Shock Mitigation Directory

Americas Cup World Series 2016

The new America’s Cup Class rule is the result of teams feeding in suggestions to American multihull designer Pete Melvin, who was contracted by Regatta Director Iain Murray to draft the rule.

ORACLE TEAM USA tactician Tom Slingsby projects the performance we will be seeing from the new America’s Cup Class, wingsail, foiling catamaran, “By the time the America’s Cup comes around in 2017, we’re going to be seeing two boats going head to head, foil-tacking all around the place, trying to break cover on the foils. It’s going to be incredible for those of us on the boat and it will be spectacular to watch.”

“I think all of the teams who have been sailing the so-called AC45 ‘turbo’ boats over the past few months have been surprised by the performance they’ve seen, which is partly what inspired this idea of a new, smaller class,” Slingsby says. “In our boat we were doing roughly the same speed as the 72 when the breeze was up and we were maybe a little faster than the 72 in lighter winds.

“Over the past few weeks most of the teams have been back and forth with Pete Melvin, giving our opinions on what works well on these boats. He’s taken all of this input and come up with the new America’s Cup Class. The changes in this rule compared to the boat we sailed, for example, is improved hull shape and configuration and there are much tighter restrictions on manual power as well as the extra length.

“The new class is going to be an amazing boat. The boat we sailed in San Francisco was excellent. It was manoeuvrable, fast and reacted well and the new class will be a step on from that. It’s hard to describe just how much fun boats like this are to sail and to race,” he says. “They’re incredibly challenging, but the idea that we’re doing things that haven’t been done before adds to that excitement.”

The new America’s Cup Class will be crewed by just six and Slingsby says there’s no room for passengers. All power on board to control the wing and foils must be generated by the sailors through two grinding pedestals that push oil to an advanced hydraulic system.

“These boats are going to be incredibly physical, being completely crew powered,” Slingsby said. “For a sailor, that’s very exciting. There is no room for deadweight. You’ll have to be very fit and extremely smart to sail these boats. As tactician, I’ll have to be grinding as well. The only guys not grinding will be the helmsman and the wing trimmer. I think it’s the most physical America’s Cup boat we’ve ever seen.

The Design Race behind the America’s Cup boats

“One of the main areas where designers will impact performance is with appendage design, control and structure - the foils,” Slingsby said. “Different shapes make a major difference. For example, the little changes we made from the 72 down to the 45 we tested in February had a massive impact. We made some refinements to the shapes and improved the appendages and we hit close to 46 knots of speed in 16 knots of wind in a 45-footer. So we made a good step there, but I think there is a lot more to be gained still.

“The wing rule is exactly the same as it was for the 62 (albeit scaled down), with the geometry defined, but the control systems completely open. Again, I think you’ll see a lot of different ideas from the teams here. There are gains to be made in ease of use, how the boat manoeuvres, how the wing pops through on tacks and gybes. If we start considering foil-tacking for example, this area becomes so important. Having excellent control systems for the wing and appendages is critical.

“And then we look at aerodynamics, which is also wide open for this boat. When you’re going upwind at 30 knots with 20 knots of wind over the deck, that’s a 50 knot headwind, so you can imagine what a difference aerodynamics will make. I think we’ll see different ideas here too."

The tight race courses the teams will compete on will also put a premium on having reliable, advanced control systems. Having systems that allow you to push the envelope to go to places we’ve never been before - foil-tacking a catamaran - that’s absolutely huge. The designers will be working overtime trying to figure this stuff out. I think the new boats are going to look different, they’re going to perform differently and the designers have plenty of room to explore. I can’t wait to get my hands on ours!”

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