Dropping the skirts - Unveiling Day programme

by America's Cup Media on 1 Apr 2007
When the hull skirts fall to the ground on Sunday some of the most jealously guarded secrets in the 32nd America’s Cup will be revealed.

Unlike previous events, all the teams will have to display what lies below the waterlines of their boats, a total of 19 across the fleet, right from the start. In the last event in Auckland only the Louis Vuitton Cup Finalists and the Defender had to reveal their underbodies. Among the three it was Team New Zealand’s ’Hula’ that stole the show from Alinghi and BMW Oracle with its innovative approach to exploiting the rules on underwater shapes.

But while the unveiling ended months of speculation as to why the Kiwi’s had been so bashful that they had towed out of the dock and out towards the race course with hull skirts on, simply showing the world what they had been up to raised more questions than it answered. How did the ‘Hula’ improve performance? How did it exploit the measurement rules and would it really work? Sometimes showing the world what you’ve put your faith in can leave spectators none the wiser.

As it turned out, when the racing started for real, major structural issues aboard the boat meant that no one, not even the team, ever found out the answer to the last question.

Other design innovations in the America’s Cup have been equally difficult to evaluate. In 1983, Australia II’s winged keel had many observers scratching their heads as they tried to understand why a set of dumpy wings and a keel that looked as if it had been bolted on upside down would improve the performance of a boat. Yet since then, as the design principles have been understood by a wider audience, wing keels became as common on cruising boats as they did on racers.

When the skirts fall this coming weekend any radical innovations will doubtless draw the most attention yet understanding what lies behind any such radical ideas will be as tricky as it’s ever been. Many believe that owing to the more refined nature of these fifth generation America’s Cup boats, there will be few, if any, radical departures from the norm. Instead, observers will have to look more carefully at the subtle variations in hull shape and the positioning of the appendages in order to understand more about each team’s technical approach.

So how will the unveiling work?

On Saturday March 31 each of the teams will have to declare up to two eligible boats to race this season to the Race Committee. The following day at 09:30 a loud sound signal will mark the beginning of the unveiling and team bases will be opened up to the media, other team personnel and ‘AC Family’. At 11:30, the bases will be open to the public.

From here on until the conclusion of the 32nd America’s Cup, hull skirts will not be allowed and boats will be naked when out of the water.

When it comes to developing an edge, revealing as little as possible has always characterised the America’s Cup, yet the move to ensure that all is on show from the start is possibly the most radical revelation of all.


Unveiling Day Programme
09:00 – Fireworks will mark the ‘awakening’ of Port America’s Cup and the beginning of the countdown. There will be pyrotechnics every five minutes until 09:20

09:30 – A loud sound signal and more fireworks mark the beginning of the ‘unveiling’. Team bases must be opened to media, other team personnel and ‘AC Family’

11:30 – More fireworks mark the opening of the team bases to the public

13:00 – Designers Press Conference at the The Press Conference Room, adjacent to the Media Centre. Every team will be sending a senior member of their design team to discuss America’s Cup Class yacht design and the innovations of the current generation of boats. Many teams are scheduling their own press conferences to follow

13:45 – Teams may close their bases to the public and go sailing for the day. There will be a 15 minute pyrotechnical show to mark the end of the ‘unveiling’

20:30 – The ‘Foredeck Unveiling’ is marked by the first launch of the Endesa Light Show