Tomorrow starts the 36th America’s Cup. The race is heralded as the oldest trophy in international sport, predating the modern Olympic Games by 45 years.
Emirates Team New Zealand is the current defender and has held the trophy a total of 4 times, tomorrow begins a chance to win the trophy for a 5th time.
The challenger, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, is on track to take America’s Cup home to Italy. The Italians will need to muster all their skills to defeat the New Zealand team.
13 races are scheduled over a 7-day time frame, the first team to win 7 races is declared the winner and will take the trophy home for 4 years and host the 37th America’s Cup in 2025.
2021 36th America’s Cup Race Schedule
| March 9th | March 11th | March 12th | March 13th | March 14th | March 15th | March 16th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | Race 3 | Race 5 | Race 7 | Race 9 | Race 11 | Race 13 |
| Race 2 | Race 4 | Race 6 | Race 8 | Race 10 | Race 12 |
AC75 Monohull Flying Sailboat
The new AC75 monohull marked the beginning of a new sailing era. The engineering and sailing techniques needed to get the AC75 to fly are completely different from anything seen before.
“These boats were only a concept three years ago, and now they are exceeding everyone’s expectations of what they can do, and how fast they can go around a race track.”
The AC75 is 75-feet long and 16-feet wide and extremely light, which is needed to get the sailboat to fly. The AC75 relys on Foil Cant Arms that will move under, or outside, the boat to provide the leverage it needs to stay upright and lift out of the water.
Some parts of the boat are mandated by the AC75 Class Rule, the mast, rigging, foil-cant arms, and their hydraulics are all stock components. But, the hull shape and other areas can be unique and designers are free to experiment with to find a race-winning edge.
Another evolution in this America’s Cup is the twin-skin mainsail. The double-sail skins combine with the spar to form a wing, generating the power the AC75 needs to foil.
