Many still don’t know where the name AC-1 derives from. However it’s nothing too elaborate but simply the initials and sail number of Andrea Cucchi put together. Point-7 founder, head of development, team manager and the man who last year decided to create a group of young professionals and have them to train together under the name BLACK TEAM.
Andrea in 2013 created the team to prove that a team does have a place in windsurfing and can help riders to train more effectively and achieve better results than when training individually as has been in the norm for the last many years in our sport.
The team has proven itself time and time again over this past season. From the initial stages when the team came together in Tenerife to commence their winter training, to the last event in Sylt this year. The work, the commitment and team spirit all resulted in many national and international results with a lot of young riders being able to make stand out results.
Combining a strong training program over the winter allowed the team riders to train on a real race course making sure that the AC-1 was therefore tested and developed in real racing conditions for long periods of time. Not only testing the sail for straight line speeds, but checking how the sail would perform in the starts and jibing around the marks with 7 other riders closely in pursuit just as in real competition conditions for which a racing sail is developed.
This level of development and practise of testing took the Point-7 gear to a new level of perfection. The dedication put behind the team and the advance made on the rig ensured results which were unmatched and took a new Point-7 rider, who had never finished inside the PWA top 10 to finish Vice World Champion, having finished 3 times on the podium out of 4 events over the 2013 season.
The AC-1 2K14 is a summary of results. An extremely structured development program backed by a professional team of riders who has tested and evolved this new series of race sails to become the very best hitting the waters in 2014!
So which improvements will you receive with the new AC-1 2K14 series?
2 key areas of the AC-1 have been in focused on, to greatly improve the mechanical functionality and durability of the rig.
Faster camber rotation
When racing, how you exit from the jibe is extremely important and crucial for you not to lose speed or your position. For this action to be executed as fast and as smooth as possible, the sail rotation needs to be perfect every time!
Together with the Black team extensive testing with different cambers was done throughout the season, to finally come out with a new developed cam that not only supports the rotation but also assist to maintain the profile in the sail.
The new cam is a whole 7cm longer than the cambers previously used at a total of 13cm in length from the mast to its seat towards the sail body. The increased length gives more leverage to the batten when rotating the sail body. Two of these new cams are being employed in the central positions of the sail and has made this behemoth of a race sail something near child’s play to race with a dynamic fluid rotation of the sail.
This development gives all the advantage to the rider, a lighter feel of the sail in the jibe and a higher average speed during the change of tack of the sail.
When you have a big powerful engine, sometimes it is needed to use stronger materials to ensure stability and durability of each component.
One of the key features for 2014 has been the inclusion of new high quality battens, now found in the central positions of the sail. Tested, raced and perfected. These new battens are now being exported from a specialized production in Italy to our sail production facility in Asia where it is being used exclusively in the AC-1 2K14.
The new battens are made using a highly ductile resin that is forced into the fibres under pressure to guarantee the very best performance and adhesion.
More reflex? Yes, new displacement of the materials used on the mast sleeve stabilizes the dynamic response of the mast over the chop and waves, keeping the upper part of the sail locked in giving more stability at high speeds to better control the board.
Weight change? Another 300 grams have been shaved from sail weight, in the top section and near the clew. The strategically weight reductions has lowered the overall swing weight of the sail drastically during jibes.
And why two outhaul grommets? It’s very simple, use the upper grommet for light wind racing, in flat water or for half wind sailing/ use the lower positioned grommet for strong wind, in deep downwind speed sailing or when the seas gets rough.
Outline change?
Yes the head of the sail has been reduce drag in the upper part of the sail. Resulting also in a lighter weight up at the top.
5 main points of change which will be easy to get the full benefit from as soon as you will lift up the sail of the beach to go racing, + many other small changes in the details which will bring this new generation of the AC-1 to be once again the race sail you want to be on to get the winning points.
Andrea Cucchi head of development
