How Technological Advances changed the America's Cup
- Mar 28, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 31, 2020
The America's Cup is the oldest trophy in international sports.
No, seriously. First contested in 1851, it predates the modern Olympic Games by 45 years! A schooner called America won the first race around the Isle Of Wight against a fleet of British yachts, setting the USA on a winning streak that would last 132 years, the longest in the history of sport. To show how much the sport has changed between 1851 and now, here's what America looked like:
And here's the AC50 hydro-foiling Catamaran used by Team New Zealand to win the 35th America's Cup in 2017:
Very different, right? There are several advances in modern technology that have drastically changed how the America's Cup looks.
Hydro-foiling
The modern AC50 is able to hydro-foil at anything over 7 knots (12 km/hour) of wind. Hydro-foiling is when the centerboard is able to generate enough lift to bring the hulls of the boat out of the water. This GIF should be a good example:
As the majority of the boat is out of the water, there is far less friction and resistance, which leads to much faster, and more exciting races. The max speed that has been reached in an AC50 is 47.2 knots (87.4 km/hour), which is ludicrously fast. Controlling a boat traveling at this speed requires an immense amount of power, which is generated by 4 of the 6 crew members permanently "grinding", either on arm-powered winches or gym-style bikes. This power is used to adjust the steering and the massive sails hydraulically.
You can see why this competition is called Formula One on water!
The Wing/Sail
The power used to lift the boat out of the water is generated by the ginormous, hulking 78.6 foot solid carbon fibre 'sail'. This hard wing has more in common with the wing of a Boeing 747 than it does the sail of the America.
This behemoth of modern technology has been designed and optimised by
gathering and analysing enormous quantities of data. On an average testing day, over 300GB of performance data can be collected. The incredibly complex machine learning techniques that have been used to develop F1 cars and aeroplanes are then used to figure out where changes can be made to take the boat to the next level. For example, the same AI that Jaguar Land Rover use to understand its cars has been repurposed to pursue this goal.
The Viewing Experience
The amazing advances in design that have been described must've been expensive, right?
This financing isn't done for free, is it?
As with many other sports, advertising money is the lifeblood of the America's Cup, which has lead to amazing advances in the viewing experience, as the broadcasters try to woo new sports fanatics (like myself).
And wow, is it working. Check this video out to see for yourself:
These superimposed graphics allow the complex sport of sailing to be understood by fans around the world, who may or may not understand the intricacies of the rules. Who likes rules? Not us! The viewer can see the boat speeds, distances between the boats, and the next mark that the boats must pass. The technology is incredibly complex, and can track the boat to a 2 centimeter accuracy, using GPS receivers communicating with a base station.
This incredible tracking system is complemented by an impressive array of camera angles, provided by seven HDTV cameras mounted on each boat. These cameras are remotely adjusted from shore, allowing cameramen to fiddle with the pan, zoom, tilt and focus to bring you the perfect image. This technology can be used to create gorgeous footage like this:
A far cry from the scenes of 1851!
Diarmuid Coffey
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