat concept. The most visible differences will be in the hull shapes and deck layouts. The designers will be looking to achieve the least amount of drag in light winds, while taking into account the stability needed to get off the ground.
The differences will also be found in the foil weights. This T-shaped foil has been used much less than the L-shaped foils used in the last two editions.
AC75 in numbers
23 : the length in m of the boat
26,5 : the height in m of the mast from the deck
11 : the number of crew members on board
6,5 : the weight in tons of the boat
5 : the maximum beam of the boat and the maximum draft of the foils in m
4 : the span of the weighted foils in m
