The boats that compete in America’s Cup belong to the class AC75which takes its name from the seventy-fifth edition of the America’s Cup held in 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. Luna Rossa, in particular, was built in Italy at the Persico Marine shipyard in Nembro; its construction required 40 people for the design and 35 people for the construction, which lasted approximately 70,000 hours.
All boats competing must be exactly 75 feet longor 22.86 meters. These are boats of the type motorboatso what do they have a single “body” and not two like the catamarans, which have characterised some previous editions of the America’s Cup, such as that of 2017.
The AC75 class boats are moved by sails which are supported on a treeor the central pole connected to the hull, 26.5 meters high. The sails have a total surface area of 220 m2divided into a bow jib and two twin mainsails, and unlike classic boats they are designed to navigate out of the water.
The hull has adive Of 5 meters and can accommodate up to 12 people on board, including 11 crew members and an optional guest. These vessels are defined as foiling monohulls because they have some installed on them “wings”calls hydrofoil or more simply foilThese appendages function as real wingsbut I am totally immersed. In fact, when the boat starts to move and increases its speed, the foils create a push up what does he do emerge all of it hull above the water’s surface. As the hull rises, it no longer creates friction with the water and the vessel accelerates further.
The foils are moved by a hydraulic systemwhich can be compared to our system of blood vesselsarteries and veins, because it is made up of Pipes in which an oil flows that allows to move and activate all the controls on board. Team New Zealand, for example, uses three separate hydraulic circuits: the first is moved by the cyclorsor by the athletes who control the pedaling commands of the sail and allow changes in shape and orientation. The second system is the FCS (Foil Cant System), powered by batteries and which allows to manage the movement of the foils and is common for all teams. The last one is the system of flight control which controls the movement of the rudder and of the immersed part of the foil.
