America's Cup

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Platapus

At some point they will cease being boats and be more like very low flying aircraft.

No joke... They basically are now.

The mainsail is no longer a 'sail' per se. It's a rigid, morphing, sail. It is literally a vertical wing. And my guestimation, it's about 25 stories high, comparing to the size of the guys. (You can see the Taper of the mast in the pic, that actually does taper down to a point) The only 'true' sail is the jib, and I'm guessing that's only there for the rules (if it wasn't required, I'd guess a bigger main would be faster!). I can see it being used on a true downind leg though, as the main can't let out that far. They are actually jibbing back and forth downwind! The apparent wind angle is such that the rigid main can then accelerate the boat to about 1.5x the wind speed.


I am already planning to build a working RC model. Just need to get me a 3D printer!