Here's how to make a 3,000 pound boat fly

Robert Johnson for Business Insider

Oracle Team USA foiling during the 2013 America's Cup

Spectators along the Manhattan shoreline will see an unusual sight this weekend - nearly 3,000 pounds of boat, flying feet above the water in seeming defiance of physics.

They are part of the latest generation of boats to compete for the oldest international trophy in all of sports: the America's Cup.

The boats use a technique called foiling to lift themselves out of the water and accelerate to speeds once unheard of in sailing.

Here's how it works.