Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa have unveiled a new yacht concept for the 36th America's Cup. Watch the new foiling monohull design in action here

After months of working on it, America’s Cup winners Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa have unveiled the new design for the team’s new AC75 foiling monohull racing yacht.

Emirates Team New Zealand states on their website that “the goal has been to design a class that will be both challenging and demanding to sail, whilst rewarding the top level of skill for the crews. The hope is that this concept could become the future of racing and could even influence the design of cruising monohulls beyond the America’s Cup.”

The new AC75 yacht has been conceived to combine extremely high-performance sailing with safety: the new yacht in fact can right itself in the event of a capsize. The twin canting T-foils, which are ballasted to provide righting-moment when sailing, also provide roll stability at low speed.

“The normal sailing mode sees the leeward foil lowered to provide lift and enable foiling, with the windward foil raised out of the water to maximise the lever-arm of the ballast and reduce drag. In pre-starts and through manoeuvres, both foils can be lowered to provide extra lift and roll control, also useful in rougher sea conditions and providing a wider window for racing.” states Emirates Team New Zealand. 

Emirates Team New Zealand new foiling monohull for the America's Cup

Some of the technology of recent America’s Cup multihulls, such as the power and control of rigid wing sails, has not been transferable to other sailing classes. However, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa’s design team are looking into new technology for the AC75, with the requirement that the rig need not be craned in and out each day. This innovation could be applied to different types of yachts, making it more sustainable for the future. The teams are currently working on this new concept and will release details with the AC75 Class Rule before 31 March , 2018.

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Emirates Team New Zealand says that the new AC75 will be faster and easier to turn and its foil-tack and foil-gybe system will ensure there are only small manoeuvring losses. Sail handling is also at the forefront of the new design, allowing it to race at high performance even in light wind conditions.

Emirates CEO Grant Dalton comments: “We are really proud to present the concept of the AC75 today. It has been a phenomenal effort by Dan and the guys together with Luna Rossa design team and there is a lot of excitement building around the boat in the development and getting to this point.

“Our analysis of the performance of the foiling monohulls tells us that once the boat is up and foiling, the boat has the potential to be faster than an AC50 both upwind and downwind. Auckland is in for a  highly competitive summer of racing in 2020 / 2021.”

Emirates Team New Zealand new foiling monohull for America's Cup

Design Coordinator Emirates Team New Zealand Dan Bernasconi says: “This design process has been new territory for the team, starting with a clean sheet to develop a class – and we’ve loved it. We wanted to see how far we could push the performance of monohull yachts to create a foiling boat that would be challenging to sail and thrilling to match race. We’re really excited about the concept and can’t wait to see it on the water..

We think we have achieved these goals – thanks also to the constructive co-operation of Luna Rossa design team – as well as the more practical detail to consider in terms of cost management and logistics of running the boats.”

Patrizio Bertelli, Chairman of Luna Rossa Challenge adds: “The choice of a monohull was a fundamental condition for us to be involved again in the America’s Cup. This is not a return to the past, but rather a step towards the future: the concept of the new AC 75 Class, which Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa design teams have developed together, will open new horizons for racing yachts, which, in the future, may also extend to cruising. It is a modern concept, at the high end of technology and challenging from a sporting point of view, which will deliver competitive and exciting match racing. I would like to thank both design teams for their commitment in achieving, in just four months, the goal which we had established when we challenged”.