Unveiling Day - One Last Look Before America's Cup XXXI

Not a lot of sizzle for this unveiling compared to what we saw in January - save for TNZ's painted flames and Alinghi's Can-Can girls. [Editor's Note: To view and learn more about the hulls and appendages of the syndicates revealed in January, see the article What's "Down Under" On Each AC Boat. It has photos and more comments on Unveiling Day.]

The Defender and the Challenger for the America's Cup are only allowed nominate one boat for the America's Cup match. Tuesday's unveiling marked the start of the no-change period for both Team New Zealand and Alinghi.

The Swiss challenger, Alinghi, must race SUI-64, the boat it sailed to victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup. They say they've made many small adjustments. Alinghi's bulb, keel and rudder appear the same (except the cow graphic is gone). The obvious changes were a slightly different bow shape, and dual shroud rigging which should reduce windage when sailing upwind.

"The big gains we've made have been through the dual rigging and we've been working a lot on the sails," Design Coordinator Grant Simmer said. "We know that the rigging change should give us about half a meter per minute upwind. On the bow there's a steeper angle which makes the boat a little shorter and allows us to have a little more sail area."

Simmer stated that the boat can now carry about two square-meter of sail more than it did in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final. He expects that will help his Swiss team in lighter conditions. All in all, Simmer said the result should gain over a meter per second through all the adjustments.

NZL-82 has been chosen by Team New Zealand’s designers and sailing team - the last black boat to be built. It turns out that the slender seven-meter long bulb was the key feature when Team New Zealand unveiled NZL-82 to the public for the second time on Tuesday.

It's essentially the same torpedo-shaped bulb that was revealed in early January, with just some minor modifications - including a flame paint job running down the first half of the bulb (for side views from January by selecting "Tech Talk" on the left-hand menu and looking at "Whats Down Under On Each AC Boat").

Many had speculated that the longer bulb was just a red herring at the January unveiling. Not so, as it turns out. TNZ has clearly indicated that it favors a lower center of gravity and more stability The drawback: more wetted surface drag.

The length of the bulb means a greater upwind performance, but they also think it has strengths downwind and in any wind conditions says Team New Zealand Research Co-ordinator Andrew Claughton.

"Anytime you need more stability, such as in the righting moments in a stronger breeze, that's when this bulb is going to perform best," Claughton explained.

Obviously, the "hula" is still part of the program for TNZ - it was part of a brave, integrated design. "The hula's job is to reduce the wave resistance by changing the wave profile and volume distribution. If you see waves coming off these boats the hula is starting to work," said Principal Designer Clay Oliver

Another clear difference between the two boats is the boom design. Alinghi has a standard rectangular boom, while Team New Zealand's is thin at each end and thicker in the middle.

Oliver confirmed on Tuesday that their new boom is lighter than last year's NZL-60 boom.

The two boats are quite different and it is rumoured that Alinghi may have the advantage in lighter airs and Team New Zealand the upper-hand in stronger conditions. Unlike the challenger series, which had wind limits for when syndicates could race their boats, the America's Cup match has no such restrictions. The Principal Race officer, Harold Bennett, will make the call whether to start and quit racing for the safety of the crews.

With the possibility of racing in higher wind built into the race management strategy and light winds projected in the immediate forecast . . . it's anybody's guess until they meet on the water at the end of this week.