class 40 sailboat plans

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Class 40 “Icarus Racing” 40' / 12.19m

The first Class 40 to be designed and built in the United States. Currently being campaigned by Jeffrey MacFarlane. http://jefferymacfarlane.com/

Yacht Specifications

“ICARUS RACING” – the first U.S. built Class-40

Build of the boat is by Ted Brown and Stewart Wiley of Al Fresco Composites, Portsmouth, RI.

To begin the design process we decided to test a series of hulls in a weather matrix for the race as well as a long-race performance predicition tool developed in-house by RMD. Class 40 is a ‘box rule,’ so we investigated one shape overtly maximized to the box. The other extreme was considerably narrower than the maximum, with a single rudder, lighter hull and a higher ballast-ratio, both to the minimum displacement. A third boat tested was between these extremes. For these three exploratory types, we used a ‘parent/child’ annex to our Velocity Prediction Program (VPP). This allows the boat to choose the location and amount of ballast (including ballast to leeward or empty) to give the boat its best performance in every wind strength and direction. Of course it doesn’t take into account sea conditions, exhaustion, broken gear and the indefinable issue of seakindliness. If it did, we could leave it all to the machines!

An intuition that a subtle step further was needed, led to the final hull choice. It was faster in the weather matrix and RMD’s own RTW test by a greater margin than all the others. We were on our way and sent the surface files to Goetz Custom for computer cutting. Design partner, Ross Weene has worked wonders (and long hours) to complete this program efficiently and accurately.

Spars are by Halls Spars of Bristol, RI.  Sails are North 3Di. Steve Koopman, Dirk Kramers’ partner in SDK Structures has worked with Ross to engineer advanced light, durable hull and appendage structures with materials from Rich O’Meara’s ROM Composites of Newport.

This is not only an all-out US entry into Class 40 and ocean racing arena, but an all-Rhode Island entry too.

ICARUS RACING SAILPLAN (pdf)

ICARUS RACING COMPOSITE PLAN (pdf)

Presentation

• Board of Directors
• Races open to Class40
• Championship
• Class40 selection
• Minutes of the Executive Meeting
• Class rules
• Appendix to class rules
• FFV/world sailing documents
• Constitution and internal regulation

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The Class40 association gathers the skippers of Class40 yachts and any person interested in their evolution. The Class40 is a monohull sailboat sea-oriented racing and cruising with a maximum length is 40 feet. The original goal of the class was to make offshore races accessible to amateur sailors. The success of the class has moved it beyond these parameters, with more and more professional sailors attracted to it. Part of the attraction of this class is the simple and stringent box-rule, which keeps costs down. It is a class of both amateurs and professionals. There are an ever-increasing number of boats being built in France and abroad.

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Class 40 Mighty Mites

• By James Boyd
• May 23, 2023

For sailing fans visiting from ­outside France, the Route du Rhum is a cultural shock, barely to be believed even once seen. It is France’s oldest singlehanded race, first held in 1978, and run every four years from St. Malo in northern France 3,500 miles across the North Atlantic to Guadeloupe. The fleet of 138 boats that assembled for the start in November 2022 was incredible, with an estimated value of 260 million euros—from the implausible 100-foot Ultime trimarans to a record fleet of 38 IMOCA 60s and a similarly impressive fleet of 55 Class40s. Dock sides are crammed with spectators, many hoping to catch a glimpse of the top skippers—some are genuine sports stars. Had the 2022 start not been delayed, French President Emmanuel Macron was to have attended. It’s that much of a big deal.

In the days and hours before the Route du Rhum started, more than 1 million people passed through its race village in St. Malo. In this environment, even non-French amateurs, such as the two US Class40 skippers, Alex Mehran and Greg Leonard, gained celebrity status with relentless autograph signing, selfies with fans and press interviews. Usually outshone by the bigger, higher-profile boats, the Class40 is the most successful 40-footer of all time. While the Farr 40 never topped more than 40 boats at a world championship, this is the second Route du Rhum in which more than 50 participated. To date, 192 Class40 hull numbers have been allocated.

While “Open 40s” once competed in the OSTAR and Around Alone, the Class40 came about independently. Born in France in the early 2000s, two designs defined the class: the Pogo 40 and the Jumbo 40. But the success and longevity of the Class40 is due to its highly constrictive box rule, drafted by a group that includes wise French sailor and journalist Patrice Carpentier, which remains robust 18 years on.

The box rule’s basic parameters are a maximum length overall of 39 feet, 11 inches; max beam of 14 feet, 9 inches; draft of 9 feet, 10 inches; average freeboard of 3 feet, 6 inches; max mast height of 62 feet, 4 inches; max working sail area of 1,238 square feet; minimum displacement at 10,097 pounds; and max water ballast of 1,653 pounds per side. Most brutal are the materials limitations: Carbon fiber, aramid, honeycomb cores and pre-preg resin are forbidden from the construction of the hull, deck, interior structure and fittings; go down below on one and, joyously, thanks to the GRP construction, it is not coffin black.

Carbon fiber is permitted for the mast, boom and ­bowsprit, while standing rigging must be steel rod. Sails are limited to eight, and all but two and the heavy-weather jib must be polyester and nylon. A single fixed keel and as many as two rudders are permitted, but daggerboards and foils are banned, as are canting, rotating masts, mast jacks, and adjustable or removable forestays. However, complex kick-up rudders are permitted. (Although their effectiveness to kick up in a collision is allegedly dubious.) Over the years, displacement and average freeboard have slightly reduced, but the biggest rule amendment has limited “how scow” Class40 hull shapes can be. While the latest foiling Protos in the Classe Mini (the “flying bathtubs”) are fully flat-bowed, Class40 has two max beam limits just short of the bow to prevent this. Naturally, costs have risen, but the rule has successfully limited them; today, a top Class40 costs 700,000 to 800,000 euros.

Those sailing the Class40s in the early days were a mix of pros and amateurs. Today professionals on sponsored boats are the majority. As for aspirant French pro sailors, the Class40 has become a significant stepping stone between from the Classe Mini and Figaro circuits to the IMOCA.

As skipper of Groupe SNEF , leading Mini and Figaro skipper Xavier Macaire says: “The transatlantic races like this [Route du Rhum] are very interesting to us, and the boat is not very expensive. The Class40 is easy to maintain and prepare, and is not a complicated boat like an IMOCA where you need 12 guys. With this, you need two or three, not full time. It is an easy, fast boat.”

With more top pros like Macaire joining, 30 new Class40s have been launched in the last four-year cycle. The most recent Route du Rhum podium, for example, comprised two-time Solitaire du Figaro winner Yoann Richomme ( Paprec Arkea ) and Mini Transat winners Corentin Douguet ( Queguiner-Innoveo ) and Ambrogio Beccaria ( Allagrande Pirelli ) of Italy.

Of the French classes, the Class40 and the Mini remain the most cosmopolitan, with entries from other European countries, notably Italy at present, while the United States, Australia and South Africa were also represented in the Route du Rhum. Far from being put off by the pro element, Americans Alex Mehran and Greg Leonard were thrilled to be on the same starting line. “It is such a privilege to race against some of the top offshore sailors in the world,” says Leonard, who hails from Florida. “It is like playing football against a first team in the NFL—it is that level of quality. There are not that many sports you can do that in.”

Both American skippers came to the Route du Rhum from similar paths. With his Mach 40.3 Kite , Leonard is a professional economist originally from Texas. He campaigned a J/120 for many years with his remarkable son Hannes, who raced his first doublehanded overnighter with his father at age 13. Now 18 and with thousands of race miles under his belt, both in the US and Europe, he is a Class40 expert. For his father, the Route du Rhum was his first singlehanded race.

Over the years, several top shorthanded sailors, notably British Vendée Globe skippers Mike Golding and Miranda Merron, have raced with him, also coaching him. He is very enthusiastic about the Class40: “They are beautiful boats, such fun to sail. When we delivered her to St. Malo, we had 28 to 40 knots just aft of the beam, and we just hung in the low 20s boatspeed, and it was finger-light steering.”

Mehran skippers Polka Dot , which has the perfect pedigree, being Yoann Richomme’s 2018 Route du Rhum winner—a Lift V1 design. Growing up as part of the St. Francis YC Laser squad and subsequently a Brown collegiate sailor, he met Welsh Class40 designer Merfyn Owen in 2009 and raced one of his designs. Remarkably, he won his first major singlehanded race, the 2009 Bermuda 1-2. He subsequently graduated to an Owen Clarke-designed Open 50, in which he set a record in 2012’s singlehanded Transpac. He then went off, had four kids, and developed his commercial real estate business before getting the itch once more last year. He competed ­doublehanded with Owen in the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre on an old Class40, but as Mehran puts it, “We needed to get ­something scow.”

He too has been receiving coaching from Merron and Golding, among others. According to Mehran, one of the most difficult things to explain to those back home is less the offshore-racing fever that afflicts French fans, but that their skippers are not multimillionaires. Instead, they come from a wide age group and all have commercial backing to either buy a secondhand boat or—if they are higher-­profile, more accomplished or just plain lucky—build a new one. So, returning to the Route du Rhum podium, Paprec’s business is waste disposal (admittedly, its owner races his own Wally 107), Arkea is banking and insurance, Queguiner is building materials, Innoveo is an app-­development platform, and Pirelli makes tires (its CEO has a Wally 145).

Over the last two decades, the Class40s themselves have evolved, despite Draconian design limitations. What started as cruiser-racers with fitted-out interiors became racer-cruisers and are now refined pure racers. They may not be black inside, but the build quality of the latest-generation designs is of the highest ­standard, and it seems no longer possible to buy a cruiser-racer.

A delight of the Class40 is that no one designer is dominant; eight different designs make up the 30 boats built over the last four years. Pogo Structures, last of the original builders, is on its fourth version of its Pogo 40, the S4, designed by Emirates Team New Zealand’s naval architect, Guillaume Verdier (who also designed Structures’ scow-bowed flying Proto Mini).

The man who developed the first blunt-fronted scow Mini, David Raison, produced the Max40, built by JPS in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Also built by JPS are Sam Manuard designs—the Mach 40.4, such as the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre winner Redman , skippered by Antoine Carpentier (nephew of the original rule’s writer), and now its evolution, the Mach 40.5, of which two competed in the Route du Rhum.

In 2020, VPLP made its first foray into the class with the Clak 40, built by Multiplast, of which four raced in the Route du Rhum, the top finisher being Martin le Pape’s Fondation Stargardt. Etienne Bertrand, another successful Mini designer, had two Cape Racing Scow 40s in the race, while Allagrande Pirelli , believed to be the most expensive of the latest crop and campaigned by last year’s Mini Transat winner, Ambrogio Beccaria, is an all-Italian affair designed by Gianluca Guelfi and built by Sangiorgio Marine Shipyard in Genoa.

However, after the recent Route du Rhum, ­nosing in front in the design race is Marc Lombard with his Lift V2s, of which seven were racing, including Yoann Richomme’s winner, Paprec Arkea . Lombard is one of the longest continuous players in the Class40, and has worked with Tunisian manufacturer Akilaria on its RC1, RC2 and RC3 models since 2006, of which 38 were built. His latest designs have been the Lift, introduced in 2016; Veedol-AIC , one example, took Richomme to his first Route du Rhum victory. The Lifts were custom-built with a hull and deck made by Gepeto in Lorient, but finished off by the V1D2 yard in Caen, and were more precisely engineered and built than the Akilarias. They were superseded this cycle by the Lift V2, the most popular of the new Class40s, with seven competing.

For Richomme, the Route du Rhum was a small distraction from having a new IMOCA built. He entered the Route du Rhum to defend his title and stay race-fit. If the first Lift was an early scow, the present one is at the limit, to the extent that it has a bump in the hull 2 meters aft from the bow at the limit of where the Class40 rule restricts the max beam to prevent such extreme scowness.

The scow bow provides more righting moment, but it also does interesting things to the boat’s hydrodynamics. “With a pointy bow, the keel is more angled and creates more drag,” explains Richomme, who is also a trained naval architect. “When a scow heels, the hull is almost parallel to the keel, so sometimes when we go over the waves, we can feel the keel shudder when it is producing lift. The chine is low and therefore very powerful, and when we heel, it makes for a very long waterline length. Also, we have very little rocker, whereas other [new] boats have a lot, which creates a lot of drag so they don’t accelerate so well when they heel.”

The Lift V2 “is a weapon reaching,” Richomme says. “We can hold the gennaker higher than we used to. Last time, I didn’t even take one. But with the power going up, so have the loads, and we are having problems with the hardware. I have broken two winches already.”

A downside of the big bow and straight chine is downwind, where the technique seems to be preventing the bow from immersing. Paprec Arkea is typically trimmed far aft, including the stack and the positioning of the 1,653 pounds of water ballast (most new boats have three tanks each side), while its engine is 19 inches farther aft, and the mast and keel 11 inches farther aft than they were on his previous boat. They are 77 pounds below the minimum weight, which Richomme admits may be too extreme—during training they broke a bulkhead.

Otherwise, their increased cockpit protection is most noticeable on all the new designs (although not to IMOCA degrees), while most have a central pit area with halyards fed aft from the mast down a tunnel running through the cabin. On Paprec Arkea , a pit winch is mounted just off the cockpit sole. With the main sheet and traveler lead there as well, Richomme can trim from inside the cabin.

Most extraordinary about the scows is how fast they are. Anglo-Frenchman Luke Berry, skipper of Lamotte-Module Création , graduated from a Manuard Mach 40.3 to a 40.5 this year and says: “It is a massive improvement both in speed and comfort. Reaching and downwind, we are 2 knots faster, which is extraordinary.”

The top speeds he has seen are 27 to 28 knots. “Most incredible are the average speeds—higher than 20.”

This effectively turns yacht-design theory on its head, with ­waterline length and hull speed having less effect upon defining the speed of a boat that spends so much time planing. On the Mach 40.5, the waterline is just 32 feet, with a length overall of 39 feet. Compared to the Lift V2, it has more rocker, supposedly making it better able to deal with waves.

Nowhere is the speed of the latest Class40s more apparent than where they finished in the Route du Rhum in comparison to the IMOCA fleet. Paprec Arkea arrived in Guadeloupe ahead of 13 IMOCAs, or one-third of the way up the IMOCA fleet. Richomme says he used to sail on a Lombard-designed IMOCA 20 years ago, when they would make 10.5 knots upwind. “On a reach, I reckon we are faster than them now. We can do 20 to 22 knots average speed.”

Ugly seems to be quick, but when it comes to the Class40, beauty is in the eye of the beholder of the trophy.

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The sails of a Class 40 explained by the engineer who designed them

• November 17, 2022
• No Comments

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After a week of being “stragglers,” with an Atlantic Ocean that did everything it could to scramble the Route du Rhum 2022 competitors , for the Class 40s, with less than 2,000 miles to go, there seems to be a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. And the light of course is none other than the entry of the trade winds, which become apparent when the virtual halfway mark has now been passed. Perhaps, using a bit of imagination, the smell of the air is starting to change, the wind is getting warmer and changing consistency, but the skippers’ heads still cannot go toward land, not at least if a good result is to be brought home.

Tradewinds signify the final farewell to the upwind and entry into the carrying gaits. Now, in addition to the skippers’ strategy, boat speed will be decisive. Sails will still play a key role, and it was about them that we spoke with Aerospace engineer Michele Malandra, designer for North Sails Italy , who edited for the Class 40 Allagrande Pirelli by Ambrogio Beccaria the design service, which is the study of various sail plan options to be adapted to Allagrande’s hull (a somewhat different job as you will read compared to the design of the single sail n.d.r.). Before we read the Engineer’s words and find out how the sails of Beccaria’s boat came to be, let’s look at what our people are doing in the Ocean.

Route du Rhum – What the Italians are doing

Our spotlight is always on the Class 40s , where Ambrogio Beccaria now occupies fifth position and Alberto Bona on IBSA Group is in seventh. Andrea Fornaro, on the other hand, after a technical stop in the Azores for a keel check that showed some problems, restarted and is sailing close to 15th position.

Beccaria and Bona are in the lead group , among the boats that will potentially go for the podium, clear of the breakaway of Yoann Richomme in the lead who does not seem intent on leaving any openings for his opponents.

Beccaria in the last 24 hours seems to have been less effective than usual, probably the autopilot that can no longer work in “wind mode” but only compass starts to weigh on Allagrande’s pace, although the physically toughest part of the race for the skipper seems behind him. He dropped back to the rear of the frontrunners Alberto Bona, who instead tried to keep a very high pace in the last 24 hours to stay hooked to the front of the race. However, both remain in the running for an important result and have cards to play for this second part of the journey.

Route du Rhum – How the sails of a Class 40 are made.

After Pietro Luciani ‘s commentary on sail configuration , and Tommaso Stella’s on the halyards and rigging of a Class 40 the floor was passed to another super technician, Engineer Malandra of North S ails who studied various sail plan options for Allagrande Pirelli .

We asked him how many sails a Class 40 has and how a designer can “play” with the sail plan to seek maximum hull performance. And of course we also talked about the sails for carrying swells that will be indispensable now in the trade winds.

Design freedom on Class 40 sails

“There is a lot of design freedom on the sail plan,” Michele explained . “The big stakes are two: the maximum summed area of mainsail and jib , which has a limit, and the ban on using carbon . The first limitation actually leaves a lot of room, because it is possible to variously distribute the surfaces between mainsail and jib . In the case of Ambrose, I was in charge of doing aerodynamic studies of different sail plan configurations (we call them design services), especially regarding the distribution of the mainsail-jib surface. With our software we can do very precise simulations on various types of planes, and also simulate how the boat reacts to adjustments. The design of the profiles of the individual sails then was done by our French colleagues, who have a huge backgroung in these classes.

Doing an aerodynamic study also means, for example, deciding at what height to put the sail attachments and thus the halyard exits in the mast , another option on which the Class 40 regulations leave room for designers to move.

At this stage of study, it is crucial to figure out the best sail plan based on the keel designed by the designers , Gianluca Guelfi and Fabio D’Angeli in the case of Allagrande Pirelli.

“The sail plan alone doesn’t go anywhere,” Malandra points out. “My job is to make the right fit between what’s above with what’s below . We did simulations on what each type of sail plan would entail for the boat by analyzing the forces and moments produced, and we passed these analyses to the designer who evaluated them based on the characteristics of the submerged part of the boat. For example, with the same sail shape, we evaluated what the best rake angles (mast tilt on the fore-aft axis) were.

There is a limit to the boom travel to the stern , whose trope must be 80 cm inside the stern limit. When we were moving the sail plan back and forth in the simulations we had to deal with this limitation, and figure out how much area to move to the head of the mainsail when we went back with the mast. Moving the mast back you have to decide whether you want to keep a given area of mainsail and thus stretch it vertically, or decrease its area and add to the Solent. In practice, it is ultimately a compromise choice between the aerodynamic part and the immersed component. Having thought of a boat with the trim very much aft the mainsail area had to deal with that 80 cm limit.

What materials are the sails of a Class 40 made of and how many are on board?

“We made an aramid mainsail with 3 coats, a solent/J1 on garrocci with a vertical reefing also made of aramid, J2 same material, but rollable with vertical battens, and then the turret/J3 . To these sails were added two Code 0 Helix polyester , one for masthead and one fractional, one for light air and one for wind. And then we made three asymmetrics, one on each halyard height, A2-A4-A6 . For load-bearing gaits, therefore, the inventory is very rich. Compared to a crew gennaker, however, these are somewhat different sails for soloists: solo gennakers can also sail at tighter angles than intended to possibly limit sail changes. And in general that of making “tolerant” changes between sails is also done with upwind sails.

Instead, Allagrande Pirelli is the only Class 40 in the fleet with a steerable bowsprit , an option that could have opened up some unconventional choices. “There was a lot of space opening up because of the steerable bowsprit at the design level. We could definitely have made “rounder” sails to try to aim for more pronounced angles at the leeward. However, it meant making a sail that was too specific and unsuitable for solo sailing where a sail has to be able to work effectively even if used a little outside its angle ranges.” Designer and Aerospace Engineer’s Word.

Mauro Giuffrè

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Composite multi-chine 38-40 feet sailboat plans

Discussion in ' Boat Design ' started by Stefano Dilena , Feb 2, 2022 .

Stefano Dilena Junior Member

Hello Forum'ers! I have been studying recent design developments of fast cruising and racing monohulls In specific I am talking about features such as: - Wide stern section - Delta shape - Inverted bows All these characteristics can be seen in the class 40 boats such as the Mark Lombard Lift ( V1 & V2). https://marclombard.com/classe-40-new-design/?lang=en and are perfectly applied to fast cruising A-Class yachts such as the RM 1180 https://www.rm-yachts.com/en/rm-1180-en/ These characteristics make not only for a fast boat, but also for an easier construction due to the hard chines, a more comfortable sailing due to the wide space on deck, and more space under the deck due to the more volume. RM yachts take it a step further and build Ocean-A class certified yachts made exclusively of Plywood/epoxy and multi-chines hull! Now the questions: - Does such a boat exists for DIY building? Are there any plans available for self construction of a fast / class 40 style boat that can be customised for cruising? - If no plans exist as yet, would anyone be interested in developing a kit that is exclusively flat panels and hard chines for an easy construction ( plywood or pre laminated panels). I would think of something like thicker than usual hulls and minimal stringers/reinforcements, for a fast construction and a safer boat at the same time. In this second case - my part of the deal would be building the first boat!! If you want to discuss more the second option you can contact me in private!  

gonzo Senior Member

An inverted bow has no real effect on the boat's speed. They are an element of style Wide boats don't necessarily make for more comfortable sailing. That depends on many factors. Delta shape hulls are another element of the design that can make a boat faster, but only of the rest of the design accommodates it. I looked at the website for RM yachts. They show a photo of the boat sailing in in a breeze with seas of maybe 2 feet. The bow wave is already at deck height. In any weather, that boat will be shipping green water over the deck.  

Rumars Senior Member

Yes they are available. Examples: https://www.fr-lucas.com/-1642 (cruiser/racer, wrc strip plank or foam core) https://www.fr-lucas.com/-1656 (racer, wrc strip plank or foam core) http://balta.fr/Classe 40.html (racer, wrc strip plank or foam core) Balta Patrick Architecte naval, architecture navale, Motor yacht, yacht design, catamaran http://balta.fr/enfant%20perdu%20bermudien.html (cruiser, spruce strip plank or plywood multichine) Balta Patrick Architecte naval, architecture navale, Motor yacht, yacht design, catamaran http://balta.fr/D40.html (cruiser, plywood multichine) Sailboat-LNM https://www.lnm-boats.com/sailboat-lnm (several racers and cruisers, plywood multichine) https://rolland-archi.com/spip.php?article324 (Cruiser, plywood multichine) https://sailscow.com/ (plywood/balsa multichine, kit for the 37, 42 version announced)  

Rumars said: ↑ Yes they are available. Examples: https://sailscow.com/ (plywood/balsa multichine, kit for the 37, 42 version announced) Click to expand...

One more thing, as long as you are prepared to pay for a custom design you can ask any NA you like. If you like Lombard designs just ask the man how much it costs. All that can happen is that he does not have time, or he is to expensive. Any round bilge boat can be reworked for flat panel construction, inverted bow, different cabin, etc. This might (not necessarily) be cheaper then a fully new design, again you have to ask. The sailscow is a Plessis design, here is his other work https://www.gplessis-yachtdesign.com/sail  

tane Senior Member

Jean Pierre Villenave : titre http://asso.abv.free.fr/ (does you good to brush up your French!) & above a certain size stripplanking might be easier because of handling lighter parts: https://marclombard.com/randonneurs-12-m/  

& I am also pretty sure, that, as boat size increases, the advantage of sheet-plywood construction, be it timber-chine or laminated chine, diminishes (sharply above 40'), as the proportion of labour of hull:fitout moves further & further towards fitout. To illustrate with extremes: a chine- daysailer has hardly any fitout -time advantage of the laminated chine(s) over the beveled chine logs (time 60:40=hullpainting, rigg, "internals". 40' "blue-water"-cruising boat: 15:85=hull:all-the-huge-rest, systems,...). Even on the daysailer the laminated chine will not be so much a saving in time, as a saving in skill level required over the beveling of chine logs. (& if you think of a 38-40' self build - the skill level required for a half-way decent fitout will far surpass the skill level required for the beveling of 4 chine logs & a keel.) The main advantage I see with laminated chines is, if the designer provides files for cnc routing of the developped hull panels & maybe of many parts of the interior too, which I guess would be difficult/useless with a chine-log construction. If the desiner does NOT provide the developped hull panels (computer files or offsets), the laminated chine would make things more difficult than a chine log: taking off the outline of a hull panel sure will be easier with chine logs, than none. just my 2 cents....  

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a yes: @inverted bow: we found a near-vertical (far from "inverted") bow already a major drag when handling the anchor. On an inverted bow you will need an anchorplatform that is projecting quite a bit (or an armour plated bow)  

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The Cult of the Cal 40

The classic 1960s ocean racing legend.

The  Cal 40  is a roughly 39-ft 4-in fiberglass production racing and cruising sailboat, of which about 155 were built in Costa Mesa, California, starting in 1963. The first mass-produced sailboat that was capable of sustained surfing on waves, the Cal 40 dominated ocean racing during the 1960s like no other design before or since. It’s the original longboard, a Southern California surfing machine that is capable of sustained 15-knot downwind speeds.

The Boat That Changed Everything

This breakthrough design ushered in dramatic changes in offshore racing, from the moment that Cal 40 #2,  Conquistador, won the 1964 Southern Ocean Racing Conference, the marquee big boat series at the time. “Wooden ships and iron men” had been replaced by fiberglass boats and kids, as Cal 40s, sometimes crewed by teams of teenagers, crushed the competition in the Bermuda Race, the Transpac and many others.

The Cal 40 was created as the combined work of three men. George Griffith, a successful racing sailor and member of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, reportedly drew the outline of a new kind of racing yacht hull on the back of a napkin, and showed it to his friend, naval architect C. William Lapworth. Griffith observed that sailing dinghies, like the International 14 class, were extremely maneuverable with their rudders hanging on their transoms, unlike the typical 40-footer of 1962, which was a full-keeled, heavy beast with the rudder swinging on the back of the keel.

Radical Ultralight Hull

Griffith’s sketch showed a flat-bottomed, radically ultralight hull, lithe and canoe-like in shape, but with a brutal, trapezoidal 6,000-pound wing stuck to the bottom. And behind this wing of a keel, way back, was a separate “spade” rudder. The design that Bill Lapworth created, at 15,000 pounds, was considered questionable, radically light and dangerously underbuilt by many of the yachting authorities, not to mention its being built out of the avant-garde new boatbuilding material of fiberglass, referred to as “extruded snot” by the esteemed L. Francis Herreshoff.

Griffith and Lapworth unsuccessfully shopped their design around to several California boatbuilders, experiencing polite rejection until they showed the plans to Jack Jensen, who agreed to build the boat on the condition that Griffith could guarantee orders for at least ten boats.

Fast forward to the present, and today the Cal 40 has attained true ‘cult’ status as a design that is sought after, restored and passed down through multiple generations of families. Try searching for Cal 40s that are for sale on Yachtworld and other sites, and you’ll likely come up empty. Folks spend multiple years and a quarter of a million dollars restoring Cal 40s and fitting them out with the latest sails, gear and electronics.

Standing the Test of Time ​

The Cal 40 has endured because it is not only a relatively quick downwind raceboat, but also a sweet-sailing light cruiser that, in the words of Cal 40 owner  Stan Honey , “has no bad habits.” It steers beautifully under autopilot — plus it is rare to find a tiller-steered 40-ft sailboat, especially one with a light helm.

​Cal 40s have twice achieved the record of being the biggest one-design fleet ever in the biennial Transpac Race, with 14 boats in 1966 and 2005. And the boat continues to rack up trophies in big ocean races too, as San Francisco Bay-based Cal 40s have continued to place well.  Azure, Rodney Pimentel’s Encinal-based program, has been consistently near the top of the fleet in Bay, coastal and Pacific races.  Green Buffalo  and  Red Head , from Richmond Yacht Club, have won at the top level. And no list of modern-era Cal 40 accomplishments is complete without mention of the husband/wife team of Stan Honey and Sally Lindsay Honey onboard  Illusion .

​Many Cal 40 restorations are underway, or have happened recently.  Fred Cook ’s complete down-to-bare-glass rebuild of  Sequoia , documented in a great series of videos, is the most famous one. He’s worked with Cree Partridge, Jim Antrim, Kame Richards and other top East Bay pros to create a virtually brand-new boat.

​A Swell Cal 40 Voyage

Perhaps the most well-known Cal 40 belongs to  Liz Clark , who has been roaming the Pacific aboard Cal 40 #68,  Swell . On what she calls, “a sailing surfer’s voyage of awakening,” Captain Clark has pushed the boundaries of solo cruising and sustainable living, all while attracting notice for her exciting adventures and sponsorship from the likes of Patagonia and North Sails. We have a copy of her excellent narrative, a book called  Swell , onboard Shaman .

27 Comments

I own #120, ‘Mahalo’ and have since 2007. Yes, spent lots of $$ but she was in great shape after two Transpacs in ’03 and ’05 as ‘Flying Cloud’. She’s small by modern standards but just a blast to sail. I don’t race but I love to sail a boat well and a 40 is just a joy. She’s a great cruising boat now too.

First I would like to thank Latitude 38 for providing the magazine over the years but its especially great now when away from the water! I did the Transpac last year on Bob Hortons Cal 40 “Highlander” from Tiburon. What a great ride out there on the Pacific, I can vouch for the surfing which became competitive on the boat to see who who get the highest speed, I won by topping out at 18.9 knots on a wave at about 3-4 in the morning!, We could gauge how fast we were going by the noise of the water and how high water was spraying above the lifelines.

I like Cal 40s fine, but not the V drive most of them have.

I remember sailing with Jon Andron and his father Mort on their Cal 40 out of Santa Barbara in 1966-69. I was living aboard my boat GJOA in the SB harbor then. A fast boat ,but many “old school” sailors did not trust the FRP boats and I remember wondering if those boats would just fall apart while racing. How times changed.

We love the Cal40 here on Monterey Bay as well where we have a group of solo sailors we call “The Usual Suspects” who enjoy slugging it out on a regular basis. The Cal40 is extremely well suited for solo sailing/racing with it’s long tiller, accessible trim lines, and ability to easily steer with one’s foot while grinding in the jib after tacking. Just ask Steve Gann on his Cal40, Boomer, who (at 78 yrs young) still has enough tricks up his sleeve to teach us “youngsters” a thing or two!!!

Love Cal 40’s. Sailed in 81 and 85 on Montgomery Street in TransPac. We won it all in 85. The boat is like a freight train on rails downwind in a blow. I have many wonderful memories. I love it that Cal 40’s are still competitive 6 decades later.

How about running some of the old stories about the Cal-40. One such story that comes to mind was about Stan Honey doing the single-handed transpac in his Cal-40. Something about him beating the time of all previous Cal-40’s that had ever done the trip.

Splendid summary, thank you! It is extraordinarily impressive that almost 50 years later the Cal 40 remains an icon: a formidable racing boat that is also a sea-kindly and practical cruising boat without bad habits

It is, perhaps, worth remembering that the Cal 40 did not spring fully formed from George Griffith’s imagination onto that cocktail napkin. The same George Griffith had collaborated with the same Bill Lapworth on a prototype for the Cal 40 which was also built in Cost Mesa. This was the Lapworth 36. George Griffith took delivery of hull #1. It shared many of the same characteristics, and 71 boats were built to become a premiere one design fleet on the West Coast. It too, was radically ultralight by the standards of the day at less than 11,000 pounds. It shared the same rig and sail plan, and many of the same hull and under-body characteristics. The L-36 still had a keel hung rudder so it was the spade rudder that was the quantum leap on the Cal 40. Like the Cal 40, a well maintained Lapworth 36 remains a formidable racing boat as well as a sea-kindly and practical cruising boat without bad habits.

Full disclosure: my Father had #71 built. It is still in our family, and I expect my sons to be sailing her for many decades to come.

So additional articles must follow to describe the “cult” group of Cal 20s, 29s and other Lapworth models such as the Pearson 44, etc…. the man knew how to conceptualize racing vessels way beyond the design of the times.

What about the 40’s hot little sister the Cal 39 (pic in 2-11-18 Lec Lat, Ode to Wet Bottom Girls), or “The Other Woman” Knot A Clew.

Little? I believe the Cal 39 is both longer and heavier. Ask Saildata.com

Unfortunately, SailData.com indicates that only 107 CAL-40’s were built, but I apparently have hull #168 and I believe the above information is correct that 170 were built. Perhaps SailData.com transposed the 7 and the 0 in their count. I have come across a few other errors in their data, albeit they are a very useful source most of the time.

The Cal 39 is certainly a fine yacht, but it is fundamentally an offshore cruiser with good performance rather than a racing design that can also be cruised comfortably.

Guess I could tell a few “old” Cal 40 stories. In the ’67 Transpac (not ’66 as written in the article above), there were 14 Cal 40s on the start line. HOLIDAY TOO, #24, won class and overall, the youngest crew to do so, and a record that still stands despite MORNING LIGHT’s professional attempt at besting it. Before the 2007 Transpac, and movie of the same name, Robbie Haines of the MORNING LIGHT Disney project called me up and wanted all HOLIDAY TOO’s ’67 crew birthdates. I thought this a little strange without an explanation and refused his request. Another memory: Before the 2003 Transpac Stan Honey invited George Griffith and Bill Lapworth aboard ILLUSION for a little visit while tied up at the Griffiths’ dock in Alamitos Bay. As we sat around in the cockpit, a little contentiousness erupted. George told how Lapworth had designed the rig to be 18″ shorter, but George held out for the “tall” rig, saying Lapwoth’s “stump” would have “killed” the boat. Then the subject of who designed the Cal 40’s spade rudder, of which both Lapworth and Griffith claimed credit, arose, and was not resolved before our friendly little reunion broke up. Good times. -skip

Good to read about the history and accomplishments, past and present, of the wonderful Cal 40. My family and I have enjoyed owning Chaparral, hull number 135, for more than two decades and agree whole heartedly with the positive statements and comments about this tried and true class of great sailboats. In over 50 years on the water, Chaparral has proven the point of being an excellent racer and cruiser by performing well in off shore racing, including crewed and single handed Transpacs, as well as sailing around the world in 16 months, with her previous owner, Hans Vielhauer. Cal 40s may be old, but they certainly are good, and so much fun to sail.

Jim Quanci’s beautifully maintained Cal 40 ‘Green Buffalo’ has a few miles and many wins under her keel! I enjoyed following GB out of the gate in the 2012 SHTP, which Jim and GB won. And of course GB has also competed successfully in several Pac Cups, and many Bay races. She’s a Cal 40 worth watching!

Can anyone fill in the history of Sally and Stan’s Illusion? There was a black Cal 40 on the East Coast by that name in the early ’70s – owned by Commodore Montesano and raced by him and Bus Mosbacher. Maybe you’ve enjoyed a famous Montesano Cooler on the lawn at Larchmont. Yup – one and the same. I raced on the East Coast Illusion as a junior and have wondered if it’s the same boat. Thanks for any ideas.

Yes Sally and my Cal40 ILLUSION is the same boat as owned by Bus Mosbacher and Vince Monte-Sano. We sailed ILLUSION around to the East Coast to do the Bermuda Race in 2020 which was cancelled. Our fallback was two terrific summers cruising in Maine. We’ll be racing ILLUSION in the upcoming Newport Bermuda Race in June 2022. Interestingly ILLUSION’s first Bermuda Race was in 1966 raced by Mosbacher and Monte-Sano in which she came second to the Cal40 Thunderbird. The seven Cal40’s swept the results that year.

I am the keeper of hull 147 (I think) under the name EnFin, located on the Great Lakes. Although her specific history has gaps, it’s believed she’s lived in the fresh water of Lake Ontario for all of her life. In my opinion the Cal-40 has the best cockpit and is…. sparse down below. The cramped galley and curved floor can be difficult to get used to, but in a >15kn beam reach she makes it tough for boats far lighter and newer to keep up.

It is the same ILLUSION as owned by Mosbacher and Montesano. Hull number 57. She used to be black. There are half hulls of her in the NYYC Model Room and in Larchmont YC. She used to have sail number 1700, probably because Weatherly, the 12 that Mosbacher sailed in the Cup had sail number 17.

Thanks Stan, that connects the dots and brings back lots of happy memories. Glad to know you’re continuing the fun. Good luck in June. TK

I crewed on an L40 owned by Dr. Ed DuBois out of Marina del Rey back In 1968 and 1969. It was a lot of fun even tough we weren’t very competitive. I’d love to know if that boat is still around. I have no remembrance of the name or numbers of the boat. Ryan Anderson

Was the Dubois L40 also named Duboius? I was best friends with Larry Dubois back then.

I remember racing against Laughing Sally in Puerto Rico early 1970s. Dick Doran was the helmsman. It was the most dominant and professional boat during those days. In 1970 won Antigua.

I’m the current care taker of 1970 built Cal-40 Jubilee. Almost done with a full refit here on the Gulfcoast near the Florida Alabama line. I was really enjoying the ride until starting on the long journey of redoing outside and in. Everything except the engine and transmission have been changed out. About to rig and step the mast soon. Hope to have her ready to go fall of ‘23.

Take good care! I learned to sail on Jubalee in the 80’s in Houston. She’s special. I’ve heard a photo of her was in the Charleston yacht club for a while.

There used to be a small plaque or something on the bulk head commentating a SORC record she set.

I have (should I say am trustee of? lol) a Cal-40 that is apparently Hull# 168, formerly named ‘Callalou’ or ‘Callaloo’, and now named ‘Innisfree’ likely after the Irish poet Yeats’ poem of the same name. I’ll keep her name as is. She needs some deferred maintenance caught up and rehabilitation. The teak is in need of cleaning and oiling and the cockpit backboards will most likely need replacing. The power plant is not original. She has a Westerbeke W-33 now, which was derived from a Perkins block; some parts are interchangeable. The engine starts and runs fine now with a new waterpump. I am eager to get her sailing again as I think she has awesome lines, not to mention all of the Cal-40 history and accolades I am learning more about. Any help with photographs of original cabin layouts, maintenance issues to look for, etc., will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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A Class 40 Racing Yacht. From Cardboard.

• August 24th, 2016
• Sailing Yacht

Dedicated readers of this NO FRILLS SAILING.com sailing magazine know that I do have a certain obsession with Class 40 racing yachts. They are damn fast, look pretty awesome and need special abilities when boarded to be sailed. Since that very moment I first set foot in a Pogo 40 racing yacht some weeks ago I was fascinated with these ships.

And after reading the all-standard book “The Principles of Yacht Design” (here´s my book review ) and talking to Alex Lang who is currently building his own Classe Mini 650 yacht from plywood (read the fascinating interview here ) I´ve decided to build my own Class 40 sailing vessel . Well. A small one … from cardboard.

I was lucky to find exact plans of a 40 feet sailing vessel – reminiscent of a Class 40 yacht – as part of the “Principles of Yacht Design”-Book. The ship is called YD-41 and the whole book is referring to this ship and explaining features of yacht design practically by showing things at the YD-41. So I did have a load of detailed plans and began to work my way through: Starting by transferring measurements of keel and bulkheads onto … well … strong cardboard. My boat is a small Class 40.

Length over all: 32 centimeters. What´s that fuzz all about, you may ask? It´s a tradition of my home town of Hamburg/Germany.

The Navel Ship. A Hamburg Tradition.

Let´s go back in time. Year 2013. My wife gave birth to our son. A great moving moment for every young mother and father. There are so many traditions after the arrival of newborn human beings on our earth, but this one was really griping me: I´ve read somewhere sometime that a Hamburg father should build a small boat into which the naval of the child s placed , when finally being lost by the child. This “navel ship” is then put into the waters of mighty river Elbe.

The navel ship will then proceed with the river, going down (ritually) into the North Sea. I particularly liked that tradition over others where one for example would have to bury the afterbirth and plant a tree upon it, because it had this certain naval aspect, a romantic sense and – over all – finally a ship involved. It suited us well because we as a family love the sea, love Hamburg and our river Elbe. So, some 3 years ago, I´ve built my first navel ship. From cardboard.

It was a clumsy boat to be honest. A bigger version of an ordinary child´s ship. But it still had a rig, a mainsail and a jib and was painted in Hamburg colors red and white. I was proud to having built it and the small family went to the shores of river Elbe where she was set afloat, accompanied by best wishes and Goodbye-waving for her journey. Also best wishes for luck, prosperity and overall health for our small son who was sleeping in his buggy.

Oh my. The ship was poorly balanced as it lacked a proper keel , her rudder didn´t had any impact and so the NAVELSHIP 1 as she has been christened did capsize immediately after put into the waters, flushed by the cold floods of river Elbe and dramatically slow drifting ashore where she ran aground and finally sank . That´s was definitely not a magic moment of ship building indeed but nevertheless it was great fun to look at and after all tradition has been served.

As my wife got pregnant with our second son I saw my chance to make things better and to improve my construction. NAVELSHIP 2 would be a class of its own!

Bringing YD-41 to life.

So, three years later my second son is born and well and I take my chance of building not less than the best ever navel ship the river Elbe has seen to date. It should be full of grace, fast as hell, resemble the proud colors of the City of Hamburg of course and … well, a man´s work of a man´s own hands. The book “Principles of Yacht Design” was delivering the plans and after one or two hours of measuring, calculating and transferring the data onto cardboard, cutting out bulkheads and keel I glued together the first thirteen parts: Holding in my hands the principle structural construction of the Class 40 design. Even my wife was delighted, normally more or less shaking her head over my naval spleen (you know what I mean, don´t you?).

I was determined to have the Class 40 built according to the plans with a proper keel this time and of course a real rig resembling the principal functions: Halyards, sheets and sails made of Dacron-like material. In transferring measurements onto cardboard I noticed how hard it really is to work the material in an exact way: Even as I tried to be as accurate as possible I was puzzled by the huge allowances in the end. Boatbuilding is as hard as heart surgery it seems.

Even whilst working on a model ship I was determined to have her guilt like she was really going to be sailed through rough waters of the open ocean, so I added stringers to the skeleton which were then finally showing how inaccurate I have been working in the first place – instead of running down from bow to stern in a smooth straight line my stringers resembled an … well, kind of ugly finish. Nevertheless, as the glue hardened, the hull made a pretty stable impression.

I also added twin rudders, as I knew when pressed hard in the wind a Class 40 would heel significantly bringing the lee rudder out of the water and making the remaining rudder working efficient. But how to get the hull completed? A walk to the nearest home improvement store later, I´ve bought a can of insulating foam with which I foamed the whole hull. I did had an idea how to achieve a smooth surface of the hull.

The Class 40 receives a smooth Hull

Oh, what a day, when a week later the foam finally dried completely and I took out the sharp carpet knife and began to cut away the surplus foam material. Slowly the distinct shape of a Class 40 sailing yacht was pealing out of the bulky clunk of foam. It was as easy as ABC as I only had to cut along the stringers.

Slowly the neat lines of the YD-41 sailing yacht reappeared and the more I cut away the foam the more excited I got: Along with my son who is now some two and a half years old, watching daddy with big eyes and asking questions all the time. Showing the pictures of NAVELSHIP 1 to him, he began to jangle our nerves asking when the boat will hit the waters. And as we all know: Building a ship takes at least two times longer and will cost at least four times the estimated budgets .

Nevertheless, despite the price paid until now – some 130 Euros – the outcome was awesome and holding the hull, now made unsinkable, made me some kind of a proud boat builder. Hence I must admit, seeing her uneven lines, asymmetric hull and huge allowances would make a pro get white hair, but in this case it´s okay I would say.

Last item on the to-do list was working with filler. I began to apply one or two millimeters of filler to the foamy hull, waited a day and sanded it down to get a (relatively) smooth surface. Then I repeated the whole process another two times, achieving a thick enough hard hull, impermeable for water. Doesn´t she look pretty?

Final Preparations of the Class 40 Hull

Adding a keel was also kind of tricky. I first made another chunk of insulating foam, cutting it altogether to the shape of a lead-keel bulb. Then I again applied some – really thick – layers of filler and sanded it down. In the end I´ve got a both heavy bulb and a – relatively – bulb-shaped keel form. Bringing fin and bulb together was a matter of some drops of all-purpose-adhesive and that was finally it.

Next thing was the rig of which the main mast was the first thing to do. A simple wooden spar, cut to the exact size of the boat´s planned mast height taken from the plans I applied some boreholes for the boom and the halyards which will be installed later. Cutting the mast shoe I drilled the hole through the cabin roof, cut out some wood and glued the stepped mast onto the keel construction. A day of drying – perfect! Two spreaders round the picture.

So, as everything had dried thoroughly it was time to add a neat design to the boat. What´s a Class 40 without a cool design? It was clear from the beginning that I´d had to opt for the classic Hamburg colors: Red, Blue and White and so I finally did. Having two layers of Yacht-White applied to the boat I added dynamic blue graphics, resembling the swoosh of the seas. Painting the submerged surface in red added the final touch.

And here she comes: NAVELSHIP 2 (or in German NABELSCHIFF 2) was brought to water in the bathtub of my sons and – what a glorious day! – she swam! And she did not just only swim, she did exactly it to her waterline like as if it was intended. She is pretty stable I must say and behaving great as far as I could test in the tub.

Now the boat is nearly finished. I am right now finishing her standing and running rigging, doing so experiments with cut out IKEA-bags for making her great blue sails and I guess within the coming weeks she will finally put to sea. The same way we did three years ago: Taking my family out on a fine day to strolling down to the shores of Elbe river, bringing the boat to her salty waters, waving goodbye and hoping that she will sail some (couple of) meters until, I fear, inevitably she will also capsize, run aground or simply sink.

But hey, that´s the fate of navel ships as the tradition demands it.

Here´s an interview with Marc Lombard, Merfyn Owen and Britton Ward on real Class 40 racing yachts

And an exciting read on Lizzy Foreman´s first moves aboard an IMOCA 60 racing yacht

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

AC40: the America’s Cup class’ younger sister

• Toby Heppell
• January 27, 2022

All about the AC40, which will be used for the Youth and Women's America's Cups and the America's Cup preliminary series

The 37th America’s Cup may be retaining the AC75 – albeit with a tweaked rule set – for actual Cup racing, but there will also be a new kid on the block in the form of the AC40. This one-design foiling monohull will be used by teams for training, development and America’s Cup preliminary regattas.

The purchase of one AC40 will be a prerequisite to entry into the 37th America’s Cup with the boats being used for an America’s Cup preliminary series (consisting of two events in the run up to the Cup itself), and also the reintroduced Youth America’s Cup.

Both the Youth AC and Preliminary Events (previously called the America’s Cup World Series) concept have been a feature of past America’s Cups, but both were dropped in the run-up to the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland.

The 37th AC will also introduce a new concept in the Women’s America’s Cup, which will also (controversially for many) take place in the smaller AC40 class that the youths will use.

The first AC40 is now in production by builders McConaghy Boats and is promised for delivery in July 2022 with production slated to be one new boat every five weeks thereafter.

Teams entering the America’s Cup and so purchasing an AC40 will also be given access to a simulator developed by Emirates Team New Zealand for pre-delivery training.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s training boat, Te Kahu. Photo: James Sommerset / Emirates Team New Zealand

The birth of the AC40

In the run up to the 2021 America’s Cup all teams tried out various test boat platforms – often modified 30-40ft racing yachts – in order to get to grips with the previously untried new concept of keel-less large foiling monohulls that had been introduced for the AC75 .

These test boat platforms were used by the teams to test foil shapes. For some, it was also a first opportunity to start getting to grips with the complex soft wingsails that had been newly introduced to the America’s Cup world with the AC75 rule.

The last team to launch a test platform was the (successful) Defender of the Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand .

The Kiwis were last onto the water with their test boat (they launched Te Kahu , the test boat, after their first AC75 hit the water but before their second race boat AC75, Te Rehutai ), and also had the advantage of the team’s highly advanced simulator and computing platform. So it’s unsurprising that the New Zealand team’s test boat looked easily the most polished and closest to the AC75s in almost every way.

It is also hardly surprising that, as Defender and co-writer of the 37th America’s Cup rules, the new one-design AC40 class looks very similar indeed to both Te Rehutai (from which the hull shape is taken) and Te Kahu .

How does the AC40 work?

The AC40 is designed to behave in a similar way to the AC75. They have two large, weighted foils on either side of the boat but no traditional keel.

The boats are designed to foil on one foil only with the windward foil raised out of the water to reduce drag and provide increased righting moment.

With only four crew members onboard the AC40 there will be a reliance on a variety of automated systems, including a battery powered system replacing the need for grinders, and automated controls to adjust foiling height and self-tacking headsails.

In terms of the rig, the AC40 will mimic the AC75s and will feature the same D-shaped mast on which two sail skins will be hoisted to create a soft wingsail, offering plenty of control but a sail plan that can be easily raised and lowered from onboard.

As with both the finalists in the 36th America’s Cup there will not be a boom, with a variety of hydraulics used to shape the sail from foot to head.

Southern Spars will supply the mast spar, while North Sails will be the supplier for the sails.

Is the AC40 a one design?

The AC40 concept is designed to meet a variety of criteria, providing one-design racing in the run-up to the America’s Cup itself (and for the Youth and Women’s AC ) but also to function as a test platform for the teams to develop and trial concepts ahead of building their AC75s for the America’s Cup proper.

This second function is vital to control costs – it is much cheaper to develop concepts on a smaller class than it is on the larger AC75.

But when it comes to the two preliminary events ahead of the AC (a third preliminary event will be sailed in AC75s), the Youth America’s Cup, and the Women’s America’s Cup, all boats will need to be stripped back to conform to the one-design AC40 rule.

AC40 Performance

In their modelling so far, Emirates Team New Zealand report that in light winds the AC40 is expected to be able to sail at up to 26 knots at 46º upwind and 30 knots boat speed at 138º downwind.

At the upper limits of 20 knots TWS, the boat speeds are expected to escalate to 39 knots upwind at 41º and 44 knots at an angle of 155º downwind.

Can I buy an AC40?

In theory, an AC40 can be bought by anyone, allowing for the possibility of private ownership. As a further step on from this, Emirates Team New Zealand say the simulator will be available to private owners, should anyone be looking to purchase one of the scaled down AC class.

Whether or not any private owners would be tempted by this remains to be seen. It would certainly be a thrilling boat to own, though running costs and complexity could also be incredibly high.

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