[Public-List] The New Americas Cup Boats

[Arthur Chotin]

Just got back from visiting our oldest son in San Francisco and had the 
opportunity to go out on his J-105 and be one of the spectator boats for 
the Americas Cup trials that were held in San Francisco Bay. Thought 
some might be interested a report.

This is certainly not Wednesday night racing on an A-30! The new 
Americas Cup Trial boats are 45-foot catamarans that have carbon fiber 
mains that they call "wings". All of the boats have the same hulls so 
the premium is basically on tactics and crew coordination, not who can 
build a more streamlined version of the boat.

In addition to the wing, the boats have a job and a gennaker. The mast 
is a little over 70 ft and the boats draw a max of 8.8 ft.

While the Americas Cup races I grew up watching lasted hours and sailed 
on a course spread out for miles, the new race format is like 
short-track skating in the Winter Olympics. The race is over is less 
than 20 minutes and the entire course can be viewed from any vantage 
point on the San Francisco shoreline. Just like in short-track skating, 
it appears as if a mistake would doom you but since it is very possible 
that other boats will make mistakes as well, you're never really out of 
contention.

These boats are basically test boats so the crews can get used to 
sailing on wingsailed multihulls. The boats that will race in the Louis 
Vuitton Challenge and the Americas Cup Finals will be 72-feet long with 
masts that are 131 feet high.

It's not traditional sailing like we are used to; it's fast and over 
quickly. Fun to watch but just not the same thing.

Anyway, thought it might be of interest.

Arthur
-- 
Arthur Chotin
Principal
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