The 90-Foot Beast

It’s official – the AC90 Rule has been published and the future looks bright for the 33rd America’s Cup.

Briefly, the rule says AC boats will be 90 feet in length overall with a draft of 6.5 m (21.3 feet) and a displacement of 23 tons. Designers from the six current entries have been hard at work for the past six weeks brainstorming ideas and all seems amicable at this writing.

Now that the AC90 Rule has been disclosed to Golden Gate YC and their BMW Oracle Team, it’s likely that this is a big step towards overcoming obstacles and finalizing details so that all teams can move forward and start building their boats.

One concern GGYC had was that Alinghi had an unfair advantage since they designed the rule. Alinghi has agreed to change the rule enough to address concerns.

Now, eyes will turn back to the court ruling which could come at any time. Hopefully the remaining concerns can be sorted out in a sportsman-like manner and teams can forge ahead with building and training, getting back to what the Cup is really all about: history, athleticism and top-notch competition.