America’s Cup

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5️⃣ teams have hit the water 💦 so far in the race to win the 37th America's Cup. Five teams in 3️⃣ different classes. What's the difference between an AC75, AC40, and LEQ12? 🤷 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 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 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. New for AC37, the AC40 is a muti-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 Youth and 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 may modify and test out componentry on the AC40, and for this purpose, they will be deemed as an LEQ12 (see below), but for competition purposes in the Youth & Women’s America’s Cup, they will be returned to one-design according to strict rules around those specific events. 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. To date, two teams have built dedicated LEQ12’s – INEOS Britannia and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli – and 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. #AC37 #KnowTheGame #AboutTheBoats