I'd imagine the last 1-2 generations of America's Cup boats would have a lot to glean in terms of wing sail camber changes and how they operate. Pretty neat to watch how they use flaps vertically, but there's a lot of hydraulics and carbon at play there as well.
The most recent completed America's Cup uses a boomless dual skinned mainsail held up by a fairly traditional mast. The Cats and Tris between the IACC and the AC75 (2010, 2013, 2017) are more something to take inspiration from I'd think with their more complex internal construction. SailGP's wings, have proven to be quite versatile and durable, albeit with significant maintenance. I'd assume a cargo wingsail would be a bit beefier than a foiling raceboat's.
Despite the switch from wings back to "normal sails" In my view, this latest generation of America's Cup is especially awesome from a follower's perspective for two distinct reasons.
1. The rule is similar to last gen, a foiling 75 foot monohull. A number of the initial engineering work and sorta figuring out how to design and build the various systems has already been done, a team wanting to join in on the fun doesn't have to reinvent the wheel with everything unless they believe they can have an edge by doing so. There are old boats for sale as well as a 40-foot model for training the athletes on their controls.
2. There's a centralized repository for reconnaissance. Meaning, every team, and some of the media have access to sailing, launching, and training footage of every team. What has for over a century required each team employ their own multi-national team of spies to surveil each competitor. It was unnecessarily costly and the fans get the added benefit of being to watch much more of each team's boats as their systems morph throughout the design process. I have a friend on the recon team and as well have been exposed through a yt channel, "Mozzy Sails"[1], who does a great assessment on the various teams systems developments.
If you're a fan of F1 for the engineering bits, you'll likely feel right at home following some of the America's Cup coverage. Even the technical documents like the Class Rule and super interesting to me. [2]
Small world! I head up the IT systems at Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Agree with your final paragraph that it is extremely close to F1 in terms of engineering bits. Good fun!
Unreal, Alinghi's got the claim for the last cup win with an American Skipper and the last win in a "true" monohull. Win it back and get Ed into the IACC again! I know he's itching for it, he still matches J/70s in Tampa Bay and Dragonforce Model Yachts in his backyard.
Hope you the best and any if there's chance you need a hand in Barcelona, I'd drop everything for a shot to work on a campaign.
Skysails seems like it would just be too much for boats to manage. I can't imagine the amount of time you can run that is a large percentage of the trip.
Why can’t you ? Kites and sail usually can operate on the same wind angles, the only limitation I can think for kites are bridges which are not encountered in the large percentage of the trip.
On top of that, higher altitudes wind Jane more power potential than the ones used by sails, ask kytesurfers !
I'd imagine the last 1-2 generations of America's Cup boats would have a lot to glean in terms of wing sail camber changes and how they operate. Pretty neat to watch how they use flaps vertically, but there's a lot of hydraulics and carbon at play there as well.
Maybe the competition is these guys? (Inflatable sails) https://www.michelin.com/en/press-releases/michelin-continue...
And something a bit more conventional off the bow when winds are favorable? https://skysails-marine.com/