+39 Challenge goes back to sailing

by +39 Challenge on 14 Apr 2007 This afternoon +39 went back to sailing after the damage to the mast caused by the unfortunate collision during Act 13 of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

ITA 85 was tested at sea with the mast that was given to the Italian team by Alinghi, a profile of the old generation, slightly less stiff than a version 5, where the new rules allow for a higher module carbon fibre and the possibility of mounting a halyard and jumper shrouds in a material other than steel.

The team, led by Olympians Iain Percy, Ian Walker and Rafael Trujillo encountered medium range winds, around 9/10 knots. The results of the test were defined positive, there is still some upgrading to the spreaders to do, to adapt them to the sails that were designed for a generation 5 rig.

At the +39 base, in the meantime, the shore team and the technicians went on working to fix the broken mast. The profile is again in one piece, but the lamination, the curing and the mounting of the whole structure is still to be done. It is a task that will be handled on the first days of next week. Nobody is making any precise schedule but it seems that by the half of the first Round Robin the Marstrom mast will be stepped again on +39.

Tomorrow, Saturday April 14th, the +39 Management will host the media to trace a first evaluation of the work done this week by the Shore Team, by the technicians from the Soleri and Sicilcraft shipyards, by Marstrom’s experts and by the whole team that took shifts to complete the mast reconstruction and the sails adjustment.

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