There was more pre-start action in Bermuda than a lot of people predicted going into the last Cup but it tended to be a single blocking move rather than the rolling contest that is often seen when monohulls match race. One of Team New Zealand’s objectives in this defence is to revive that pre-start spectacle – mindful too of some of the excitement (above) during the last Cup in Auckland in 2003
can ‘fall over’, which should provide some added drama during racing. But is the AC75 a boat that most mono-
hull sailors can relate to? Given that it has already received similar criticism from the ‘bring back the 12 Metre’ traditionalists as the flying cats endured, we guess not. And is it even a boat that the more pro-
gressive pro-foiling lobby can get behind? Heavier and with no wing, it appears to be a step back from the ultimate expression in sailboat efficiency that the AC50 was, while the twin ‘canting ballasted T-foil with trim tab’ arrangement seems overly complex, cumbersome and potentially dangerous in close-quarters manoeuvres. Team France skipper Franck Cammas,
who is still hoping to mount a challenge for the 36th America’s Cup (Groupama had already declined the invite), observes: ‘I thought they would do a big TP52 with a canting keel and that would be the reason to go back to a monohull. Seeing this, I don’t understand the reason they have gone for a monohull. It is sad if this has happened because of politics.’ Former Emirates Team New Zealand/
SoftBank Team Japan skipper Dean Barker adds: ‘I expected it wouldn’t be a standard monohull, but to have gone this extreme is a big call. But guys like Guillaume [Verdier, ETNZ’s naval architect] are very talented and very much free thinkers. If the concept works well it’ll be interesting to see the boats charging around. ‘It will certainly introduce some interest-
ing dynamics for close boat-on-boat racing – clicking the foils together will be ugly, as will cutting it fine around marks…’
Above moderate conditions the AC75 is
expected to have a similar performance to the AC50 but is likely to have additional quirks, some welcome, some not, that are too early to predict. For example, early indi- cations are that it might be less susceptible to waves than the flying cats, which could be useful on the likely race area off Takapuna. It might even have offshore potential – something clearly beyond the capability of its twin-hulled predecessor. As Dean Barker says, ‘I’m sure there will
be some things that haven’t been thought out, like how it manoeuvres in a pre-start and its stability. Sitting there, dialled up, get- ting it going again will be a bit of a battle.’ Developing the AC75 will certainly keep
design teams busy. But this is expected. ‘It is exciting because it is completely new,’ says Cammas. ‘I can’t wait to see the first of these boats sailing. Otherwise for match racing and the America’s Cup we will have to wait and see. In a straight line maybe it is OK, but the Cup is more about manoeuvres and how you accelerate out of them.’ Land Rover BAR’s newly appointed
CEO, Grant Simmer, who once upon a time won the America’s Cup with the help of a radical wing keel, is also enthusiastic about this fresh design challenge: ‘The Cup has always been about pushing the boundaries of technology – a balance between introduc- ing new technology and making sure you still have an exciting sporting event.’ There are also concerns regarding the
merit of the AC75 having been created entirely using Team New Zealand’s extremely sophisticated modelling tools, with as yet no ‘real world’ proof of concept.
‘Nobody can say if it will work well for
match racing… so it is a big risk,’ observes Cammas, adding that if touching down in the AC50 was like putting the brakes on, this may prove even more the case when an AC75 drops off its foils. ‘The loss in bad man - oeuvres could be so big that the race is over.’ Grant Simmer is more confident of the
Kiwi Defender’s simulation and modelling software: ‘We have got similar tools but Emirates Team New Zealand were clearly ahead of everyone in their reliance on them. Commitment to the simulator last time was key to their end result.’ However, he too warns: ‘These boats are not going to be easy to sail. In fact, they will be kind of weird to sail, so all of the teams, despite the fact that they might be using simulators, will be on a steep learning curve when they finally launch these boats or the first large-scale models.’ Then there is the whole intricacy
surrounding the foil arrangement. As Simmer says: ‘It will be intriguing to do a pre-start on both foils and then, on the final approach to the line, cranking your wind- ward foil horizontal to reduce drag and accelerate up to warp speed. There is a huge amount to learn.’ This may prove easier with a return to upwind starts for the 36th America’s Cup – a shame, as the reaching starts were one of the highlights of the racing in the last two Cups. Simmer believes teams are likely to end
up with a range of T-foils, then it will be down to crews to refine their techniques in using them, especially through tacks and gybes. ‘When you are in high-speed boats tenths of seconds lost in manoeuvres is a lot of metres if the other guy is going flat out.’
SEAHORSE 49
GILLES MARTIN-RAGET
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