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<\/p>\nThe 37th edition of the America’s Cup will be contested by AC75s, hydrofoil monohulls capable of sailing in excess of 40 knots (around 80km\/h). While these boats are among the fastest in the world, the history of the legendary event reminds us that the Cup’s sailboats have changed many times, and that pure speed has not always been at the heart of their development.<\/p>\n
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The event that gave rise to what would become the America’s Cup was sailed around the Isle of Wight in 1851, as part of The Great Exhibition in London. The idea was to pit the fast American pilot schooners – designed to berth merchant ships – against the most efficient English yachts.<\/p>\n
The schooner America beat fourteen British ships in a 50-mile (approx. 100km) race. The winner returned to the United States in September 1851 with his trophy, the famous silver ewer known as the “Hundred Guineas Cup”. In 1857, after the rules for putting the trophy back into play had been established, the cup was named the “America’s Cup”, in reference to the victorious schooner.<\/p>\n
As a result of the American Civil War, the first America’s Cup did not take place until 1870. The British, motivated by several regatta victories in their own waters, set out to bring the trophy back home. They challenged the Americans with their schooner Cambria, which crossed the ocean to compete. A handicap system based on tonnage had been developed, and the fleet race of seventeen yachts eluded the challengers, who finished only 8th.
\nThe following year, the British came back with a proposal for a duel format, which would determine the winner by the best of seven races. The Americans agreed, on condition that they could choose which boat would defend the Cup each day. A clause that left the challenger no chance. The die was cast even before the matches began.
\nIt wasn’t until the 3rd edition, in 1876, that all matches were contested between two boats, a defender against a challenger. And it wasn’t until 1885, with the 5th edition, that a new gauge was introduced to level the playing field. This was the New York Yacht-Club rule, which incorporated sail area and waterline length. Competing yachts measured around 30 meters with their long bowsprits. This was followed by the Seawanhaka Yacht-Club rule, with various amendments and limits. Reliance, a 201-foot (61.26m) sailing yacht nearly 8m wide, the largest auric cutter ever built, is emblematic of this era when gigantism was the order of the day. No fewer than 30 sailors were involved in maneuvering this monster, which could carry up to 1,500m2 of sail. It beat Shamrock III in the 12th edition in 1903.<\/p>\n
Sir Thomas Lipton, who had long argued for a return to more reasonable units, was finally heard. The Universal Class Rule was adopted for the 13th edition, which was not raced until 1920, due to the First World War. Even though the gigantism of the turn of the century had come to an end, the competitors Resolute and Shamrock IV were still over thirty meters long. The famous J Class yachts, born of this universal rule, were to become the Cup yachts for the 14th, 15th and 16th editions, contested in 1930, 1934 and 1937 respectively. Endeavour, Velsheda, Shamrock V and Ranger are just some of the names that evoke these glorious years. It’s worth noting that most of the J Class boats, considered Cup benchmarks, have now been restored, and continue to race against each other on the world circuit.<\/p>\n
The Second World War interrupted racing for almost 19 years. Post-war economic realities also forced a return to smaller, more affordable yachts. The 17th edition, held in 1958, was the first to be sailed on metric-measure boats, the 12mJI. At around 23m long, these highly technical yachts were also heavy, and not particularly fast compared to other units of the same size. They made for interesting racing, and were well suited to Match Racing.
\nThe international rule remained a benchmark until the 26th edition in 1987. Relatively free, it allowed many designers to emerge and express their talents, with boundless creativity. Nautical research and optimization have been largely guided by this rule for 30 years.<\/p>\n
Australia II, which ended 132 years of American hegemony in 1983, is probably the most famous 12mJI in sailing history. Its famous fin keel, which allowed the center of gravity to be lowered, caused quite a stir.
\nIn 1988, the New Zealanders challenged the Americans – who had meanwhile recovered the Cup – in the spirit of the original rules, with a 27.5-meter monohull, without going through elimination races. Exploiting the complex legal context, the Americans took up the challenge with the Stars&Stripes rigid-wing catamaran. The regattas were devoid of interest, and the result was finally decided on the green carpet, with the catamaran unsurprisingly winning.<\/p>\n
Following this unsuccessful edition, the syndicates interested in the event got together and developed the America’s Cup Class rule. Resolutely modern, the rule included structural and manufacturing constraints designed to limit the cost of the boats. These constraints didn’t really have the desired effect on budgets, and some syndicates invested crazy amounts of money in challenges. Italy’s Il Mauro di Venezia and Raul Gardini built five hulls to find the most efficient. Limits were then imposed on the number of boats built.
\nIn 2003, Alinghi became the first European team to win the trophy after 152 years of existence.
\nMore on the America’s Cup<\/p>\n
The 32nd edition of the America’s Cup was once again held in Valencia. Alinghi, again winner of the event, wished to return to larger boats, like the J Class, and proposed a new protocol and measurement for the 33rd edition. This was contested, and gave rise to a long legal battle that resulted in an edition contested on giant multihulls, during which Alinghi lost to Oracle. A sort of remake of 1988, the 33rd Cup only had the merit of encouraging the protagonists to race on fast boats. A coherent approach for a regatta of the prestige of the America’s Cup.<\/p>\n
In 2013, for the 34th America’s Cup, and following their focus on speed, the Americans decided to race an AC72 catamaran (22 meters). Blasphemy for the conservatives, the advent of speed for others, the AC72 has favored spectacle racing, and spawned a new generation of racers, athletes focused on speed and piloting.<\/p>\n
Given the staggering costs of boat development and implementation, the 34th Cup continued with smaller catamarans, downsized from 72 to 50 feet (15 meters). The event was marked by one of the most remarkable remontadas in the sport’s history. Oracle’s Americans, trailing 8-1 after a week of racing, finally won by one point, 8-9, after making foil and crew changes. The event has been dubbed the “San Francisco Miracle”.
\nIn 2017, still in the AC50 class, the Kiwis this time brought the Cup back to New Zealand, and proposed a new gauge, the current AC75 monohulls (23 meters). Equipped with two horizontal foils mounted on articulated arms controlled by a one-design hydraulic system, the yachts are causing a sensation. The America’s Cup is once again contested by monohulls, but this time at very high speeds (regularly in excess of 80km\/h).<\/p>\n
After another victory at home in 2021, the New Zealanders have decided to relocate the meeting to Europe for financial reasons, and to make it more attractive to other teams. The AC75 remains the chosen support.<\/p>\n
This new situation convinced Ernesto Bertarelli to dive back into the deep end and found the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team with Austrian skipper and double Olympic champion Hans-Peter Steinacher. For reasons of cost control, competitors are only allowed to build one boat. At the end of 2021, the team representing Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nautique de Gen\u00e8ve was able to acquire the first AC75 to be built, in order to quickly begin training and a development program. The Swiss AC75, which will compete in the America’s Cup in 2024, is currently under construction in Ecublens. The foil tilting system and the masts are one-design, again with the aim of limiting budgets and guaranteeing a level playing field, without compromising creativity and research.<\/p>\n
We’ll have to wait until we know the winner of the 37th edition to find out on what type of boat the 38th will be contested. The Cup is unique in that the winner sets the rules. But starting from scratch would be of little interest, except to discourage new competitors. At this stage, however, there’s every reason to believe that the AC75s will remain the world’s oldest sporting trophy for a few more years to come.<\/p>\n
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The history of America’s Cup yachts is rich and full of twists and turns. Here’s a look back at the boats used to conquer the most coveted trophy in the history of sailing. The 37th edition of the America’s Cup will be contested by AC75s, hydrofoil monohulls capable of sailing in excess of 40 knots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americascup-live.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}