America's Cup: AC40 first images of hull exiting the mould
by Richard Gladwell 15 Apr 2022 17:17 AEST
First AC40 is taken from the mould at McConaghy Boats, China - April 2022 © Emirates Team New Zealand
Emirates Team New Zealand have released the first images of the AC40 one design foiling monohull, as it exits the building mould at McConaghy Boats in China.
The new hull is the first of eight AC40's on order. The first hull will go to Emirates Team NZ, as Defender and the second to the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia.
Other hulls will be sent to the teams in order of entry. Several teams are taking two AC40's which will be multi-use boats for the Women's America's Cup teams, the Youth America's Cup teams, and the America's Cup teams themselves, as race boats in the Preliminary events, for testing purposes - where they may be modified, and for the development of match racing skills.
Emirates Team NZ appear to have already embarked on developing their team to enter the Womens America's Cup - and this group looks to be the first Womens team to sail their AC40.
The AC40, which was first revealed in images of the male plug as it was being formed by a CNC milling machine, some resemblance to the current America's Cup champion, Te Rehutai, but maybe with a softer and less extreme hull shape. The stern sections look more reminiscent of Luna Rossa than Te Rehutai.
It's sister also a metre, four crew training foiler not surprisingly has a close design resemblance to the AC40.
The hull openings for the foil arms can be seen in the topsides.
The first AC40 is expected to be sailing in August 2022.