New York Yacht Club American Magic, Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, rolled out its new AC75 race boat, “B3,” in Barcelona.
B3 made its debut as it emerged from the NYYC American Magic base for structural and load testing at the American Magic base in Barcelona.
As is usual for these first public exposures, as little as possible was revealed, and we can expect at least one, maybe two more such reveals before we get any real idea of just what the American AC75 have looks like.
The almost retro graphic detailing with white, grey and blue overlaid speed streaks, trick the eye at deck level and certainly onto the bow form whilst the blue marrs any meaningful interpretation at this stage of dilets and mouldings down the hull form.
The flaring at the bow underbelly off the fine entry skeg and bustle is extreme – arguably more extreme than we’ve seen elsewhere.
Its form is all built off an aggressive bustle and keel chine that runs aft and then kicks up to the stern with depth and sharpness – not dissimilar to the scalpel shape we saw on Patriot but far more nuanced for Barcelona.
The T-section aft run off, now standard for Barcelona-designed boats and rather International Moth in its treatment, is there as seen in the cradling arrangements but we will have to wait to see the deck detailing around the pods and the stern run-off as that was covered by a sheeting
The cockpit area itself is tapered back to the stern, housing the crew and cyclor pods and looks similar albeit lower perhaps than Emirates Team New Zealand. The gantry size at the stern indicates that some of the rudder mechanism at least will be in the small bustle that leads right to the transom.
See this American Magic Video where Terry Hutchinson, shares the latest from American Magic’s team base in Barcelona with April’s Monthly Update.
A further phase of commissioning and testing completes the path for B3 before an official naming ceremony and inaugural sail, which is pencilled in for early May.
It won’t be long before she’s there in full view and a proper analysis and assessment can be made but if first impressions count, this one was a good one. (Magnus Wheatley)
With the boat reveals in full swing, anticipation builds for the upcoming Preliminary Regatta in Barcelona on August 22-25, where all six AC75s will compete for the first time.
Following this, the focus shifts to The Louis Vuitton Cup (29 Aug – 7 Oct), where American Magic aims to secure their place in the America’s Cup match (12-27 Oct) against defenders New Zealand.
Related post . . . .
INEOS Britannia AC75 – Filling in the details of RB3 with hopes riding high
