When Team New Zealand won the America's Cup this year, it was the beginning of yet another revolution in sailing. Challenger to the cup Luna Rossa dictated that the next Americas Cup would be contested in monohulls, so monohulls they are!

But of course, the Americas Cup wouldn't be the same without foils…

So in the last few months, Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa have began the modelling and simulations on what will be dubbed the AC75. The worlds first fully foiling racing yacht.

With no conventional keel, instead using ballasted foils on each side of the boat, these AC75's are tipped to be even faster than the current generation of foiling catamarans. Most importantly, they are truly revolutionary to the sport of sailing - something the Americas Cup has always strived for.

"We are in the early days of modelling, but there will be big changes in righting moment so manoeuvring will be incredibly challenging," observes Grant Simmer CEO of Land Rover BAR, the only other fully funded challenger to the cup. "The new design promises to open up another immense new chapter in foil development and sailing technique."

Some basic rules have already been spoken about in the leadup to the official class rules released on the 1st of January, including a one-design unit that controls the foils, a ban on autopilots (for the foils) and the use of traditional sails up front, combined with a soft wing sail down the back to avoid a requirement for craning sails on before each race.

To see how it all works, it's best left up to the amazing 3d animation made by Team New Zealand. It has detailed descriptions of how the foils will work, and even footage of what racing will look look like at Takapuna in 2021.

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