INEOS AC75 update

In the old rules you had to sail there from your home port. It did rather give the defender something of an advantage.
 
The new boat looks really interesting, and a departure from the out-and-out scow shape.

Looks like they've gone for something that looks not unlike an Axeman moth hull under the flat scow. I assume this is to give a "fast displacement" mode in between full displacement and foiling, and will also act to give a bit of buoyancy and stability through the turns. I wonder if it's also there to give a "mid-way" setting for lighter winds where they can't get properly foiling.

The Christmas race will be an interesting watch.
 
Any time I've managed to catch the racing these boats are foiling the whole race, the only time they touch down is when a mistake has been made.

I did wonder myself what the protrusion was there for though
 
alex_m24 said:
Any time I've managed to catch the racing these boats are foiling the whole race, the only time they touch down is when a mistake has been made.

I did wonder myself what the protrusion was there for though
Click to expand...
Um, these boats have never raced yet. The first ever time you'll see them racing is in December.
 
Bobc said:
Um, these boats have never raced yet. The first ever time you'll see them racing is in December.
Click to expand...
Yep, and they will only foil through the tacks at the upper end of the wind range. If your hull touches the water then the lower-drag hull form will lose less speed, and get back onto the foils earlier. Could be worth a boat length or two per tack. Clearly this is at the expense of aerodynamic drag and therefore ultimate top speed.

I think it's fair to say this was less of an issue with the cats, where the hull form was much more slippery in displacement mode?
 
RJJ said:
Yep, and they will only foil through the tacks at the upper end of the wind range. If your hull touches the water then the lower-drag hull form will lose less speed, and get back onto the foils earlier. Could be worth a boat length or two per tack. Clearly this is at the expense of aerodynamic drag and therefore ultimate top speed.

I think it's fair to say this was less of an issue with the cats, where the hull form was much more slippery in displacement mode?
Click to expand...
That was my assumption for the "float underneath the hull" shape. Might also provide some early buoyancy and lift in the event of a nosedive to enable to boat to keep going and recover better, rather than just stopping.
 
Slight bit of thread drift.

Has Ainsley any background in crewed yacht racing? I thought most of his success came from solo dinghy racing, pardon my ignorance if I'm incorrect. I've always considered Ainsley to be a rather abrasive character and wondered if skippering a crew would be a problem for him.
 
savageseadog said:
Slight bit of thread drift.

Has Ainsley any background in crewed yacht racing? I thought most of his success came from solo dinghy racing, pardon my ignorance if I'm incorrect. I've always considered Ainsley to be a rather abrasive character and wondered if skippering a crew would be a problem for him.
Click to expand...

Not sure I would refer to the recent AC high speed foiling machines as “yachts”, but I would guess
- a couple of decades of being guest helm and/or tactician on top flight crewed racing yachts
- about a decade of sailing and skippering the high speed exotica - including being a winning tactician in an America’s Cup (unfortunately on a USA craft).
Not sure that any of the super league skippers are easy to sail with, but all of the small elite crew on board will be equally super focussed professionals.
 
Top end professionals, are either well used to being difficult to live with or diplomatically coping with the "boss".
Ben is a very nice and polite guy, whenever I came across him.
Bear in mind that he has to be diplomatic with the press. - A bit like the DoE !!
 
savageseadog said:
Slight bit of thread drift.

Has Ainsley any background in crewed yacht racing? I thought most of his success came from solo dinghy racing, pardon my ignorance if I'm incorrect. I've always considered Ainsley to be a rather abrasive character and wondered if skippering a crew would be a problem for him.
Click to expand...

Before the last cup he, and his team, won the warm up events in the AC45 cats against the other AC teams.
Last year, he, and his team, joined the Sail GP series and ran away with it.

I'd say he's pretty good at getting a crew to work well together.
 
This is also (depending exactly how you count it) the fifth AC campaign he has been involved with.

I suspect though that a considerable part of his appeal in the previous edition was the ability to make use of his profile to attract sponsorship and build a viable campaign.
 
flaming said:
Before the last cup he, and his team, won the warm up events in the AC45 cats against the other AC teams.
Last year, he, and his team, joined the Sail GP series and ran away with it.

I'd say he's pretty good at getting a crew to work well together.
Click to expand...

Great. Glad to hear it, let's hope the campaign comes good.
 
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