SECTION B
6. GENERAL
AC Class Rule V 1.0 Page 8 of 38
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SECTION B
6. GENERAL
AC Class Rule V 1.0 Page 8 of 38
6.1. The AC Class Yacht shall be a vessel, generally known as a catamaran, which has two hulls
that are connected by cross structure and arranged symmetrically about the yacht
centerplane, with each hull having one rudder and one rudder wing, one daggerboard, and
no other appendages. The AC Class Yacht shall have one wing and no more than one jib.
6.2. The overall length between the stem plane and stern plane, not including equipment required
or provided by ACEA, shall not exceed 14.650 m.
6.3. The maximum beam shall not exceed 8.480 m.
6.4. The distance between hull centerplanes shall not exceed 7.500 m, nor be less than 7.450 m,
and shall be measured on the transverse axis at any point along the hull.
6.5. The AC Class Yacht shall have a single wing rotation point that shall be:
(a) within 0.020 m of the yacht centerplane;
(b) located within 0.004 m of the plane of symmetry of the wing in wing measurement
position;
(c) located between 1.400 m and 1.450 m above MWP; and
(d) located between 6.740 and 6.760 m forward of the stern plane.
6.6. Excluding the wing, jibs, rigging, daggerboards, instrumentation, and ACEA-mandated
equipment, an AC Class Yacht shall have no component that is more than 1.500 m above MWP
that:
(a) has a chord length/thickness ratio greater than 3:1; and
(b) makes an angle of greater than 10 degrees to MWP.
6.7. In measurement condition and appendage measurement condition, no part of the AC
Class Yacht shall extend more than 2.300 m below MWP.
6.8. The sailing weight shall be between 2300 kg and 2400 kg.
6.9. The sailing weight in Rule 6.8 includes a weight for permanently-mounted ACEA equipment
of 180 kg in the measurement weight, and 18 kg in the wing weight.
6.10. When in measurement condition, the AC Class Yacht shall be capable of being weighed by a
three or four-point lift using multiple load cells and, when lifted, shall be approximately
horizontal.
6.11. The center of gravity of the AC Class Yacht when in measurement condition shall be
between 6.250 m and 6.450 m forward of the stern plane.
6.12. Gases with a density less than standard atmosphere air shall not be used to reduce the weight
of an AC Class Yacht.
6.13. The AC Class Yacht shall comply with Appendix G - Safety Equipment and Appendix I – Media
and Race Committee Equipment.
6.14. The Regatta Director and the Measurement Committee, in consultation with Competitors,
will specify structural tests that shall be conducted by Competitors on their AC Class Yachts
and components and:
(a) Competitors shall document this testing and supply that documentation to the
Measurement Committee and Regatta Director for review prior to the issuing of an AC
Class Yacht’s first measurement certificate;
(b) the Competitor shall provide a declaration as shown in Appendix B confirming that this
testing has been properly completed and that the AC Class Yacht and its components
have passed such tests;
(c) details of the required testing will be published by the Measurement Committee as an
This became an issue because?
Maybe someone used helium to expand a carbon fiber panel and made it lighter?
Or filled the mast with it so it might float better?
And that's cheating instead of a safety issue?
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
Millions and millions of dollars were spent on lawyers to dream up and contest these rules
you should see the rules that were dropped:
7.234b naked fem-bots as crew are not allowed
78.334a dosing other teams with lsd, or similar is only allowed on thursday
868.3 filling competitors hulls with shaving cream is not allowed
34.0 flaming bags of dog poop are only permitted on doorsteps ....
Your sure correct. A carbon mast, carbon cross beams, and hull areas filled with helium make one hell of an explosion. If they could do you think they would be required to put safety labels on them?
-- Prindle 18 w/ wings, Prindle 16, Prindle 15, current
Hobie 16 in rebuild
2 Hobie 18 past
NACRA 5.2 past
WHAAAAAAATTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????
I'm calling my sea lawyer.
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
If we filled one hull with hydrogen, and the other with oxygen, and put a nozzle on the rear crossbar...
They come in red and green tanks, so Oxygen on starboard side, and Hydrogen on port. Easy to remember when you pull up to the compressed gas station pumps.
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
Now that I'm running both TheBeachcats.com and Catsailor.com sometimes I'll refer a topic to one or the other.
There is a good discussion on the America's Cup going on at Catsailor with daily updates on viewing schedule and race results. Also it's possible to imbed video there. The press conferance for todays racing is live now at
All of the systems on the boat are powered by hydraulics; sail sheeting/camber, rudder angle, dagger angle, pitch and elevation.
What they are doing by grinding/peddling is building hydraulic pressure into an accumulation system, without pressure, or "oil" as you might here them say on the boat, maneuvering and trimming is not possible.
+1
"Oil" pressure is real part of the tactics in this event.
there must be enough pressure to make an aggressive (or defensive) move (even something as simple as tacking to take a wind shift, or go to the other side of the course for some advantage is dependent on how much pressure is available)