Developments of the AC75 Mainsail || Sailing World
The complex mainsail systems of the second-generation AC75s tackle the challenge of power versus drag.
As complex as the AC75s will be when launched for racing at the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Challenger Series, New York YC’s American Magic trimmer Lucas Calabrese says that getting the team’s 75-foot foiler around the racecourse will demand the same fundamentals he honed in his years of Olympic 470 sailing. A mainsail is a mainsail, after all, but how trimmers manage the power in these towering high-aspect sails is exponentially more critical. The AC75 Tech Regulations, which define virtually every aspect of the AC75, are “quite restrictive” with the sails, Calabrese says. But for the second-generation twin-skinned mainsails, there is plenty of innovation yet to come.
