America's Cup - Looking around Valencia

by Jean Philippe Jobé on 10 Feb 2010 It was a rest day, even though there was no race yesterday and on top of that some gusty winds were forecast, prudently both teams decided to stay in port,so it was maintenance day on one side and a bit of tourism on the other for us!

Alinghi 5 was at the dock and one could see that the latest S foils were in place, compared with the straight boards of yesterday. We know that the initial very curvy S foils have been put away; one is actually displayed at the Alinghi base.

In a chat with one of the designers, it was mentioned that the choice of boards depends on the wind forecast, no need to have curved boards or foils to try to get some vertical lift if there is not enough wind and speed, better to have straight boards and use them to get a better windward angle.

I understand that they can switch boards in a couple of hours or so before leaving the dock. Do the S foils in place indicate that Alinghi expect a better wind for tomorrow?

Late afternoon, one of the Alinghi team members was pulled up along the stays getting near the top of the mast. Other team members were checking others aspects on the platform.

Apart of that we took the opportunity to visit the center of Valencia. There is in fact relatively little impact on the city, you can see a couple of posters maybe.

Talking to the local people, one can realize that the economic problems are more important to them than a sailboat race involving two of the richer guy on the planet!

That said, it is also true that the Cup did bring extra tourists to the city during the low season.

Tomorrow's forecast is relatively unclear (some wind in the morning dying early afternoon?), neverthe less we do hope we will have a start.