[ad_1]
The New Zealand team returned to a clean sheet to radically redesign the ship that will defend the America’s Cup.
The new ship named Te Rehutai was launched in Auckland on Thursday evening, and the second-generation AC75 showed significant differences from the team’s original Te Aihe.
A new bow shape with more volume, a sharper skeg running down the center of the hull, squarer hull sides, a sunken deck and a wider stern width were the most obvious differences on a boat that has sharper features. in every sense.
DUNCAN JOHNSTONE / STUFF / Stuff
The last Team NZ boat was launched in Auckland on Thursday night.
The New Zealand team did not want to reveal whether it will operate with or without a boom, but that will become apparent on Friday when they hope to start a busy testing schedule before the first official races in December.
READ MORE:
* America’s Cup: the first images of the new Team New Zealand boat before the official presentation
* America’s Cup: Luna Rossa in another dispute with Team New Zealand
* America’s Cup: Luna Rossa quickly modifies the new ship
* America’s Cup – New Zealand team ‘plays the long game’ while ready to launch a new ship
“It is quite a different ship. We had much more time to research and develop ship two, ”Dan Bernasconi, Emirates Team New Zealand’s chief designer, told Stuff.
But with the year-long construction involved, most of the modified features on the second boat came out of the computer rather than the water.
“We have learned a bit from boat one, but in many areas we have started again with a clean sheet. We go straight back to the drawing board and see what makes it fast in the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic world. “
Te Aihe appeared to be the choice of the first generation fleet, although they never faced each other, as Covid-19 canceled two warm-up races in Europe. There are high hopes for the last boat, although there is room for further development with the America’s Cup match through March.
“We work a lot on optimizing our design, we’ve been through thousands and thousands of shapes, and with the tools we have, we trust the shape we’ve created. I think it will be better in all respects through the region of acceleration and aerodynamically, ”said Bernasconi.
And they are the two key performance areas. There have had to be compromises, with the helmet working in and out of the water, and finally the aerodynamics became more important due to the need for as much time on the sheets as possible.
EMIRATES TEAM NZ
Te Aihe revels in some tough conditions during testing in Auckland.
“Ultimately, it’s about lap time,” Bernasconi explained.
“In the perfect race, you enter the starting box in the foils and never get out of the foils. So we prioritize aerodynamics more.
“But it’s highly unlikely that we’re going to get through the entire America’s Cup without having to take off during a race, whether it’s the wind speed going down, we’re not executing a maneuver perfectly, or we’re being commanded and slowed down at pre-start.”
The new boat has something similar to the three challengers: the bow is no different from that of American Magic, it has the most defined lines of the INEOS Team UK and a hull that is not indifferent to that of the Luna Rossa.
New Zealand team boss Grant Dalton felt this was another case of forward thinking.
“We are a technology company … last time [for Bermuda] We talked about throwing the ball as far as we could, this time we talked about giving us the boat 2023 now, not 2021. That’s how we saw it, ”Dalton said.
He also praised the craftsmanship of the construction and the sense behind keeping that internal.
“Starting our own shipyard was one of the best things we have done. The quality of the guys … we have been able to control the environment, and with Covid, when we lost five weeks, if you were in a commercial shipyard, it would have been difficult to catch up. The guys just hung their heads and caught up, “Dalton said.
The name continues the union’s strong bond with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei with Taiaha Hawke explaining its meaning: “Te Rehutai: where the essence of the ocean invigorates and energizes our strength and determination.”
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has named Te Rehutai’s two predecessors, Te Aihe and Te Kāhu.
“This time we came up with some options to present to the team so they could collectively come together to decide on a name that they felt resonated best with them as a team and clearly ‘Te Rehutai’ struck a chord with them,” said Hawke.
