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Sailors are strange people, and their most famous regatta, the America’s Cup, is even more so. The winner makes the rules starting with the “where” and “when,” but also deciding the “how,” that is, the characteristics of the boats. The Defender, in fact, together with a representative of the Challengers, the challengers (who, however, has very little say in the matter) drafts the so-called “Protocol”: basically the rules for the next Cup. After winning in 2021, the New Zealanders, winners, for the 37th edition in Barcelona, in addition to establishing the characteristics of the boats, the very fast 22-meter AC75s, wanted to choose the characteristics of the chase boats, the support boats, of each team. Each syndicate then also has super-ribs with outboards and more. These support boats have high technological content and well-defined design “stakes”: they must be 10 meters long, accommodate six people, reach at least 53 knots (93 km/h) to keep up with the AC75s, have 180 miles of range. And, most importantly, they must sail on the foils and be hydrogen-powered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79kUM4qKBaw We had the chance to board the Bluegame BGH, built by the Ameglia Shipyard for the American Magic team. Leading the entire BGH operation is Luca Santella, Bluegame’s Head of Product Strategy, who, with his team, managed a number of partners, including Sangiorgio Marine, EODev, Natpower H and Smart Gyro, among others.
The boat is a very light carbon shell, with only a few elements of the mechanics and foils made of titanium or steel. As for propulsion, at the base of the powertrain is hydrogen, the fuel, stored in two cylinders totaling 33 kg. Two 80 kW fuell cells then convert, by an electrochemical process, the hydrogen energy directly into 80 kW electrical energy. This electrical energy is managed by two 200 kW motors and transmitted to the two foils, one for each hull of the BGH. These have a central bulb at the end of which we find the propellers, at the sides, on the other hand, the “wings” that adjust the trim and make her fly. The rudder also has foils and in addition to giving direction it can also be tilted on the fore-aft axis to affect the flight attitude.
A decidedly complex system, to which are added two lithium batteries of 63 kWh each and a sophisticated PMS, Power Management System, for power management. The dashboard is science fiction, super sporty, with a handwheel with very few degrees of play (much more direct than normal wheelhouses) and with paddles to manually adjust flight height, and pitching, i.e., longitudinal trim. There are two functions for the navigation software, which controls the overall trim of the boat: for when sailing in displacement (i.e., without using foils, e.g., at reduced speeds in and out of port) and then for when the BGH is in flight. Here it is he, the flight sofwtare that adjusts the foils, while those at the helm basically just manage the throttles, the power delivery. A large red button in the center of the dashboard giantizes a large red button that allows you to immediately stop the flight and descend into displacement.
How high do you fly over the water? Generally speaking, the faster you want to go the higher you fly, up to 75 cm; in rougher seas it drops to about 40 cm. Once airborne the BGH reaches over 50 knots with surprising ease and has a minimum flight speed of 22 knots. It sails perfectly flat on the water flying over waves (up to about 150 cm high) and it is striking how there are no cushioning systems on board for the wraparound seats, which all super inflatables used for this kind of function have. It is striking, too, that any adjustments on the paddles are completely unnecessary once the navigation software has taken over. In fact, immediate and very fast trim adjustments occur automatically, ensuring safe navigation.
Click here to see what the boat looks like – VIDEO
As Bluegame’s engineers explained to us, the most complex part of the project was combining hydrodynamics, where fine profiles are needed to reach high speeds, with mechanics, which calls for quite different thicknesses. In addition, it proved difficult at the PMS (Power Management System) level to bypass electromagnetic interference, given the powers and voltages involved in very small spaces. Created for the America’s Cup, the BGH is at the same time a kind of prototype of what we will see in the future launched on the market, for regular boaters, by Bluegame: they will not be hydrogen-powered, but on foils they will, a range of three boats starting with the BGF, a sixteen-footer that we will see at the 2025 Cannes Boat Show.
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