Cup Spy March 8: Big seas test American Magic in an impressive sailing session
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 9 Mar 01:56 PST
9 March 2024
American Magic - AC40 - Day 99 - March 8, 2024 - Barcelona © Job Vermeulen / America's Cup
American Magic was the only team to sail off Barcelona, today, with the forecast of fresh winds and swells of over 1metre keeping some teams ashore. The US team had to chase the breeze which came in around 1100hrs. America sailed for an hour before calling an end to the session.
What happened in the Cup - March 8, 2024:
- American Magic - sailed today in just one AC40. Finding a strong breeze and extreme seastate which is usually a challenge for the AC40's. From the Highlights video below - supported by comments from the AC37 Joint Recon team, America performed impressively in the 1.0 - 1.2mtrs seastate.
- INEOS Britannia - No AC37 Joint Recon Team report. They have their AC40 Athena back in action after a lithium battery fire.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - No AC37 Joint Recon Team report. They missed a planned sailing day yesterday due to light winds.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - No AC37 Joint Recon Team report. The Kiwi team have not been particularly active on the water. It is not known if their second AC40 has arrived back from the Preliminary Event in Jeddah, in the beginning of December.
- Orient Express Racing Team - Sailed for the fourth successive day on Thursday. But not today, Friday. The French team has been working with three times America's Cup winner, Glenn Ashby (ETNZ).
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - The Italian team have retired their LEQ12 test boat, which has served the team well. They have notified an April launch date for their AC75 raceboat.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
American Magic - AC40/LEQ12 - Day 99 - March 8, 2024 - Barcelona
American Magic sailed with just one boat today—America. It had an early launch at 0745hrs and was off the dock at 0930hrs.
America had one-design foils fitted to both the port and starboard foil arms, which were also one-design.
One Lidar on the port side was installed, and America still had the cameras we saw on the last few days at the side of the hull, a couple of meters forward from the foil arms.
When alongside, sailors and engineers regularly checked to be sure everything was in perfect condition before the sailing session.
At 0930hrs, America docked out, towed by the chase boat.
Tom Slingsby (helm) and Michael Menninger (trimmer) were on the starboard side, and Paul Goodison (helm) and Andrew Campbell were on the port side. Sails were hoisted up the sails at the Port entrance at 1000hrs with MC-4 for the main and a custom J1 for the jib.
At that time, very light offshore winds with quite big waves (1.3-2.4 m) were found at the entrance of Barcelona port. For that reason, the chase boat decided to tow the boat further offshore and check if it could sail. No wind was found, and the team decided to wait as the forecast predicted 15-20kts from the SW.
At 1100 hrs, the first gust from the SW arrived and stayed stable with 6-8kts from 200º. With such big waves, it was not easy for America to get on to the foils, but she managed to do it when sailing port tack down to the waves. They went for long tacks on the port side and later on the starboard side. Around 1120hrs, a big strong gust came in with 15-18kts from 210º, and America stopped immediately to replace the jib for a custom J3.
When America started sailing again, they went straight downwind, doing long tacks and five gybes in between. The crew handled the boat impressively despite the rough sea. The waves were high and steep, and it was easy to remove the foils from the water when overlapping the waves.
After the fifth gybe, they luff up into an upwind and perform a long portside tack. At some point, before getting too close to the shore, they bore away and go for a short downwind, performing three gybes. After the third gybe, they luffed again upwind and returned to port with their work done for the day.
Summary: America foiled for 65 minutes, performed around 18 maneuvers, and had very intense boat handling through long downwind and upwind tacks with strong winds and rough seas.
The last two days have been remarkable for American Magic in getting significant data from the sails as they have been tested in lower and higher wind and wave range conditions.
[Edited and abridged Report from Jose Piñana AC 37 Joint Recon]
Crew: Co-Helms: America: Tom Slingsby / Paul Goodison.
Flight Control Trimmers: America: Andrew Campbell / Michael Menninger
Session Statistics: American Magic - AC40/LEQ12 - Day 99 - March 8, 2024 - Barcelona
- Weather: 15 °C - Sunny.
- Wind Strength: 6kts-18kts
- Wind Direction: 200°-210°
- Sea State: 1.2 - 1.9mtrs
- Crane In: 0745hrs Dock Out: 0930hrs
- Dock In: 1230hrs Crane out: 1315hrs
- Total Tacks: 10 (America) Estimated 80% were dry foiling
- Total Gybes: 18 (America) Estimated 80% were dry foiling
Additional Images:
This commentary was written and compiled from video, still images and statistical content extracted from the AC37 Joint Recon program and other material available to Sail-World NZ, including photo files and other on the water coverage from the 2010, 2013, and 2017 and 2021 America's Cups. Its format is intended to give Sail-World readers a snapshot of all teams' progress on a given day or period.