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NZ AC72 NEWS – As we saw yesterday in our video post of Team NZ’s new AC72 flying on foils the question is “will they race on foils”. It’s no secret that foils can be fast but are there drawbacks to the foils?
Emirates Team New Zealand Grant Dalton said in the release issued late Friday afternoon NZT that all the teams will be testing foil design.
‘The thrust of our testing is to determine if foils enhance performance overall. How will they affect upwind speed? Might that nullify any downwind gain?
‘In addition, the effect on boat-handling in upper wind ranges needs to be assessed carefully.
‘There is a tendency for the boat to dig in when it is bearing away and the placement of the dagger foils and their shape has a marked effect on this.
‘Foiling is only part of the equation. Right now we see as many negatives as positives.’
So will foils be a ‘must have’ like the wing is? We know that without sensor controls to control the attitude of the foil you can have catastrophic results if the foil attains a negative angle. You can’t win the AC if you capsize due to a malfunction of the foil.
Will they perfect foiling in one year? With millions of dollars and full time testing we think the answer will be yes! So in our humble opinion you will see full flying AC 72′s in the next AC…maybe a good time for all you MOTH sailors to put in your resume.
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