March. They did a very thorough job, even if several important one-design and supplied components will not be defined until dates listed as ‘TBA’. Whereas past America’s Cup rules sometimes looked as if they were copy-pasted from previous editions, the Kiwi and Italian rule writers appear to have started with a blank sheet of paper. They have until the end of June to make any changes for any reason; thereafter it will take the unanimous consent of all competitors to modify the rule. And, yes, the Protocol does prevent them from changing the class completely. Two details show the creative thinking and thoroughness of the
rule writers. When ETNZ first showed the AC75 concept video they stated that using the windward foil to generate downforce for righting moment would be forbidden. Given the massive structural loads that downforce could produce at high speed, this was a logical idea. But how to legislate and police it? The simple solution is that
the FCS (foil cant system) will be supplied equipment and will simply allow the foil to drop if it senses downforce. Another elegantly simple solution takes care of questions about surface finishes and tech- niques to reduce drag by altering the structure of the boundary layer. The rule gives a formula for calculating the thickness of the boundary layer. Of course, how the measurers will determine if anything untoward is happening in that layer may pose a challenge… In what is almost certainly a first for a design rule, the AC75 Rule
even includes a bit of humour: ‘There shall be 11 crew members, unless reduced by accident, who shall be human beings.’ An important part of cyclor Blair Tuke’s role on ETNZ’s AC50 in Bermuda was to follow a moving dot on a tablet with his finger. That dot showed how a cyborg would control foil rake and cant. Requiring all crew to be human beings is a tongue-in-cheek way of saying ‘no’ to excessive control system automation. The list of supplied equipment, one-design elements and areas
open to individual design naturally generates a fair amount of discussion. The boats are expected to foil much of the time, but the foil delivery platform, formerly known as a ‘hull’, is open. Designing foil arms might have been expected to be an area where teams could chase performance advantages, but those arms will be supplied equipment. The rules about the rig indirectly tell us much about how the
boats will be sailed. More on that later. Let’s start with the mast and standing rigging. Each team must build their D-section mast tubes according to a drawing that has yet to be released. The main- sail will be a double-skinned single element – no slot. A gantry at the top of the mast will control twist. Twisting the head of the main to windward, as was done with the AC72 and AC50 wings, will be possible and will generate righting moment in stronger winds. The AC75 will carry a jib and a Code 0. In San Francisco we rarely
saw Code 0s. Oracle even removed their AC72’s bowsprit on most days. The AC50s didn’t even carry a Code 0. But we are likely to see them quite often on the AC75s. They will be very flat, like the J1s on the VO65s. With a mast height of 26.5m limiting the size of the mainsail and, with no slot as on a hard wing, the AC75s are likely to need the power of the Code 0 upwind as well as down. The rule also allows the forestay to be detached when the Code
0 is hoisted. Both headsails must be sheeted to winches. Self-tack- ing headsails are forbidden. All these rules point to more crew work. The foil arms and foil cant systems will be supplied equipment,
including the batteries to drive the FCS. Teams will design their own trailing edge to fit to the foil arm. Control lines and hydraulic hoses for the team-designed foil wings and foil flaps will run inside the trailing edge. Additional batteries may be used to increase the capacity from the supplied battery packs. In addition to driving the FCS to raise and lower the foils, the combined batteries may be used to power the foil flaps. Teams may not splash their first AC75 until 31 March 2019. The
crews will first need to learn to sail them, then to race them. And the RRS AC Edition will need to be adapted. The design rule includes clever details that will require more crew
work than we saw on the AC50s. Will the racing rules also find creative ways to bring back some of the pre-start manoeuvres from the pre-multihull days? Imagine requiring the yachts to keep both foils in the fully down position during the pre-start – will we see the AC75s dialling up and circling?
Team Japan on a break between races. There were fewer lights and buttons at the wheel of Team New Zealand’s Cup winner, with the task of flying the boat delegated to Blair Tuke as he pedalled away but with his hands free to press buttons and trace a dot around the screen. Other controls were shared out among the cyclors, leaving Pete Burling free to focus on steering and tactics. Which is clearly a dangerous thing to allow Burling to do
We don’t know yet if the first AC World Series regatta, apparently
scheduled for Naples in September 2019, will be all match racing, all fleet racing or a combination. The sailors will only have had a few months to get used to these audacious yachts. Cyborgs are forbidden in the crew, but the yachts may resemble the Terminator.
IT’S JUST MAGIC – Terry Hutchinson The last two weeks NYYC American Magic – now the official name of our America’s Cup challenge – competed in both the Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup. Getting back to the basics has been reward- ing, humbling and a great reminder of having to work hard to be successful. Hosted by the always welcoming Long Beach Yacht Club, we figured what better a way to set a base line of where we stand for 2018 than to apply some pressure and (very publicly) expose our strengths and weaknesses in a racing environment. Ficker Cup is the qualifier for Congressional Cup. Eight skippers
competed over three days of racing for the top two spots to qualify for Congressional Cup itself. Twenty-one races later we emerged in the top spot beating Johnie Berntsson 3-0 in the final. But the scorecard does not represent the closeness of racing with Johnie and his team, as all three races were bow to stern at the finish. One stand-out at this event was Leonard Takahashi. Scary to
think that Leonard is just 19 years old – he is incredibly talented. He and his team used the Ficker Cup to warm up for the Governor’s Cup down at Balboa YC. On top of their outstanding talent he and his team are great young men. You could see the youthful enthu- siasm and it was great to be around. Keep an eye out for them. From Ficker we had one day off (ha) prior to the start of Congres-
sional Cup. Con Cup was going to be a different challenge. In the fleet there were three past winners, defending champion Ian Williams, Johnie Berntsson and Taylor Canfield. Put on top of that local legend Scott Dickson with Steve Flam in his 34th Congressional Cup, Sam Gilmour and Eric Monin and you have a field that will mean no easy races. Our challenge was to maintain pace plus consistency, knowing that as the event went on all the teams would improve. In the double round-robin our consistency and training continued as we went 16-2 over the four days.
SEAHORSE 11
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