I love cycling and grew up sailing as a kid. When I lived in Sydney, I was invited out on a swanky yacht to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart race – it was awesome! I currently live on Morton Bay in Brisbane and the Queensland Royal Yacht Club is just down the road. But like most people, I don’t have much to do with boats. But that all changed recently when I saw a live clip from the 35th America’s Cup. It’s a whole new sport this year! NG.
Have you seen the new Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) 35th America’s Cup Catamaran?
OMG – it’s incredible!
Suddenly, I’m into sailing and watching the race highlights.
The Kiwi Cyclors America’s Cup Catamaran.
The ETNZ has created a radical world-first design that includes a cycling system to use pedal power generated from cyclists instead of the traditional arm-powered grinders.
To keep the 50-foot catamaran roaring around Bermuda’s Great Sound at incredible speeds, four of the six crew are continuously bent over, furiously pedalling away.
The guys on the pedals are called ‘Cyclors’ – not sailors.
When it’s time to turn (tack or gybe), the Cyclors unclip from their stations in one hull, sprint across the trampoline middle and clip into the bikes in the other hull – and then continue to hit the pedals HARD.
This cycling technology uses the force generated by Cyclors to power the
This innovation has also seen a significant change in crew and training. Instead of seasoned sailors, this rig has elite specialist athletes on the pedals – including Olympic rowers and Olympic track cyclists (like 28-year-old Simon van Velthooven).
The training and race effort the Cyclors do is hardcore.
The NZ design is kick ass fast – and the team is tipped to win the Auld Mug.
It’s so great to see such a productive, innovative and exciting fusion of sports.
Stats for the ETNZ AC Class catamaran:
- 2332-2432 kg: boat weight
- 60 metres: optical fibres
- 49,2 feet: hull length
- 25 meters: height of wing above water
- over 46 knots: top speed
- 6: crew members
- 87.5 kg: average crew weight
- 90: Emirates Team New Zealand’s members
The 35th America’s Cup schedule in Bermuda
May 27-June13: Challengers selection series, divided into Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers and Challenger Playoffs.
.
See the action and race highlights on YouTube.