Today we start a new series of in-depth technical articles from our friend Jack Griffin of Cup Experience. Are you a world class racing sailor? Or a nautical newbie? Or somewhere in between? Whatever your level of sailing knowledge, Jack will be your personal guide to the America’s Cup, giving you all the practical “when-what-where-who” info and taking you backstage to get the insider scoop on the competitors.
Three AC72 designs. Three ergonomic approaches for layout and crew choreography. The 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco may be decided by crew work – the short, tight courses will mean a lot of maneuvers. We will look at crew choreography in another article; here we’ll just show the boat layouts.
Oracle Team USA
Consistent with their attention to aerodynamics, OTUSA has their grinders face fore and aft, standing in cockpits, to reduce windage. There are four grinding pedestals on each hull. One of the grinding stations is aft of the helm. Advantage: less aero drag. Disadvantage: harder for the crew to get in and out of the cockpits.
Artemis Racing
Unlike the other three teams, Artemis does not have four grinding pedestals on each hull – only two. Their boat has a central cockpit with two more pedestals and six winches. Advantage: saves the weight of two pedestals on the boat. Disadvantage: reduces righting moment when the crew are not on the windward hull.
Please read the rest of this analysis here