AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND September 12, 2020. After a gap of several days Te Aihe was back out sailing today. For most of the 5 hours she was out mostly well out of view in the Hauraki Gulf.
Emirates Team New Zealand AC75 Yacht Ti Aihe, a spectacular blend of artisty, design, nautical engineering, hydroplane innovation, beautifully coupled with the power of waves, plus wind!
I am not sure about that but a bowsprit is required by the rules to allow the use of a 200 sq m Code Zero headsail when the wind is very low, cheers, Mike
@@airflownztravel What I read was that the bow sprit was not required, but if you didn't run it you had to carry extra ballast. Because it's optional I wasn't sure if the total length included it or not. I'm pretty sure now that it does, as they list the LOA and LOH with a 7ft difference.
Good Lord, the stresses that the foil connection component takes are unbelievable. I see why the first design of it failed. The 75 is so incredibly fast. I wish they would race a little longer distances. : ) None of my friends like America’s cup racing. I wish I could move to NZ where you real fans are. You New Zealanders won’t let us yanks move there.
Wow, you can see those wind Surfers flying along, then along comes Team New Zealand, passing them as if they are standing still Great camera work from the AirflowNZ Travel Boys
Very nice vid! No question those boats are awesome! Blowing past the kites, tacking faster than a Laser, amazing. I just realized they're sort of a reverse Sail Rocket. I wonder if the tech will filter down so normal humans can play with them. They have the same "problem" as all foilers, there seems to be a pressure barrier, analogous to the sound barrier in flight, that limits them to ~50 knots. Still, 50 knts is 50 knts..
@Chimera & @AirflowNZ = The analogy between the sound barrier and a hypothetical ‘water barrier’ is not so outlandish as it should appear at first glance. ‘Outlandish’ because water is an incompressible fluid, whereas compressibility of air is what creates the ‘sound barrier effect’: the physical phenomena are not comparable. The foils have the great advantage of operating entierely in water instead of at the interface between water and air, an interface which would create a wake - i.e. a hull-generated wave - which would absorb a considerable amount of energy as speed increases. World speed-record for a military destroyer is 45,25 kts, attained with a powerplant of 75’000 kW (ie 100’000 hp). This may be the ‘barrier’ @Chimera is writing about. On a very calm water surface, one can “ski” and the speed record for powered catamarans is now at 276 kts; but at such a speed even a small wave can destroy the boat and obviously this is not for AC75s! Underwater, the fastest vehicles are torpedoes. Their speed is a military secret but reckoned to be about 55 kts for conventional torpedoes. However the Russians have developed the “Shkval” torpedo which is said to reach a top speed if about 200 kts. This is obtained through ‘supercavitation’ techniques, involving injection of air bubbles at the front of the torpedo. Not yet operational as a technology for the AC75, although who knows! The most pertinent analogy for the AC75 is the world speed record for foil sailboats, currently held by Vestas Sailrocket 2 with a peak speed at 68 kts. Plans are underway to break this record! - •
Another great video... what a magic day to have been sailing. Te Aihe has a very level attitude, a bit more so I think than Defiance? Curious how she briefly dropped off the foil at 1:28, maybe rudder rake set too high momentarily?
Michael there are many vantage points, just look at a map of the harbour. However you need a lot of luck as you never know what course they will be on or were they will tack, Mike
@@airflownztravel Well at the moment they're looking much better than the Americans. Of course it will depend on the windspeed and "other factors". I suppose all those of us watching can say is that it looks pretty good so far
