The British America's Cup team Ineos Britannia unveiled its first test boat yesterday at its winter training base in Palma. The prototype for the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona in 2024 is codenamed 'T6' and will play an important role in the team's preparations. The 40-foot test boat was developed together with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science,a division of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Experience from Formula 1 and the America's Cup was incorporated into the design and construction. Ben Ainslie, CEO and skipper of the team, said: "We are one team as Ineos Britannia, bringing AC and F1 together is a great investment from both sides. We see this as a long-term partnership." They are grateful to be part of the Ineos sports group to be able to utilise expertise from different sports, including cycling.
Silver Arrow or Cybertruck?
Visually, the test boat stands out strongly from the boats of the other teams. The clear, hard edges of the hull create a completely different image to what we are used to. There is also not much left of the design of the British yacht in the last America's Cup. There are hardly any curves anywhere on the boat, the angular lines converge at the stern and the underwater hull is completely flat. The boat is equipped with two identical foils with a horizontal T. In terms of colour, it appears to be based at least somewhat on Mercedes' Formula 1 cars, the Silver Arrows. However, there could also be confusion with Tesla's Cybertruck give.
The 40-foot yacht was built at Carrington Boats in Hythe and then transported to Brackley, where the Mercedes-AMG F1 team is based. This is where "T6" was fitted out and where further development is now being carried out. The Brits will train throughout the winter from the team's new base in Palma de Mallorca. The test data will be transmitted live to the team's headquarters in Brackley, where work is already underway on the research and design of the AC75 race boat, which will be used in the 37th America's Cup.
Independent development for the America's Cup
But designing and building "T6" is only part of the British team's preparations. Emirates Team New Zealand has also developed a smaller test boat, a standardised boat called the AC40. One of these will be made available to each team and will also be used for the Women's and Youth America's Cup. The second boat in the series is already on its way to Ineos Britannia and is expected in early November.
Even though the AC40 from Team New Zealand is a great boat and they will also be testing with it, they also want to remain independent and rely on their own resources, says Ainslie. "We wanted to have full control over our own test platform and not be dependent on a third party to provide this platform so that we have control over our test strategy." The interface with Formula 1 in particular would enable the team to work better than in the last Cup, where some mistakes were made.
The new Luna Rossa flies
Luna Rossa has also designed its own test boat and only recently presented it. After towing tests, the team was now out on the water under sail. Despite the very light wind of just seven knots, the boat was able to stay on the foils for quite a while.
Jimmy Spithill, who was at the helm together with Olympian and World Sailor of the Year Ruggero Tita, was very satisfied: "It was a great day, and considering it was the first under sail, the boat behaved very well."
Everything about the Luna Rossa test boat:
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