Design and evolution of the AC40

by | 13, Mar 2024 | America's Cup

The revolutionary little sister

The design and evolution of the AC40, implies changes during the life of this model, which will have special prominence in the America’s Cup 2024. The AC40, its big sister (the AC75 model), uses the foiling technique that we will develop in this article and that you can also read in our article about the AC75.

Design and evolution of the AC40

The structure remains the same, although the size makes it impossible to have cyclists in the hull. Therefore, the power they provide in the AC75 is also needed in the AC40 and is replaced by automatic mechanisms. The AC40 is just starting to become known, as it is a type of boat created for the 37th edition of the America’s Cup in 2024, with many goals.

Design and foiling technology

Constantly evolving, the AC40, the fruit of innovative design, is an impressive racing boat. More manoeuvrable than the AC75, it stands out for its exceptional design and evolution. The AC40 class rules limit the hull to 12 metres and the mast height to 18 metres. Equipped with twin T-shaped foils, its hydrofoil technology redefines the sailing experience, transferring the weight and making the boat seem to fly at full speed. A milestone in the design and evolution of the AC40 in the racing world.

Carbon wind sail in the America’s Cup

The America’s Cup has been known in recent editions for its black wind sail. The reason for this is simply that all the wind sails are made partly of carbon, a material that maximises the power of the wind and also gives the sail its black colour.

The development of the America’s Cup class rule is always strict. The same goes for the way the teams train and who builds the boats. For the 37th edition, each participating team has to build an AC75 based on the official plans developed by the last winner, Team New Zealand. Even if they build their only AC75, the Emirates Team New Zealand North Shore Facility provides them with all the foils in order of their participation in the Cup.

They also have to buy or build an AC40. Precisely, they can buy from the McConaghy company (official designer of the AC40) their AC40 or build the leq12 model “less than or equal to 12”, which would be a copy of the AC40 model, only allowed for trials and training, but not in the preliminary races or in the Women’s and Youth Cups.

To watch the AC40 models sail we have the first two preliminary races of the Men’s Cup. Then the Women’s and Youth Cups for which they have been developed.

In the end, the thing to remember is that we can expect spectacular racing during the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup thanks to this new boat. We can be prepared to witness the emergence of new technologies developed for the Cup but improving the overall knowledge of sailing design. All of this demonstrates the importance of such a historic Cup.