MAINSAIL_ISSUE 9 FULL

America’s Cup: ETNZ Monohull
WITH OUR EXCLUSIVE NEWS
Radical 75ft flying monohull ‘could be fastest
America’s Cup design ever’
by Elaine Bunting
Emirates Team New Zealand has unveiled the new AC75 monohull for the next America's Cup and this incredible
new flying monohull could be faster than the AC50 catamarans.
One of the fastest and most futuristic sailing designs in history has been
unveiled by Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) and challenger of record
Luna Rossa as the class for the next America’s Cup in 2021.
The new AC75 will be a fully flying monohull. Instead of a keel, it has two
canting, ballasted T-foils to provide righting moment and the ability to selfright
the boat in the event of a capsize. Like the catamarans of the last Cup, it
will be able tack and gybe on foils. Early computer modelling suggests it could
be even faster than the AC50 catamarans and look even more spectacular.
It marries some of the best features of the multihulls, such as high speed and
design innovation, to traditional monohull sailing action and manoeuvres.
The new design will be raced by 12 sailors and the animation suggests a
return to traditional grinders (no more ‘cyclors’?). The new design may have a
wingmast and soft sails including a Code 0 for light winds crossovers.
OUR ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE
FOILING MONOHULLS TELLS US THAT ONCE THE
BOAT IS UP AND FOILING, THE BOAT HAS THE
POTENTIAL TO BE FASTER THAN AN AC50 BOTH
UPWIND AND DOWNWIND.
As the video released by ETNZ shows, this is unlike any boat previously
seen. The new design is the result of four months working through different
concepts, led by ETNZ’s design co-ordinator, Dan Bernasconi. The eventual
design was always going to be a monohull because that is what ETNZ had
agreed Luna Rossa in exchange for funding and design tools that assisted their
victory in Bermuda. Continued on pg.24
AC75Emirates Team New Zealand
Issue 9 >> 16