America’s Cup: The design puzzle at the heart of the 2027 regatta in Naples
After the changes to the protocol for the next America’s Cup, team designers will have to find a different way to put together the same puzzle.
Under a shortened cycle, the next regatta will be contested in Naples, Italy, in the 2027 European summer.
That timeline essentially gives teams two years to prepare, after the last edition in Barcelona ended in October 2024 as the protocol and class rule for the Naples regatta were delayed and the America’s Cup Partnership (ACP) was established.
With the ACP – a new governance structure allowing all competing teams to have a seat at the table – now finalised, the five teams who have confirmed their entries in Naples will be in full swing, preparing for a new-look edition.
Among the changes in the protocol is that existing teams will not be permitted to build new AC75 hulls but will instead have to modify the ones they raced with in Barcelona.
There will be plenty of modifications to make, with batteries replacing the four cyclors to power the hydraulic systems. But while the power teams have been replaced, an extra member of the sailing team has been added, with now five sailors on board – as well as a sixth spot for a guest sailor.
“We’ve still got plenty to focus on,” Emirates Team New Zealand head of design Dan Bernasconi told the Herald late last year.
“There are a number of changes we can make to our existing hull which, surprisingly, is almost as much work really from a design point of view because you’ve got to work out how to make the best of the hull you’ve got with a number of changes.
“The hull is just one part of the puzzle, and there’s just as much going on in terms of foil development and sails, which is really where we see the bigger gains to be made ... that’s really why those areas have been left open and the hull has been taken off the table for this time, because those are the areas that make the difference.”
Teams are permitted to begin sailing their AC75s again on January 15, limited to just 45 sailing days on the vessel over the next year to get valuable data to continue developing their final packages.
While seeing the different avenues teams had taken in their hull design has been a highlight of the past few cycles, Bernasconi said the reality was the hulls didn’t make as big a difference in the speed of the boats as other aspects.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis on all of our competitors through the last cup and we reckon between the best and the worst of the hulls probably equates to only something like 4 or 5 seconds per race. Whereas the difference between what we think are the best and the worst foils in the fleet is more like 40 seconds per race,” Bernasconi explained.
“To the casual observer, they all probably look pretty similar, but there’s so much performance that you can wring out of the foils ... that’s really where it’s more worthwhile putting your effort.”
Among the changes, the decision to replace cyclors with batteries was one that caught plenty of attention.
The protocol states the batteries will “mimic the capability of human cyclors in terms of average power output, peak power, fatigue, and other relevant data”, which means the sailing teams will have to determine how best to use the power available.
Asked about this element of the design, Bernasconi said it was important that the change still promoted efficiency, as opposed to just giving teams an unlimited supply of power at their disposal.
“There’s a very limited power supply available and the power that is available is about the same as what four top, pro-level cyclors would output. There’s some equations in the class rule around how that power can be used. So, for instance, you couldn’t use it all immediately and then have nothing for the last 15 minutes,” he said.
“It approximates a human in that if you don’t use power for a while, then it recovers and you’re able to use a bit more. It’s kind of a very simplified view of what a human could output. So in some ways it’s similar, but there are some significant differences and we’ll be looking at how to optimise our systems around that just like we did for the humans.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.