All crazy about the AC40: the $3 million boat to dream of the America’s Cup

The AC 40s in the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups (both won by Luna Rossa, as we have told you HERE and HERE) have attracted public interest because of their showmanship, versatility in racing, even to the point of seeming almost more fun than the AC 75s. Our Ida Castiglioni tells us from the docks in Barcelona how the simulator works to train to take these boats, how much they cost, and what the future of the class looks like.

All crazy about AC40

After seeing the AC40s jumping from wave to wave, one can only be excited about this new class. They are hulls that move with such agility that they look like Moth foiling and not hyper-technological carbon-fiber hulls, nearly 12 m long, each costing $3 million US. They are marketed by the New Zealand company McConaghy but are manufactured in China. This monohull foiling was put into production just ahead of the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup. The simulator that is used to learn how to conduct it is produced by McConaghy in two versions: the Desk version for desktop computers and the Cockpit version, which repurposes the four stations found on board. In use by the Australian team was theAC40 Simulator, which in late September

was displayed at the last Genoa Boat Show and was a huge success, and not only among younger visitors. The booth was a strong point of attraction and the simulator always overbooked. The Cockpit model , on the other hand, is built as a part of AC40 and provides for the four seats, buttons, steering wheel as well as a steering wheel handling system as on the original boat.

AC40, how important is the simulator

This simulator will soon be installed in the Genoa headquarters of the Foiling Organization and can be accessed by FIV sections, Yacht Clubs, Sailing Circles and Sailing Schools to train young people. In practice, the AC40 Simulator makes it possible to automate the learning process and facilitate the connection between the mind of the maneuver decision maker and his hand, leaving the head free for strategy and tactics. And this was seen in the sea trials of the past few weeks. The women and men engaged on the water, certainly among the best sailors, after only six days between trials and races on the AC40s, have managed to maneuver these foiling monohulls in the most diverse wind conditions and complete each trial. Recall that Luna Rossa, Orient Express, Ineos and Artemis own one, while New Zealand, American Magic and Alinghi each own two. All I had to do was watch these regattas and talk to some of the boys and girls who operate these technological ‘monsters’ to become optimistic about the future of this youth (Youth and Woman’s America’s Cup) sailing. In the America’s Cup regattas dedicated to them, all the invited teams, with the exception of the Swedes from Artemis (who had had their own hull at their disposal for more than a year) had never before been on an AC40 (hyper-tech boat) but they had all been able to train extensively on a model of this simulator that was developed, from the data collected and the Kiwi experience in the 2021 America’s Cup, by the Emirates Team New Zealand design team. The original model costs between €120,000 and €150,000, and each team involved in these competitions owned its own simulator, while two are freely available to the public here in Barcelona since the preliminary races. The class intends to put future buyers under an obligation to spend a high number of hours on the simulator and then a certain number of hours on the water, assisted by an experienced instructor, before they have a chance to race on this (exciting but complex) hull. There will be an official AC40 simulator in Genoa, which exactly replicates the way those who have raced in the Catalan city have sailed.

An Italian to head the AC40 class

The Class Manager of the AC40 Association is Italian: he is Luca Rizzotti, creator of Foiling Week and the Foiling Awards, the annual awards for the best design and sporting achievements in the foil world. Rizzotti, who is busy promoting new circuits post America’s Cup, revealed to us that a series of events are planned for the AC40s for 2025, and among them it is possible that the one in Pensacola, where the American Magic team, coached by Terry Hutchinson, has set its base for the past three years, will be held in the United States at the end of the year.

Pensacola, an emerging hub of American cruising sailing, is located in West Florida (the one overlooking the Gulf of Mexico). Pensacola has also been chosen as the location for Foiling Week 2025, which will be held from Feb. 24 to March 2 and will feature various classes competing including Moth foiling, Waszp, Class A Catamarans, Birdyfish, Nacra15FCS, as well as other foiling categories, such as various foil boards, sailing and non-sailing.

Ida Castiglioni