AC90 - THE AMERICA’S CUP CLASS THAT NEVER WAS

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After the 32nd America’s Cup match came to an end in 2007 in Valencia, Spain, the successful Defender, Alinghi, announced a new class of yacht would replace the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) for the 33rd America’s Cup. Making redundant 17 years of design work in the IACC yacht class.

One must feel for the United Internet Team of Germany who, with commendable enthusiasm, had already started to build their new IACC yacht for the 33rd Cup and was even issued with a new sail number - GER  101 – the last of the class to be issued. Their yacht was never completed once they realised it would end up being a yacht in search of a regatta.

In the lead up to the 32nd match, some America’ Cup designers were unenthusiastic about another Cup round in the old mature IACC class, which would have them again looking for tiny gains within measurement margins error. They sought and received support for a new more open and challenging design. It would be called the “AC90” and as its name suggests it would be larger all round intended to be a mini modernised J-Class yacht for the 33rd America’s Cup.

IACC Vs. AC90

A revised class rule from that first announced by the Defender in July 2007, was published in January 2009, the product of 10-weeks consultative work between designers of the Defender and the entered challengers, headed by veteran Cup designer and sailor New Zealander, Tom Schnackenberg. There were several competitor meetings in Geneva and Valencia. The AC90 would have a maximum length of 26 metres, a beam of 4.8 metres, and a 5 metre draft. As a lighter displacement yacht it was intended to be demanding to sail upwind and faster downwind.

Meanwhile, the Golden Gate Yacht Club litigation continued to roll on. After the Defender won the first appeal, there was a push to get ready for the 33rd America’s Cup, should it also win the final appeal, and this was the reason behind working on and publishing a class rule in early 2009. It was not to be and instead, the 33rd America’s Cup became a match under the terms of the Deed of Gift, resulting in two competitors racing with very few design limitations, in huge 90’ load water line multihulls.  

The Cup would never again be the same, but Cup designers ended up with new design projects over the next 12 years or so, way beyond what they could have wildly imagined back in 2007. 2021 will see the return of the monohull in the America’s Cup, but heavily influenced by the Cup’s seven-year sojourn in multihulls.

AC90 - THE AMERICA’S CUP CLASS THAT NEVER WAS

Published on

After the 32nd America’s Cup match came to an end in 2007 in Valencia, Spain, the successful Defender, Alinghi, announced a new class of yacht would replace the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) for the 33rd America’s Cup. Making redundant 17 years of design work in the IACC yacht class.

One must feel for the United Internet Team of Germany who, with commendable enthusiasm, had already started to build their new IACC yacht for the 33rd Cup and was even issued with a new sail number - GER  101 – the last of the class to be issued. Their yacht was never completed once they realised it would end up being a yacht in search of a regatta.

In the lead up to the 32nd match, some America’ Cup designers were unenthusiastic about another Cup round in the old mature IACC class, which would have them again looking for tiny gains within measurement margins error. They sought and received support for a new more open and challenging design. It would be called the “AC90” and as its name suggests it would be larger all round intended to be a mini modernised J-Class yacht for the 33rd America’s Cup.

IACC Vs. AC90

A revised class rule from that first announced by the Defender in July 2007, was published in January 2009, the product of 10-weeks consultative work between designers of the Defender and the entered challengers, headed by veteran Cup designer and sailor New Zealander, Tom Schnackenberg. There were several competitor meetings in Geneva and Valencia. The AC90 would have a maximum length of 26 metres, a beam of 4.8 metres, and a 5 metre draft. As a lighter displacement yacht it was intended to be demanding to sail upwind and faster downwind.

Meanwhile, the Golden Gate Yacht Club litigation continued to roll on. After the Defender won the first appeal, there was a push to get ready for the 33rd America’s Cup, should it also win the final appeal, and this was the reason behind working on and publishing a class rule in early 2009. It was not to be and instead, the 33rd America’s Cup became a match under the terms of the Deed of Gift, resulting in two competitors racing with very few design limitations, in huge 90’ load water line multihulls.  

The Cup would never again be the same, but Cup designers ended up with new design projects over the next 12 years or so, way beyond what they could have wildly imagined back in 2007. 2021 will see the return of the monohull in the America’s Cup, but heavily influenced by the Cup’s seven-year sojourn in multihulls.