| America's Cup Racing Yachts Evolution of a Design - The AC72 Class |
| The IAAC class lasted to the end of the 2007 series. After that, racing for the America's Cup has shifted to multihull yacht designs, including boats with hydrofoiling capability that skim on top of the water and are capable of speeds much greater than the speed of the true wind. The latest design class used in the 2013 competition was the AC72 class, a wing sail catamaran box rule design with the following maximum specifications: - overall length: 26.2 metres (86 ft) - waterline length: 22.0 metres (72.2 ft) - beam: 14.0 metres (45.9 ft) - weight: 5,900 kilograms (13,000 lb) - maximum draught: 4.4 metres (14 ft) - crew: 11 The winner of the 2013 America's Cup races, held in San Francisco Bay, was Team Oracle USA, the defending team, who came from behind 1-8 to defeat Emirates Team New Zealand, the challenging team, 9-8. |
| In my opinion, the America's Cup races are no longer a competition between yachts of seagoing capability, but rather racing machines designed on aerodynamic principles for obtaining very high speeds in restricted waters. Maybe it should be renamed the Billionaire's Cup since that is what it takes to compete in. It appears to be far removed from what the original founders of the America's Cup races ever imagined. |