VIDEO – Team New Zealand and those narrow, curved foils that are already scary
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Team New Zealand ‘s landing in Barcelona, the last to arrive after the month-long “transfer” to Spain, has put the America’s Cup into the final rush toward the first official races, August 22 the last Preliminaries from August 29 the first valid for the Louis Vuitton Cup. While it is true that Team New Zealand’s hull did not hold any particular twists and turns, although the Kiwis’ design remains the benchmark somewhat for all challengers, attention must once again be paid to the appendages, which were already decisive in the 2020 edition in Auckland.
These weeks, the versions of foils that teams are testing on the water are not the final ones, but they are close.
There is little time to modify the foils (albeit partially as stipulated in the Protocol) now, and the unions’ choices are close to being the near-final ones.
Team New Zealand is sporting flat appendages but, unlike those of the other challengers who have gone in the same direction as the Kiwis (the only ones to have flat foils as early as 2020), the New Zealanders’ foils look noticeably more curved and, perhaps, with a smaller surface area.
Foils under the lens
We have made an enlargement of one of the few photos where we can compare the foils of the New Zealanders in this case with Luna Rossa.
The furthest boat in the photo was Luna Rossa.
Net of possible distortions due to perspective and the angle of the shot relative to the boats, LR’s foil would appear to be larger in width with a more pronounced flap.
Differences on shape as well, with the Italian one straight and the Kiwis’ curved instead.
The curvature, if deformable, could delineate an appendage that changes shape depending on the speed of the boat and the load it is subjected to.
The figure is interesting because on these boats what is submerged matters more than what is out of the water: hulls have a significant impact on performance but not at the same level as appendages.
For this reason, the choice of the New Zealanders should be watched, waiting to see the performance on the water inside the race course.
Impossible at this time to quantify a, if any, speed advantage, but certainly the Kiwis’ choice, if it is confirmed that their final foils will be leaner, is an interesting one.
Team New Zealand and the curved foils – The VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEiwcND2Daw Mauro Giuffrè
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