Monohulls to return to race

SAN DIEGO — Fast, foiling catamarans are out of the America’s Cup and monohulls are back in.

America’s Cup champion Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed Monday that it is working on designs for a “high-performance” singlehulled boat to be used in the 36th edition of sailing’s marquee regatta, in Auckland, New Zealand, in early 2021.

The Kiwis did not say whether the boats will have foils or canting keels. More details were promised at the end of the month.

Team New Zealand retional leased a statement after Italian billionaire Patrizio Bertelli, boss of the Italian Challenger of Record Luna Rossa and CEO of Prada, told the newspaper La Stampa that the next regatta will be sailed in monohulls as a condition of his group helping the cashstrapped Kiwis in the 35th America’s Cup.

Foiling made its America’s Cup debut on San Francisco Bay in 2013, when the Kiwis blew an 8-1 lead to Oracle Team USA in a matchup of 72-foot catamarans. The boats were reduced to 50 feet for the 2017 America’s Cup. Team New Zealand wrested the oldest trophy in interna- sports from the American-backed team in June on Bermuda’s Great Sound.

When the cats hit a certain speed, they’d rise on foils on the leeward daggerboard and both rudders, lifting the hulls completely out of the water to reduce drag and increase speed.

Though the catamarans aided Cup organizers’ quest to make it a more TV-friendly sport, there was grumbling from traditionalists that the competition was a drag race that eliminated most matchracing tactics.