ac45 catamarans

Yachting World

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What is the AC45? Meet the America’s Cup World Series foiling catamaran

• Elaine Bunting
• July 22, 2016

What is the AC45 foiling catamaran raced in the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series and how is it sailed? We find out

The boat being raced in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series is the AC45 – sometimes also called the AC45f. It is a one-design 44ft foiling catamaran (that’s what the ‘f’ in AC45 stands for).

The design was developed after the 72ft AC72 design that was raced for the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013 and conceived as a scaled back, less expensive and more easily transportable version.

Once up on foils, these boats are very fast, reaching peak speeds of 37-38 knots.

They have two large L-foils and two spade rudders with T-foils.

They are crewed by five people: a helmsman, wing trimmer, floater, jib/gennaker trimmer and bowman. There is also space behind the aft beam for a guest racer/observer.

Oracle Team USA AC45

The floater is called different things on different teams. On Land Rover BAR, the floater is Freddie Carr and the nature of this job makes it one one the fastest paced and most energetic on board.

This crew runs around the boat and does different jobs, including controlling the running backstays. They are often operating at max heart rate.

The helmsman and wing trimmer sit next to each other and feedback to one another constantly throughout the racing. The tactician on board may be the wing trimmer or another crew. On Land Rover BAR, the tactician, usually Giles Scott, is the headsail trimmer.

The two foils have winglets that produce vertical lift, with rake controlled by elevators, while the T-foils on the rudders control horizontal stability.

The AC45 race boats can only be sailed as part of the World Series and practice days, so America’s Cup teams have their own training boats on which to try different control systems, perfect manoeuvres and make technical developments.

To race in the America’s Cup teams must take part in the eight events that make up the Louis Vuitton World Series events. They AC45 costs costs €675,000.

Hull construction: Carbon composite

LOA: 13.45 m (44.1 ft)

Beam: 6.90 m (22.6 ft)

Weight: 1,290–1,320 kg (2,840–2,910 lb)

Maximum draught : 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)

Air draught : 21.5 m (71 ft) without extension, 25.5 m (84 ft) with extension

Wing: 20 m (66 ft) 83.5 m 2 (899 sq ft) wing element with three slotted flaps.

It also includes a 4m wing extension: 4 m (13 ft)

Jib: 48 m 2 (520 sq ft),

Gennaker area: 125 m 2 (1,350 sq ft).

Matthew Sheahan sailed on the AC45 at last year’s Bermuda World Series events and explains his impressions of these super-powerful boats.

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Meet the Boat: The AC45

• By Sailing World Staff
• Updated: June 20, 2012

Hull Length-13.45 m (44 feet)

Maximum Beam – 6.90 m (22.6 feet)

Mast Height – 21.50 m (70.5 feet)

Maximum Draft – 2.70 m (8.8 feet)

Displacement – 1400 kgs (3,086 pounds)

Wing Area – 85 sqm (914 square feet)

Jib Area – 48 sqm (516 square feet)

Gennaker Area – 125 sqm (1,345 square feet)

Crew – 5 people @ 85 kgs/person (187 pounds)

• More: AC45 , America's Cup , Americas Cup World Series , Catamaran , Multihull , Oracle Racing
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• Sailboat Guide

AC45 is a 44 ′ 1 ″ / 13.5 m catamaran sailboat designed by Oracle Racing Team between 2010 and 2011.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

AMERICAS CUP 45 CATAMARAN Wing Area - 85 sqm (914 square feet) Jib Area - 48 sqm (516 square feet) Gennaker Area - 125 sqm (1,345 square feet) Crew - 5 people @ 85 kgs/person (187 pounds)

One-design, high performance, wing sail catamaran. These boats were used throughout 2011 and 2012 in the America’s Cup World Series events preceeding the Louis Vuitton Cup and final Americas Cup match in 2013 (sailed in AMERCA’S CUP 72’S) . (Recently modified with foils added.)

DESIGN CREDITS: Michel Kermarec – appendages, general design Manolo Ruiz de Elvira – hull Dirk Kramers – general design, structures Joseph Ozanne/Mario Caponnetto – wing aero Scott Ferguson – wing structure Mike Drummond – general design input (Updated with foiling capabilitity - 2016)

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America’s Cup: New AC45 catamaran class takes shape in Auckland

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Written by Chelsea Smith

America’s Cup Regatta Director Iain Murray today inspected production of the new AC45 catamaran class. The AC45 is the little sister with attitude to the AC72. Both classes are fundamental parts of the transformation of the America’s Cup.

Updated graphic AC45 (the transom sections will detach just after of the after crossbeam)

A one-design wingsail catamaran of 45 feet, the AC45 has been created to fulfil three roles:

•    Fast-track teams for the 34th America’s Cup to a common level of catamaran sailing and wingsail technology at the outset of their campaigns.

•    Provide a class of boat for the 2011 season of the new America’s Cup World Series.

•    Provide a class of boat for the Youth America’s Cup commencing in 2012.

Iain Murray

Iain Murray - Photo credit Americas Cup

The first catamaran is slated for launching before Christmas in Auckland, New Zealand. Sea trials are planned immediately afterwards with representatives from potential challengers to the 34th America’s Cup invited to participate.

“The America’s Cup is now starting from a completely clean sheet of paper,” said Murray during his visit.

The rights to the design and administration of the build, sales, service and competition are vested in America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM), the independent race management authority for the 34th America’s Cup.

“The change to catamarans will see competitors racing round the track at 20 to 40 knots. It is going to be very fast and exciting. The event needed big changes and now it is happening,” added Murray.

The AC45 was designed and engineered by BMW ORACLE Racing on behalf of the America’s Cup community. Manolo Ruiz de Elvira led the hull design development, Scott Ferguson the wingsail development, and Dirk Kramers the structures team.

Mark Turner and Tim Symth of Core Builders, Warkworth, created production tooling for the hull platform and wingsail, and will produce the initial batch of boats in collaboration with other New Zealand marine industry specialists including Cookson Boats and Hall Spars NZL. Steering and daggerboard assemblies have been sub-contracted to C-Tech Carbon Technology and Craig Stirling Composites Engineering.

The AC45 is a versatile, one-design class with controlled costs and ease-of-maintenance a priority. The hulls and cross-beams are designed for simple and fast assembly to accommodate the active racing schedule.

The one-design wingsail consists of two elements. It is a scaled down concept of the 223-foot tall wing that powered BMW ORACLE Racing’s trimaran USA to victory in the 33rd America’s Cup Match.

Construction of the first AC45 catamaran is underway in New Zealand - Photo credit Americas Cup

Construction of the first AC45 catamaran is underway in New Zealand

The wing will have simple, manual control systems. There will be two headsail options, a gennaker and jib, but no Code 0 headsail.

“The AC45 is small enough that it doesn’t need hydraulics. The loads drop quickly when you get down to a boat of this size,” said Ian Burns, design team coordinator for BMW ORACLE Racing. “There aren’t even grinder pedestals. The winches will be powered by top-handle grinding.”

Keeping with the simplification theme, the AC45 will have straight daggerboards. No articulation beyond raising and lowering is permitted.

Crews are likely to number five at an average weight of 85 kilograms (approximately 187 pounds) to fit the AC45’s future role in the Youth America’s Cup.

CONSTRUCTION

Cookson Boats and other key suppliers have been engaged to work with Core Builders to ensure swift production of the first batch of boats at a rate of two a month. Another designated boatbuilder in the USA or Europe is envisaged.

Boats will be delivered in sequence of ordering.

After use next year in the ACWS, the AC45 will be used for the Youth America’s Cup, a series to be run in 2012 in conjunction with the ACWS.

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "America's Cup: New AC45 catamaran class takes shape in Auckland".

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America's Cup AC45 sailing yachts convert to hydrfoiling catamarans

Oracle Team USA and the five challenger teams have agreed to convert the existing fleet of AC45 catamarans into hydrofoiling catamarans for racing in the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS).

To do anything else would have drawn criticism of not keeping up with the times. Since the foiling spectacle of the 2013 America's Cup in San Francisco, the professional sailing world has been going hydrofoiling crazy.

Sailors on the Cup teams have been encouraged to go Moth sailing, and indeed Artemis Racing’s helmsman Nathan Outteridge recently won the International Moth World Championships in the UK. Others have been desperate to gain experience on the Great Cup circuit which uses foiling GC32 catamarans.

It was a GC32, Richard Mille, that took line honours in the JP Morgan Round the Island Race earlier this summer in the Solent. As for the AC45s, some teams such as Artemis already have experience of converting such a craft to foiling.

It’s good news for the Cup that the teams have been able to agree on something after a year of little progress. Even more impressive is that the teams have committed to continue racing the foiling AC45s on the America’s Cup World Series circuit in 2018, the year after the 35th Cup will have taken place.

If this proves to be the case, it will be a rare example of continuity taking place in an event that tends to lurch from one edition to the next with all the momentum lost from one Cup to the next. Here’s hoping that the teams - and whoever wins the next Cup - prove capable of keeping to their pledge.

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Tuesday 18 January 2011

America's cup: ac45 wing-sailed catamaran under sail in auckland.

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AC45 Designs - Lines and sail plans - first time published on the web

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Golden Gate YC : P ress Release Multihulls for America's Cup 2013

The catamaran will be able to fly a hull in 5 to 6 knots true windspeed.  The target boatspeeds in winds under 10 knots were set at 1.2 times the true windspeed upwind and 1.6 times true windspeed downwind. 

High speeds are derived from enormous power.  The AC72 has a righting moment of approximately 60-ton-meters.  Determining the sail plan dimensions was difficult because the boat has to be powerful in light winds and not overpowered in stronger winds. 

“It’s been challenging to have the cat fully powered-up and flying a hull in light winds, yet also able to sail in 30 knots,” Melvin said.  “We put a lot of time and effort into sizing the wingsail and the platform dimensions in order to sail in that full range.”

The height of the wingsail will be approximately 40 meters (130 feet) with a maximum chord length between 10 and 11 meters (32 and 36 feet). 

Two options for depowering are removable flaps on the upper leech or a removable mast tip.  Both options would reduce sail and weight. 

With such a wide boat, additional structure has been required to optimize the longitudinal stability of the AC72 to dampen flexing and to resist the high forestay loads. 

A draft of the AC72 Rule has been completed and the final rule will be issued by September 30. 

Other highlights of the new class:

• Ease of assembly: The AC72 can be assembled in two days and disassembled in one to accommodate the shipping schedule for the America’s Cup World Series events.  • Platform configuration: Either a conventional layout catamaran, one with cockpits and helmsman stations in both hulls, or teams will have an option of designing a central pod to centralize all the wing and sail-handling controls.  • Wingsail or soft sails: The AC72 class rule allows for wingsail and soft sail options to promote racing through a broad range of conditions.  • Power source: Engines are banned but electrically driven valves to control the wingsail might be permitted.  • Rudders and daggerboards: The rule limits a maximum of four underwater appendages, two rudders and two daggerboards.  To reduce costs, standardized, one-design daggerboards are being considered.  • Construction materials and methods: Limits on high-modulus carbon-fiber have been put in place for hull construction.  The class rule outlines a minimum outside skin weight of 600 grams per square meter, similar to other racing boats of that size.  Core materials may either be foam or honeycomb.  High-modulus carbon will be allowed in the wing sail, to add stiffness and strength.  • Onboard cameramen will be carried during racing.   

The Youth America’s Cup and AC45

The next generation of sailing heroes will be created by the Youth America’s Cup, a new global sports event that will take place annually from 2012.

National teams will compete in the AC45, the new, fast, wingsail one-design catamaran that America's Cup teams will race during 2011.

Competition rules for the Youth America’s Cup are in development and will be announced by June 2011, following the close of the challenge period for America's Cup teams.

The AC45 is not only a launch pad for young sailors around the world, but will also fast-track America's Cup teams straight to the latest state-of-the-art wingsail technology.

The AC45 class will be managed by the new independent America's Cup Race Management and built by Core Builders in Warkworth, New Zealand.

Six new boats are underway with hull no.1 due to be launched in December 2010. All America’s Cup teams will be invited to take part in the sea trials.

The platforms, hulls and cross beams, will be delivered to America’s Cup teams with all composite work completed. Only assembly, painting and instrumentation fit-out will remain.

The wingsails will be supplied either as a finished product or in a kit with assemblage information supplied as per the class rule.  

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Ready, Set, Sail: America's Cup Back In Rhode Island

Bradley Campbell

The Oracle Racing AC45 catamaran skipped by James Spithill competes in the America's Cup World Series in Cascais, Portugal in August 2011. The Oracle Team USA sailors are also competing in the final leg of this year's regatta in Newport, R.I. Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

The Oracle Racing AC45 catamaran skipped by James Spithill competes in the America's Cup World Series in Cascais, Portugal in August 2011. The Oracle Team USA sailors are also competing in the final leg of this year's regatta in Newport, R.I.

An America's Cup sailing event is being held to Newport, R.I., for the first time in 29 years. Sailors began arriving in Newport last week for the final leg of the America's Cup World Series regatta, which has been held at stops all across the world to gin up excitement for the official America's Cup next year in San Francisco .

No longer the sleepy, tactical event of old, the race now features a revolutionary new boat — the AC45 catamaran , made of carbon fiber and powered by a giant vertical wing. The high-tech boats are smaller versions of the vessels that sailors will be skippering in next year's big race.

"The boats are relentless," says Australian sailor James Spithill , who races for Oracle Team USA. "They are the most physical thing we've ever sailed and the most exciting thing we've ever sailed, and then probably the most demanding."

The Oracle Racing AC45 catamarans practice in the San Francisco Bay in February. The AC45 is a smaller version of the AC72, which teams will race in next year's America's Cup Finals in 2013. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images hide caption

The Oracle Racing AC45 catamarans practice in the San Francisco Bay in February. The AC45 is a smaller version of the AC72, which teams will race in next year's America's Cup Finals in 2013.

Spithill, also known as "James Pitbull," was a childhood boxer from Australia who left the ring for the sea. The youngest man ever to win the America's Cup, Spithill arrived in Newport skippering a class boat that's reinventing the game.

'Something That They've Never Seen Before'

These catamarans have also piqued the interest of Newport's residents. Even though this week's regatta is not the finals, Brad Read, chairman of the local host committee, says that with the right sailing conditions, the event just might knock the Topsiders off the locals.

"I'm really hoping it's windy because the people are going to just see something that they've never seen before," Read says.

Newport resident Halsey Herreshoff is excited to show off his backyard to a new generation of international sailors. Though their name is often mispronounced, the Herreshoffs are like royalty in sailing. Herreshoff's grandfather designed and built the first catamaran back in the 1870s.

Halsey Herreshoff has sailed all across the world from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, but he says, "I come back here, and I look out at my window and I see Narragansett Bay, and I think to myself, 'Yeah, those places were all great, but this is the best.' "

Like NASCAR On Water

Sailors like Spithill want to show people that sailboat racing has moved past the days of Ted Turner in a blazer . The regatta also allows sailors to get comfy with the high-tech craft because, as Spithill says, they're dangerous.

More On Sailing From NPR

Around the Nation

Pushing the limits: solo-sailing the americas.

On a recent ride, the boat kicked up to 24 knots or so on Narragansett Bay. One hull lifted out of the water, and Spithill and his Oracle teammates leaned their bodies over its side. The boat balanced at a 40-degree angle, slicing through waters crowded with pleasure boats.

Unlike in the past, this new breed of sailing does not permit dead weight. Navigators, tacticians and other non-athletes can no longer just sit onboard during races. "If you can't put some serious horsepower into the boat, the guys [onboard] aren't going to carry you around," Spithill says.

Still, Spithill hopes the new boats will increase the sport's popularity. He wants people to view sailboat racing like NASCAR on the water. And as he threads his racing machine through waters off Newport, leaving the pleasure boats in his wake, you can't help but think he might get his wish. As every NASCAR fan knows, speed sells.

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ORACLE TEAM USA 17 - AC 45 - 2015

Reference MN-A37 Oracle Team USA AC45 2015

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Discover this desk model of the Oracle Team USA AC45 2015. Ready to race!

Scale 1/64  

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Desk model size:       8.5" L x 4.75" w x 15" H.

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The AC45 Foiling Catamaran racing in the Louis Vuitton World Series regatta just has to be seen to be believed, as should the model made by Abordage.

“With the home of the America’s Cup now in Bermuda as the teams prepare for the finals in 2017, our waters are alive with action. The AC45 Foiling Catamaran racing in the Louis Vuitton World Series regatta just has to be seen to be believed, as should the model made by Abordage to commemorate them. As a native Bermudian sailor, I was looking for a desk model that would truly bring justice to this epitome of sail racing machine, and with this Abordage creation, I have it! The intricate level of detail, supreme craftsmanship and overall design is all that I could have hoped for. I am thrilled to have this in my collection, and am now looking through the rest of their catalogue to see what others may appeal. Likewise I am eagerly awaiting Abordage’s next creation from the America’s Cup series for the AC50 2017 competition boat which, based on what I have now with the AC45 edition, will no doubt be another fabulous model to acquire and add to my collection!” Mark Berry

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A Gentleman in Moscow

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A Russian aristocrat is spared from death and placed on house arrest while the Bolshevik Revolution plays out before him. A Russian aristocrat is spared from death and placed on house arrest while the Bolshevik Revolution plays out before him. A Russian aristocrat is spared from death and placed on house arrest while the Bolshevik Revolution plays out before him.

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Far from the battlefield, Moscow’s generals fight a falling birth rate

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Norma Cohen

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The writer is the FT’s former demography correspondent

Despite the vast combat operation currently under way in Ukraine, the Kremlin has refrained from a full military mobilisation and refused to admit that it is at war. There are plenty of strategic reasons for this decision, but an underlying demographic weakness may also be partly to blame: Russia has been producing too few babies since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union to even keep its population stable, let alone build up an army.

This trend is not specific to Russia — falling fertility rates have been a characteristic of almost all developed economies for several decades. While the world is at peace, the necessary adjustments to rising longevity and falling fertility tend to focus on economic and social policies. As we have seen across Europe and the US, governments are raising state pension ages and looking at support for working mothers. War, however, casts falling fertility in a different light.

The data for Russia indicates that its total fertility rate fell to about 1.3 babies per woman aged 15 to 44 in the early 1990s, according to the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. To maintain a stable population, the national average needs to be closer to 2.1 babies. Other nations falling below this threshold include China and several countries across central and eastern Europe, including Ukraine — which has barred men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country since the invasion.

Moscow has tried to reverse the falling birth rate, including a policy in 2007 to offer financial rewards to those having children. But Dmitri Jdanov, head of Max Planck’s data lab, notes that while this produced a slight uptick in births, it mainly encouraged women to have a second child more quickly after the first was born.

Three years later, concerns were growing among Russia’s military leadership that low fertility was becoming a national security issue, with Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov, then commander of airborne forces, proclaiming this a “great danger that we can no longer ignore”.

Shamanov’s fears are borne out in the data: while the number of men aged 18 to 27 is expected to grow sharply from severely depressed levels by 2035, the size of the slightly older cohort aged 30 to 35 will fall by 50 per cent over the same period, according to a study carried out on behalf of Finland’s Defence Research Agency.

Those of prime conscription age, 20 to 24, peaked in 2015 and began declining in 2020, the paper found. The manpower deficit will not be made any easier following the death of at least 15,000 Russian troops since the start of the Ukraine invasion.

This is not to say that population concerns have acted as a break on mass military mobilisation in the current conflict. Julian Cooper, emeritus professor of Russian economic studies at the University of Birmingham, argues the Kremlin is far more concerned about the potentially unsettling social and political effects on a “largely unprepared society already suffering from the impact of sanctions on their consumption”.

Clearly, Putin is trying to maintain the fiction that the Ukraine invasion is not a war. Nevertheless, the manpower shortage is real. This year, he abolished the maximum age at which men can enlist for military service, which was previously capped at 40.

Andrew Lohsen, a Russia expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggests that a more pressing problem is that military service is an unattractive option for young men with better choices. Notoriously poor pay and harsh treatment of conscripts have, for decades, struck fear into potential applicants.

The difficulty for defence chiefs is that as the war continues, new demographic factors could make things worse. Since the 1990s, deaths have been outstripping births nearly every year, although immigration has offset roughly half that population decline. This is significant given that foreigners aged 18 to 30 have been allowed to serve in Russia’s military since 2015.

A nation at war, suffering economic hardship, will struggle to attract the number of new immigrants it has in the past.

Now that the Ukraine conflict is progressing from an acute attack to a drawn-out war of attrition, the population effects — emigration of Russian nationals, birth rate suppression due to political uncertainty and dwindling numbers of new immigrants  — spell further trouble for the long-term future of the armed forces.

As Lohsen warns: “The long term effects of a nation’s demography on a grinding war have to be taken into account.”

Letter in response to this article:

Let’s hope China doesn’t follow Russia’s example / From Ira Sohn, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Finance, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ, US

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