“America” and “Magic” together for American Magic!

Now there’s two!  “America” and “Magic” are the American Magic team’s  two AC40’s and now both are in the water and tearing a daily track across the Barcelona seafront, as they prep for AC37!

Wait, What?  Where did Miss Patriot go?  She was a regular site on the Bay with her stately wing-sail, levitating foils, rooster tail wakes and chase-boat escorts, from October until the end of February.  We never lost interest in her moves!  Even if you are a sailing fan, these yacht changes can be baffling, so here’s the low down.

The rules for the 37th Americas Cup were developed by the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, aka ETNZ, as is the defender’s perogative in this oldest of international sporting competitions.

But before we get into this, we need to clarify the terms!

Terminology:

AC36: 36th Americas Cup, held in Aukland in March of 2021.

AC37: 37th Americas Cup, scheduled for Barcelona in October of 2024;

AC75: 75 foot foiling monohull, first built and raced in AC36.

AC40: Americas Cup 40 One Design foiling monohull;

LEQ12: Foiling 12 meter monohull optionally built as a testing platform in preparation for AC37.  Some teams, like American Magic, modified one of their AC40’s for the purpose of testing.

The Rules:

You can dig as deep as you like into the AC75 Class Rule since its publication on March 17, 2022.

Along with a volume of Technical Regulations.

The progress each team has made in processing and executing these rules in the past 12 months is remarkable.

The Yachts:

The rules specified the kinds of yachts teams could use during training along with the date parameters for each.  In this regard, there are four yacht designations:  AC75-verison one; AC75-version two, AC40, and LEQ12.

AC75-version one: This is a yacht that was built for AC36.  Patriot, the American Magic yacht we’ve seen for months on Pensacola Bay is a version one AC75.  The rules restrict how many modifications could be made to this design during the training and testing process for AC37.  The Swiss team, Alinghi Red Bull, purchased the AC75 that won AC36 from ETNZ and began sailing it in June of 2022 as allowed by the rules.

AC75-version two This is the yacht each team will build for the AC37 competition.  One one yacht can be built by each team and the rules specify that the following components will be standard “one design” and are not open for modification:  mast, rigging, foil cant arms and hydraulics.  These restrictions are hoped to lower the cost of entry to encourage additional entrant.

Given typical production times for such sophisticated sailing craft, most teams will have commenced construction of their AC75-version 2 in the next few months.

AC40:  This is a new 40 foot one-design foiling monohull, generally based on the original AC75 configuration, shortened to a forty-foot hull.  There are other aspects of this design that simplify operation including: battery power instead of human power for sailing and foil control, autopilot instead of manual wing trimming, and a reduced crew complement to 4.  The defender, ENTZ intends for this yacht to have two roles: with limited modifications from its one design configuration, it will be used by each AC37 entrant for team training and as a testing platform for foil and possibly sail innovations; and, in its one design configuration it will be used by entrants in a series of races at three regattas preceding the AC37 challenger series in 2024.  In addition, these yachts will be used in their one design configuration for youth and women team development and competition.  Each AC37 entrant can purchase up to two of these, based on their order of entry into AC37, and all boats are constructed by McConaghy boat works in China.

LEQ12:  Each team is permitted to build a test yacht, less than or equal to 12 meters, ie. LEQ12, on which they are able to test foils, sail systems and crew power configurations.  The Italian team (Luna Rossa) and the Great Britain team (INEOS Britannia) each built one of these.  When an AC40 is modified, it becomes an LEQ12 for the purpose of the rules.

Timing:

Each of the teams that raced in AC36 was allowed to begin sailing a first generation AC75 on September 22, 2022.  American Magic splashed Patriot in the Pensacola Bay in October 16, 2022 and Miss America in February of 2023.  Both got packed and sent to Barcelona where they have just arrived, nearly at he same time as America’s sister-ship, “Magic”!

American Magic team members will now be training on two AC40’s, America with her modifications as an LEQ12 and Magic, in her unmodified, one-design condition.  You can keep up with the team and these changes by tacking them:

on the American Magic website

Now, here’s a glossary of sites where you can learn more along with links to American Magic’s social media channels.

Pensacola New Journal: https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2022/10/19/americas-cup-team-american-magic-returns-pensacola-bay-florida/10495449002/

Sail World: https://www.sail-world.com/news/255008/Cup-Spy-American-Magic-leaps-to-Version-2

https://www.sail-world.com/news/256262/Cup-Critiqued-AC37-December-2022-Rankings

Sailing Scuttlebutt: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2022/10/14/different-paths-to-37th-americas-cup/

Sail Web: https://www.sailweb.co.uk/2023/02/03/ac37-orient-express-team-ac75-construction-will-begin-in-may/

American Magic’s Social Media Presence:

Web: https://americanmagic.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMagicTeam/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanmagicteam/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@AmericanMagic

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#SailPensacola

#AC75