As to further developments of the design of these AC50s, why bother with the cranking crew? Is it just nostalgia that a large crew is needed? If they allow the battery powered computer sh!t to help with foils and the wing why not dump the "grinders/cyclists" and put in a hydraulic pump (electric, gas, solar, cold fusion)? Then we'd be racing with only two or maybe three real sailors, not Olympic bikers and steroid guys swapped out each race.
the AC J-class needed 16 crew.
The AC72 cats used 11 crew.
The AC50 boats used 6.
The IMOCA 60s get it done with ONE sailor. Don't you still call this sailing if doesn't use a huge crew or uses powered controls?
AC33 did just that and everybody bitched. AC35 was similar (grunt replaced generator) so I agree with you. And as for the battery powered computer sh!t to help with foils and the wing, there is no way NZ's boat would sail without the computer.
The AC45 was all about sailing. Everybody was busy pulling strings to sail the boat. Watching the yutes was refreshing.
