Few would imagine that, to move a boat, what is needed are cyclists. It's hard to believe, but that's how it will be seen in the America's Cup, the regatta that is so talked about in the city and for which there is less and less time left. Inside their boats, there are eight crew members, half of whom are dedicated to pedaling to generate enough energy to move the sails. Before, it was done with arms, but someone realized that legs had more strength and won. In a sports competition where every detail matters to be the winner, and even more so if the rival does it, soon all teams ended up incorporating this innovation, like so many others that are adopted edition after edition.
Obviously, the cyclists do not go alone in the boats competing in the regatta, an AC75 for the men's teams and an AC40 for the women's and youth teams, the former having a length of 75 feet (about 23 meters) and the latter 40 feet (about 12 meters). They are accompanied by four more crew members, two dedicated to taking the helm (helmsmen) and two more to deploying the sails (trimmers). "They manage to go almost 100 kilometers/hour," the engineer remarked in the talk, which was moderated by journalist Roger Escapa at the Antigua Fábrica Estrella Damm.
At that speed, they are in permanent communication, knowing that every second counts for the boat to take the correct direction and score more points. This is where the external support of those in the controls comes in, with controls that look like video games, the engineer said, monitoring all the cameras and sensors that the boats carry, as if it were an encephalogram, she added. "We are getting closer to Formula 1," said Mir, a member of a team that, precisely, includes major brands from that field such as McLaren and Mercedes. It should also not be forgotten that many of the America's Cup teams are linked to the world of cycling, such as Ineos Britannia itself.
But, without a doubt, what is most striking is seeing how America's Cup boats become flying machines. For this, it was necessary to incorporate a piece, the foils, mobile wings that allow the boat to rise above the water and give the sensation that they fly more than they sail. More classic are the sails seen in the regatta, the engineer stressed, made from carbon fiber fabrics, unlike other competitions where they already use completely rigid sails, as if they were airplane wings.
"If you've been to the beach, you've surely seen them," he said, "they go much faster than sailboats," he added, to prevent anyone from saying they can't be identified. The Ineos Britannia is already in the Catalan capital, as are those of the Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the American American Magic, and the French Orient Express Racing. Only the winner of the previous edition and organizer of the current one, Emirates Team New Zealand, is missing. They are expected in July. Training in Barcelona is a key issue for all of them, since, although it may not seem like it from the outside, each sea has its own characteristics, such as the weather, the wind, the waves... It even generates water vapor (cavitation) with the speed they carry and, then, the boat falls. For this reason, the design team in which Mir works will be making changes almost until the last moment. "There is still room," he assured, just two months before everything begins. "For me, it's my dream job," he added.
Off the playing field
Given what has been seen, it is clear that innovation is happening in the America's Cup and no one has wanted to miss the opportunity. First, there is the Barcelona Capital Náutica Foundation (FBCN), responsible for bringing together all the administrations that support the competition. Its objective is for something to remain in the city when it ends, as is done with other major events hosted by the Catalan capital, such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC).
"We have focused on what we call the blue economy, in a broad sense, that is, all economic activity related to the sea, but from a sustainable and 21st-century perspective," defended the president of the FBCN and acting Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent. Proof of this is the agreement the foundation has reached with the organizers so that the technology used by auxiliary vessels, propelled by hydrogen, remains here and an attempt is made to give it an industrial outlet. "The America's Cup is an excuse," he emphasized.
The Barcelona City Council, a member of the foundation, has also done its part to boost the blue economy with the arrival of the sports competition. "The America's Cup is a great showcase and a great loudspeaker to be able to talk about the sea and to see that it can also be a great economic engine for the city," explained the director of Strategic Sectors and Innovation at Barcelona Activa, Anna Majó. Currently, it is a sector that represents 4.3% of GDP and 16,000 jobs, without taking into account the port. These figures that the local administration has wanted to enlarge with initiatives such as the acceleration of startups, with 10 million euros in funding, and the transformation of Port Olímpic to dedicate itself to this sector. "Where there used to be bars, now there are companies," Majó summarized.