• Although foiling feels like a recent revolution to take the world of watersports by storm, it has been at the heart of America's Cup racing for over 10 years.

It was August 2012 when the sailing world was turned upside down by a 72-foot catamaran flying in the Hauraki Gulf. Emirates Team New Zealand had brought foils to the America's Cup, changing the face of top-level yacht racing forever.

Six years later, in 2018, the publication of the AC75 Class Rule marked the beginning of a new sailing era. The engineering and sailing techniques needed to get the AC75 to fly completely differed from anything seen before.

During the 36th America's Cup in 2021, the AC75 proved themselves to be unique and kept millions of fans worldwide glued to their screens. It was then no surprise that the organisers were keen to continue with the AC75 rule for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, albeit with several improvements to promote faster flight and incorporate upgraded technology. But the organisers went further. With a focus on youth and women being paramount to growing the sport into the future, a new class of boats was introduced–the AC40–specifically for this purpose. As the smaller sister-ship of the AC75, the AC40 launched in Auckland to much acclaim with speeds hitting the "high 40s" almost immediately straight out of the box under the skillful command of Emirates Team New Zealand in September 2022.

The Teams of the 37th America's Cup

 

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    AC75: AMERICA'S CUP BOAT

    On the 15th of November 2021, eight months after the Kiwis successfully defended the America's Cup, an updated 'Version 2' of the AC75 Class Rule was released.

     

    The boats will be a step on from what we saw in Auckland in 2021. The foils will be larger to promote quicker lift and faster flight. The boats will be lighter and, onboard, the electronics and software systems will be vastly upgraded. To save weight, the number of crew on the AC75 has been reduced from 11 to 8. The move to reduce the crew means cycle power is again legalised, and the cyclors, introduced by Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017, might return to the game.

     

    Several of the elements are strict one-design, such as the mast, rigging, foil cant-arms and cant hydraulics but the scope for design elsewhere is broad. To keep costs under control, it was also determined that teams would only be allowed to build one AC75 so the demand on getting the design right is at a premium. The boats will be expected to fly at speeds of 50 knots (with a record speed reported of 55.6 knots during racing) in winds that average 12 knots in late summers in Barcelona. 

     

    RELIVE THE RACING HERE

     

     

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    AC40: YOUTH, WOMEN & TRAINING

    New for the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup, the AC40 is a multi-use foiling monohull that all the confirmed teams will use for sailing and testing purposes. The AC40 is also the nominated boat for both the UniCredit Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup events where they will be sailed in strict one-design. The confirmed teams will also use the AC40 in competitive events leading up to the America’s Cup and several of the teams have two boats on order. The AC40 is being built by McConaghy’s in China. The foils and systems are being delivered by the Emirates Team New Zealand North Shore Facility and delivered in strict order of entry to the America’s Cup. Teams may modify and test out componentry on the AC40, and for this purpose, they will be deemed as a LEQ12 (see below), but for competition purposes in the UniCredit Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup, they will be returned to one-design according to strict rules around those specific events.

    Early trials of the AC40 by Emirates Team New Zealand have been sensational with speeds recorded in the ‘high-40-knot’ bracket and it is anticipated that this new class will form a global circuit both before and after the America’s Cup. For the UniCredit Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup, aside from the confirmed entries from the America's Cup syndicates, yacht clubs from around the world are being invited to form teams on a strict one-nation, one-entry basis and the finals of the youth and women’s events are scheduled on key dates of both the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series) and Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Match dates.

     

    LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UNICREDIT YOUTH AND THE PUIG WOMEN'S AMERICA'S CUP

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    LEQ12: TESTING ONLY

    Entrants for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup are required to build one AC75 and purchase at least one AC40 but within the rules there is also the opportunity for teams to build one, new, test boat with the stipulation that it must be ‘Less than or Equal to 12 metres in overall length.’ The term LEQ12 was thus coined and it’s a nod to a well used term in computing ‘LEQ’ and was the most accurate description of the vessel. These boats are loaded with sensors, cameras and measuring devices in order that the design team can collate data and calibrate their design software packages in a real-world environment. For the sailors too, it is an opportunity to hone monohull foiling techniques and have the ability to try new sailing styles as well as test new componentry in a relatively controlled environment–with far fewer consequences than trialling something new on a powerful AC75 at full scale.

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FAQs

  • How many new AC75s can a team build

    When agreeing on the new format for the 37th America’s Cup, the Defender and the Challenger of Record were determined to keep a lid on costs and deliver a sustainable event that could attract additional entries without a very high financial barrier to entry. During the 36th America's Cup, teams were allowed to build two AC75s but in the final Protocol for the 37th America's Cup, it was agreed that teams could only build one AC75 to compete in the America’s Cup in Barcelona. The introduction of the AC40 class allowed for teams to purchase these for either two-boat training or as test boats and a further concession was permitted in that teams could build one specific LEQ12 for testing and training purposes. By implementing the one-boat build rule for the 37th America's Cup, a high premium is placed on getting the final design right as there is little opportunity to change the fundamental design of the boats after launch. The world’s greatest naval architects, designers and engineers have been employed by all the teams with several partnering with complementary sports engineering functions such as Red Bull Advanced Technologies and Mercedes F1 Applied Science. The design race for the Cup is therefore, as intense as ever.

  • Can older AC75s be used and/or modified?

    The first-generation AC75s that were used at the 36th America's Cup in 2021 may be used for training purposes by all of the confirmed teams in the run-up to the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup in Barcelona. To date, two teams–American Magic and Alinghi Red Bull Racing–have opted to re-launch these first-generation boats and use them as test boats and in the case of Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Swiss who were not present during the 36th America's Cup, purchased Emirates Team New Zealand’s first boat ‘Te Aihe’ to train in Barcelona. There are, however, strict rules on developing these first-generation boats with the number of foil wings, flaps, rudders, foil arms, masts, hull surfaces and sails being strictly limited. This could well be the reason why the other teams have elected to develop LEQ12s or to adapt their AC40s into LEQ12s, as is the case with Emirates Team New Zealand, where the limits on componentry and testing are far less stringent, affording more scope for design development and analysis.

  • When does an AC40 become an LEQ12?

    As mentioned above, in relation to the AC40, these boats are delivered in one-design format, but some teams may elect to take them out of one-design to test out componentry, and in this case, those AC40s will be deemed as ‘LEQ12s’ until returned to one-design configuration again. Change anything on your AC40 outside of the very strict class rules on componentry, and it becomes a LEQ12. In order for it to be used in the planned pre-regattas or the UniCredit Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup events it must be returned to the agreed one-design. Immediately after the necessary commissioning process of the very first AC40 that was delivered to Emirates Team New Zealand in September 2022, the team made changes to the cockpit configuration and specific controls that the crew use; This immediately converted the Emirates Team New Zealand AC40 to a LEQ12.