The American Magic Team have sailing on Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, on a regular basis as they catch-up after five months of shore-side time.
After a sticky looking start last week, the New York YC team appear to be getting back to the steady flight handling that they showed back in the USA before shipping to New Zealand.
Defiant continues to sail with different wing configurations on either side, with a particularly prominant wingtip design on the port foil arm.
This could be the Airbus design influence, with various forms of wingtip a standard feaure on long-haul aircraft wings to smooth the airflow and reduce drag – effectivly increasing the aspect ratio of the wing.
Video of Defiant posted by ‘AirflowNZ Travel‘ on YouTube, Thursday 6 August (NZL), showing the high speed tow and some shots of the Youth America’s Cup AC9F out sailing.
Wingtips have also been used by ETNZ on Te Aihe, their first AC75.
While INEOS Team UK have stuck with straight wings on Britannia and Lunna Rossa have been seen sailing with a cranked wing design.
With the second AC75 hull designs well into their build now, both INEOS and American Magic have hinted at radical changes to the first iterations.
It will be interesting to see which of the various wing/flap features being tested are carried over when the new hulls are revealed later this year.
INEOS Team UK are expected to ship their first AC75 to New Zealand by the end of August, while their second hull will be air freighted to Auckland after assembly work at the Portsmouth base.
The British team is expected to be in Auckland by October.
Related post:
America’s Cup Arbitration Panel rule against Stars + Stripes
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