We went down to the wharf to see it the day it was launched.
Staggering size...
It's a catamaran with a 13m (42.7 ft.) tall solid wing and is expected to be able to hit 50 knots (90+ km/h).
They have to anchor it to a tonne and a half of ballast just to keep it from taking off on it's own.
The AC45 (the boat being used in current cup events while the larger AC72's are being designed and built) uses a 21.5m (71ft) wing ... and the boats that will be used in the actual Cup (the AC72) are even larger beasts -- a wing 40m (131ft) tall [1].
The design of and technology going into these AC class boats is fascinating. It's been a lot of fun watching the AC45's race and the AC72's will be quite a sight out on the water once they begin pushing 'em to their limits.
[1] http://www.cupinfo.com/en/americas-cup-2013-boats-ac72-ac45....
It was definitely the AC72 that we went to see.. it was launched in July and completely towered over all the over yachts and surrounding buildings.
The numbers, I guess, are from the AC45 that was launched months ago. Looks like the numbers weren't accurate, but that's the NZ Herald for you.
You can diminish that by placing more buoys to round (effectively making the course smaller), but I am not sure it still is sailing, then.
Not for the first time I heard spectators of the Olympics say that sailing is a very confusing sport and I hope that what is being done in the America's Cup and continued in London 2012 will help. On the other hand, I as a sailor, would like to see certain aspects of the race which are not spectator friendly at all.