The America's Cup 2017

The America's cup regatta was a race between monohulls for many years since 1851. In 1983, the Australians, under Dennis Conner, won the cup.  After a long legal battle the rules were changed in 2010. 90 ft catamarans were used instead of monohulls. They can fly one hull and reduce the drag so that boat speed is almost double that of a monohull.



America won the multihull race in 2010 and changed the rules again for the 2013 race. This time the boat was an AC72, foiling, wing-sail catamaran. This type of multihull can fly both hulls coming out of the water completely so that water resistance becomes almost negligible. Boat speed is again almost double that of a catamaran without foils.

New Zealand just won the 2017 America's Cup race in Bermuda earlier this week. Being the winner, the Kiwis can decide the location of the next race. This will probably be in Auckland.