I'm fascinated by this video clip of Oracle Team USA testing their AC72 racing catamaran in San Francisco Bay, in preparation for the forthcoming Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup. The craft apparently has underwater 'foils' or 'wings' that slowly take its weight as it moves faster through the water. At about 20 knots the entire hull is lifted out of the water, allowing even faster speeds to be attained - up to and even exceeding 40 knots. Having occasionally raced in ocean-going yachts off South Africa's coast during the 1970's, I can hardly believe that last figure - we counted ourselves very fortunate to exceed 10-12 knots! - but the video speaks for itself.
It's amazing how technology has transformed yacht racing - so much so that I don't know whether the AC72 and its peers can truly be referred to as 'yachts' any longer . . . I wonder what the sailors of the original America in 1851 would say if they could see their modern counterparts and their craft?
Peter
6 comments:
Ah, I hadn't heard that they finally moved up to the full size cats. Its not just the water foils that make a difference; the new wing sail provides quite a bit of speed.
Wouldn't want to pitch-pole that thing.
And it makes it easier to pitch pole, as happened last year in testing... And the boat was destroyed!
Been watching Americas Cup sailing for years...
Not a fan...
wow, no idea. in the coming years a better design might mitigate the pitch pole problem. As it is, enough wind to get you above hull speed sort of indicates bigger waves. Certainly out in the ocean. I suspect (probably wrong) that the boat is in its element in the bay.
a smaller recreational one would make a killer lake boat, nearly keeping up with the power guys.
My dad (a naval architect for the US Navy at the time) designed a boat similar to this when I was a little kid. Not so big, it was more of a two seater affair. But we didn't have anything like the money we'd have needed to build it. Ah well. Cool to see that the basic idea works, though. :)
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