There is no doubt in my mind that the boats are faster this time, but by how much, I don't know.
It is exciting to see what is being developed. Because syndicates have big budgets, plenty of time and creative people, they can try things that other yachting campaigns don't have
the resources for.
Future design movements may mean that the America's Cup gets more expensive, but that's been the game for years.
The Cup is the leading edge, the sport's innovative and creative arm. The flow-on for the rest of the sport is huge.
In this campaign there have been changes in rigs, and sails and, of course, the hulls. Then there is the "hula", Team New Zealand's revolutionary false hull appendage. I'm not a naval architect but I understand that if you can make your boat longer you should go faster.
A long boat with a heavy displacement should go faster than a short boat, but you've got to work out the trade-off with drag. I'm sure Team New Zealand has.
Given that they've jumped into it with both their boats you've got to assume their computer modelling and testing shows boats with the hula are quicker. And they mothballed NZL60 very quickly.
Some people have suggested it flouts the rules. I think it is more an optimising of the rules - they've added volume to the back of the boat without breaking them.
That's an innovative solution that has received the big thumbs up from most people who have studied it.
You could compare that to Alinghi's rig, and how it twists.
Under the rules you're not allowed to mechanically twist rigs, but if they twist by themselves, that is fine.
If you look at the construction of Alinghi's mast and the way the rigging attaches to the mast, you will see the characteristics of a twisting rig.
It is very clever and it seems they have engineered their rig within the rules. Some people have questioned loudly whether it is legal, but to me it is just like the hula.
It never ceases to amaze me, from campaign to campaign, just how much the sails develop - there are the mainsails with the big power heads in them, the 3DL construction.
There's also the use of cameras on the rig. That goes all the way back to the Big Boat from 1988 but there wasn't the technology then to make them work properly.
We have seen cameras used on Alinghi's training boat. What can they do? I'm figuring that they can analyse the shapes and twist profile of the sails.
The true function may be to evaluate the flying shape of sails against the computer shapes they're designed to. It's not new, but it's being refined.
We don't know what Team New Zealand are doing with this, but I'm sure they're not sitting on their hands.
Computer modelling means conceptual designs can be evaluated before models and boats are made.
Bruce Farr, who designed for Oracle, may have created 400 hull shapes for computer testing.
Is there room for the America's Cup Class to continue to develop?
Maybe it's time for a fresh version of the class rules.
Why not make the boats a little lighter, maybe a bit longer and a bit wider and then they'll go maybe 20 knots instead of 12 knots off the wind.
That would make the contest even more exciting.
* Peter Lester is Yachting New Zealand's high performance manager.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule and results
There is no doubt in my mind that the boats are faster this time, but by how much, I don't know.
It is exciting to see what is being developed. Because syndicates have big budgets, plenty of time and creative people, they can try things that other yachting campaigns don't have
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