America’s Cup: The Resurrection of American Magic

To understand the job that lay ahead for American Magic once it was saved, it helps to first understand the boat. The class of boats that race in the America’s Cup, AC75, is a new model that each entry was required to build and race in this year’s competition. The boats don’t just sail, they fly — provided they can reach speeds over 15 knots. Once a yacht’s hull rises out of the water, all that touches the surface are the boat’s two hydrofoils — those mechanical, praying mantis-like legs — and an equally thin rudder.

Even the terminology used around the boats has changed, to phrases more commonly associated with flying. “The pitch, nose up, nose down — they use exactly the same terminology in sailing now,” said Mark Orams, a professor of sport and recreation at the Auckland University of Technology. There is also now a crew position called a flight controller, responsible for stabilizing the boat while it is out of the water.

“You can go really, really fast,” Orams said of the new generation of racing yachts, “but you are going to be at a high risk of crashing.”

While an AC75 won’t go anywhere unless there is wind, all of its instruments and functions, like moving the hydrofoils in and out of the water, need power. Hydraulic power that moves or trims the sails comes from about eight crew members called grinders, who furiously pump hand-turned levers during the race. A lithium battery powers everything else.

That power system, along with other major controls, was destroyed by saltwater when Patriot capsized. The team had spares for all of the major components, and it harvested pieces from Defiance, the prototype for Patriot, to make some repairs. The team had to improvise with many yards of connecting cables, said Sean Healey, who worked on Patriot’s electronic rebuild.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/sports/sailing/american-magic-americas-cup.html