Ineos Britannia launches T6 prototype and impresses with extreme choices

There is no doubt that when Ineos Britannia launches a boat for the America’s Cup there is often something to be amazed about. They had surprised the English AC 75 forms of the last Cup, which turned out to be failures. and are no less surprising than those of the prototype, codenamed T6, that Ben Ainslie ‘s men launched at their base in Palma de Mallorca.

Ineos Britannia – The new prototype

The operation is similar to Luna Rossa’s, which is to make a prototype of the maximum length allowed by the Protocol, which is 12 meters. A laboratory boat on which to be able to test design solutions to be applied later on the future AC 75 with which the America’s Cup will be raced in 2024.

Ineos ‘ T6 , designed with the collaboration of the Mercedes F1 design team, impresses with its “angular” shapes, with a double edge on the hull: in addition to the one that runs from the bow to the stern, a less sharp, lower one is noticeable. The main edge seems to be oriented mainly at the bow to limit the risk of gagging, while at the stern it could be useful to limit side drift when the boat touches the water.

The “keelplate” is reintroduced, looking more pronounced in the central area than in the Luna Rossa prototype, and very sharp in the rear. The shape of the bridge, on the other hand, resembles that of a wing, a solution seen on the Italian prototype but which seems to have been taken to extremes here with a more prominent angle.

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Dare or remain conservative?

Making a comparison between the lines of T6 and those of Luna Rossa’s prototype, we could say that the latter, at least in appearance, seems more conservative and faithful to the winning lines of Team New Zealand’s AC 75 in the last Cup. The British one shows a similar concept, with a large flat area in the hull useful for increasing the boat’s lift, but with more extreme design solutions.

As for the choice of foils Ineos went sharply to the flat ones inaugurated by the Kiwis, while Luna Rossa sailed in an asymmetrical trim, with one open Y foil and one flat one. It is difficult to be able to say which of the two projects may be more performant and functional from the perspective of AC 75, but they are certainly two somewhat different approaches. Who will be right? That will be said by the water.

Mauro Giuffrè