America's Cup.... the next generation

I know that there are some fellow America's Cup fans out there, and it's quite far from the next race.  But things are always happening- even if they take a lot of time.

About a year ago, the syndicate in New Zealand announced the new rules for the next Cup- instead of foiling multi hull, as seen in the last two Cups, it will be foiling single hull yachts.  

There are some indicators for this out there- that it's possible.  And some good renderings were shown.  

But the New York Yacht Club put their prototype into the water recently- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0gb0Lb2gzM

When I see that think up on it's foil, that's really cool.  And the speed they are getting is really amazing.  The chase boats are going to have to be specialized ones, too.

Very cool, amazing technology behind the foil boats.

I understand why they went to multi-hulls after the Aussies threw down the Challenge 12 months after winning, not the usual four years, but I'm glad mono hulls are back.

I never cared for the AC Cats, but then I am not a fan of Catamarans at all. I can get behind these foiling monos, but I can't imagine the carnage when it all goes wrong.

I know nothing about that other than it looks so freakin cool. 

Sailing with helmets! 

I'll tell ya, the speed variations when that flying boat comes back down into the water will be significant.  

The current, most popular foiling sailboat is the Aus designed Moth.  Video 

It is really cool they figured out how to widen the beam of the monohull platform to get enough righting moment to make this boat fast...   If only there was some other way to do that which didn't involve a bunch of needless ballast..  Something like maybe using a second hull....    

Now I can't say as a grassroots sailor I totally relate to the idea of using a crew of athletes functioning as generators for hydraulic pumps while one guy trims the sails from a playstation controller and another takes the helm, but I don't turn on F1 racing to watch people driving outdated tech in things I can afford either.

The idea that "monohulls" are going to be better I think at this point is a little silly..   As a guy who raced Hobie Cats I understand you don't have tacking duels in the same way "most" sailors relate.....   That is until you can tack without losing much if any VMG....    If a foiling cat, like you saw in the last AC cup can tack with so little loss of VMG what on earth do you think you are going to gain in regards to tacking duels and something that looks more like match racing a Star class boat that the old school thinks is "real" sailing...   The answer is nothing...   Have you watched foiling moth races?    You have a boat which is less stable and is going to have a bigger penalty for errors creating more of the "problems" for which people thought they needed to return to "monohulls because that is 'real' sailing" to avoid.      These things are going to be fast enough on the foils that the hull touching the water means you lost the race...   Just the same as last time, only you have just completely blown the race and we watch one team sail around with the other way behind because it will surely take longer than a Cat to get back up to speed.    

You want match racing you need boats with a more limited top speed which can accelerate to that speed quickly.  Oddly enough if you were paying attention, Cats are the answer because like it or not these guys are closing in fast on ice sailing speeds and the game has changed.

It is silliness..    The America yatch made this event by breaking conventional rules and I don't care to see the AC cup be anything but the best and fastest tech the billionaires can dream up.   

As a former Hobie 17 racer, I can't imagine a lull causing you to be tea bagged with a mile of rope wrapped around your neck!

The speed and agility of the cats were unbelievable:

I look forward to seeing how the new boats compare.

This made me look up foil windsurfing. Which looks like an absolute blast. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYeniBWNaW0

Interesting GIF above.  According to the rules of racing, #17 had the right of way.  This could have been a really ugly collision if #17 had not altered course.  

John Welsh said:

Interesting GIF above.  According to the rules of racing, #17 had the right of way.  This could have been a really ugly collision if #17 had not altered course.  

Kind of reminded me of your description of 'Tack when the guns come up' .

In reply to XLR99 :

HA.

"Don't tack until they lift the guns" detailed over in this thread.

The craziest part is how much the boat looks like a normal sailboat - until it pops up on the foils.

I have this AMF Force Five.  Anyone want it?  It's taking up space and I don't see myself doing the maintenance to it and putting it out on the lake.

John Welsh said:

Interesting GIF above.  According to the rules of racing, #17 had the right of way.  This could have been a really ugly collision if #17 had not altered course.  

I wonder if there was a mechanical problem on the other boat? Hard to tell but it almost looks like it is turning toward #17. 

I was in San Francisco years ago when one of the big Oracle boats was out. Just by random chance. The thing was enormous, it looked like an optical illusion amongst all the other boats. And good lord, could it move.

I love cats. And foiling cats are awesome.

John Welsh said:

Interesting GIF above.  According to the rules of racing, #17 had the right of way.  This could have been a really ugly collision if #17 had not altered course.  

just remember, just because you have "the right of way" does not mean you are getting it. You can post a protest all you want, but a collision is still going to ruin your day.

In reply to Robbie :

This was during the Cup races in in SanFran in 2013.   They cross several times while tacking.  The New Zealanders just didn't back off, and received a penalty 

Linky

This one demonstrates some of the drama of '13.  (Jump ahead to 4:40 in the video to see a bunch of crosses between America and NZ)

Dr. Hess said:

I have this AMF Force Five.  Anyone want it?  It's taking up space and I don't see myself doing the maintenance to it and putting it out on the lake.

Absolutely. How much do you want for it?

In reply to nderwater :

That fully looks like sci-fi. Something that big shouldn’t turn that fast. 

SVreX said:

Dr. Hess said:

I have this AMF Force Five.  Anyone want it?  It's taking up space and I don't see myself doing the maintenance to it and putting it out on the lake.

Absolutely. How much do you want for it?

Potentially interested if Paul isn’t. 

Robbie said:

This made me look up foil windsurfing. Which looks like an absolute blast. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYeniBWNaW0

 

You bet!  Controlling a sail while standing on a 20" wide plank in high winds is hard, LETS DO IT ON A RAZOR BLADE !!!

The tech in sailboats over the last decade or two has been amazing.  I sailed lasers in the 70s and then hobies in the 80s, thought they were fast.  The foil boats are crazy, hope to try one but scared my fat 60 year old butt can't handle them.  But will jump on one given the chance.  

For now I am sticking to my hobie TI kayak/trimaran/sailboat.  Won't go very fast but easy to handle and rig.  

The boat is the AM 38, which sounds like a 38 foot hull (and looks like it) but they mention that it's a test boat for the AC75. Are the cup hulls 75 feet? This boat looks mind blowing, but boat that's twice that size on foils?