A perfect example of this can be seen in the AC75, the boat used in the current America’s Cup and the previous edition, during which the team was able to win 7-3 over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
A victory that only served to bolster New Zealand's design leadership over the last 26 years, achieved through painstaking research carried out by the Kiwis to give life to faster and faster boats, boats that are increasingly innovative and animated by the most imaginative and stimulating driving techniques.
It was a bold, new concept that drove the team to design their AC75, when no one thought it was possible to “fly on water” with such a configuration. A 75-foot-long monohull, with foils mounted on port and starboard longitudinal drums and moved by means of a hydraulic unit, a double-skinned mainsail and no keel, reaching speeds of over 50 knots. But speed is not the only change introduced with the advent of foiling.
The real transformation has been to make America's Cup sailing a modern discipline, a spectacle worthy of global attention and able to truly allow for a dialogue with other disciplines in which foils are used, creating a young and
inclusive community of enthusiasts.
One of the most important innovations is undoubtedly that of the “cyclors”, crew members who, by means of a system of pedals, are able to exert pressure on the hydraulic circuit that runs the on-board systems. Unlike on past boat models, on which the grinders turned the cranks relying on the strength of their arms, on board today's foiling monohulls power comes from the legs. By pedalling, they power the hydraulic systems, allowing the trimmers to adjust sails and mast.
Introducing such an innovative leap effectively means rethinking the entire structure of the boat, as has already happened with the advent of foiling. Rethinking, in short, the very concept of sailing.
In 2024, sailing will no longer be synonymous with just speeding across the waves, but also pedalling, and even flying.
A bit like Elliot Taylor with his Martian friend E.T., with the full moon as a backdrop to his desire to return home. In the same way, by following the path of innovation, when working in the sailing world, one is never far from returning home, looking back to a past that was equally innovative and exciting.
Just think of the clipper boats of the late 19th Century, the last sailing evolution before boats became mechanically propelled. The word itself, “clip”, indicated an intention to “cut” sailing times and “cleave” the waves. The whole ship was designed to reach the highest speed possible, so much so that even the carrying capacity of the boat itself was sacrificed.
But the speeds achieved repaid the sacrifice many times over. In the same vein, this year's crew reduction has followed a similar trend, passing from 11 to 8 members, which will quickly repay the team's efforts with a boat capable of moving up to 4 times the speed of the wind: in winds of 10 knots, the New Zealanders' AC75 reaches 30 knots upwind and 40 downwind.
To change a paradigm, to propose innovations that are as intuitive as they are effective, is in short the simple recipe that makes up the success story that is Emirates Team New Zealand, the most ground-breaking team on the circuit, ever capable of masterfully combining respect for their discipline’s tradition, one as ancient as sailing, and the desire to define its evolution.
