Hi all couple of items, why did the American Magic boat sink? It seems that going from 50 mph down to zero is just as bad in a yacht as it is in a car!
Something large inside the yacht broke free and went travelling right through the bow and made 'quote' a small car size hole in the hull. One of the crew members could not undo his harness and had to resort to the knife to free himself and help from rescuers.
The other is that the media is focussed on the foils much to the relief of 'some' crews!!! There are a few not quite secrets learnt by the Kiwis in the previous Americas Cup and that is sail control. It sounds possible that this was their advantage that brought the AC cup to New Zealand 4 years ago.
As you will know the yacht design and form eminated from NZ with the rest participating and agreeing and one of the innovations was the 2 surface mainsail.
To go off subject to illustrate the point we must all have flown in an aircraft and noted that at take-off and landing, alterations are made to the wings. The main one is the flaps at the rear of the wing, they do not just extend outwards, they also point downwards and this gives a general curve to the wing increasing the lift of the aircraft at low speed.
Back to the sails! It will not have escaped notice that the sail cambre does change during a race, and a curved sail in crossection gives more sideways lift or power to the yacht and so the yacht will go faster.
This enables the AC yachts to pick up speed prior to getting up on the foil. When they are on the foil they now have too much power and the sail is flattened.
It is thought that the Ineos UK yacht had a new sail system installed after the pre Christmas drubbing. Which seems to work, to say the least!
It is speculated that between the mainsail surfaces there are battens in the lower and upper parts of the sail that can alter the curve or flatten it very quickly. Each yacht has a flight controller with controls extending from trim tabs on the foils to the sail curvature.
I suspect that even when the Americas Cup is decided that there will be some reticence to disclose all the 'secrets' of these boats. The cost of research needs to be paid for somehow.
As a small bit of info the American Magic boat at 8 tons, needed 4 tons of lifting bags to stay afloat, and she had to be towed in stern first.
All participating teams have rallied around the USA team to give any assistance they can, as was said. "We are all in it together".
Regards
Roy
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