AC 40, first America’s Cup foiler ready to launch

The first boat we will see on stage at the next America’s Cup, Barcelona 2024, is about to hit the water. No, we are not referring to the AC 75s with which the America’s Cup will be contested, but to the AC 40s, the foil monohulls with which Youth and Women America’s Cups will be held.

AC 40 – What the America’s Cup Foil monohulls will look like.

They are being built in China, at the Australian shipyard McConaghy Yachts, which will be responsible for all hulls in production. The design is by the usually volcanic Dan Bernasconi, great head of the Kiwis’ design team, who basically adapted the concept, and the design, with which Team New Zealand had won the cup, namely Hull 2 Te Rehutai, to a 12-meter foil. Predictions are that the AC 40s will have similar performance even to the first AC 75s launched, the Hull 1s of the last edition.

AC 40 – a One Design boat

The flying monohulls will all be perfectly the same and are not based on box rules like the 75s. Those that will be in the possession of youth or women’s teams affiliated with a challenger team, Luna Rossa’s for example, may for example be subject to testing and experimentation, but they must always be in strict monotype when racing.

AC 40 – double mainsail and sails

As on the 75, these boats will also have a double channel on the mast and two overlapping mainsails. A choice that has aerodynamic reasons, since a rigid wing is not allowed on these boats the two mainsails are the closest solution to an airfoil. The sails are supplied by North Sails, the mast is in two sections and built by Southern Spars.

AC 40 – Data

Hull length 11.80 mt
Maximum beam 3.38 mt
Draught 3.50 mt
Displacement 2000 kg
Crew 4 people