If my memory serves me right then the AC45 cats are a design Coutts put together a coupla three years ago when he started his own cat boat build company in Swiss land??
Go the Swedes btw, love to see them do well, the dark horses that team…always recall every morning when i was walking down to my boat early hours the only team up and at em in the Viaduct was Victory challenge busy polishing the hull while the sun crept up. (2000 LV series).
Talk about being hood-winked this article was posted Sept 16th http://www.sail-world.com/Europe/Americas-Cup:-First-images-of-the-AC45-under-construction/74716 clearly they were way ahead of the game, now everyone has spat their dummies, who is left to play ?
Awesome write up about the facility in NZ… Its all too easy to be blinded by the huge CNC machines etc.
CNC is an invaluable tool, for those smaller components that you might need multiple moulds for.
Golden rule - Just because its CNC machined, does not make it better, fact.
Quite often there are some discrepancies here and there and a skilled workforce will pick it up before its too late. A machine will just do as its told. Been there, got the t shirt, worn it out…
Mistakes are costly, big mistakes even more so.
Just another gem… The grade of carbon fibre allowed on AC34 draft 2.0 is 3 times the price of normal carbon and there is currently a world shortage… Who said this wasn’t about being an ‘arms race’?..
Top piece of gossip - maybe a little old for those in the know, but maybe of interest to others…
All the seasoned boatbuilders have left the Core facility in NZ. ( and I mean full stop!)
It was over a dispute about the pay.
As the facility has grown into a commercial concern, the people in control assumed that skilled professionals were no longer ‘Americas Cup’ employees and declassified the ‘Product’ to the same as ‘Production yacht’ to justify a pay cut in the current economic crisis.
The management ‘culled’ the wages and brought them inline other local projects to maximise profit. (In Laymans terms)
As a result, anyone with skills walked off the job because that was not what they signed on the dotted line for… and most, joined the Volvo Abu Dhabi build in Italy. ( not a bad alternative…) Or went elsewhere…
So watch out, there are about to be some seriously expensive time bombs out there!
Not looking forward to being ‘Shore Crew’ again… I hate fixing other muppetz fukupz…
Claudio, I recall you were asking about sail areas click here http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/ scroll down until you see heading of AC72 sail area reduction concept there are sail plans
Cheers Alan
more hull layup photos at the Core facility:
http://www.sail-world.com/USA/index.cfm?SEID=2&Nid=76491&SRCID=0&ntid=20&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0