America's Cup- Louis Vuitton Cup Day 2, Another day, Another record

by Richard Gladwell on 10 Jul 2013
Emirates Team New Zealand picked up another point from her sail-over this morning, in the second day of the Louis Vuitton Cup in San Francisco.

The uncontested race was another chance for the New Zealand team to work on their drills and course positioning, and some of the errors apparent on the first day were eliminated.

Today's race was supposed to have been against Artemis Racing (Sweden) who have indicated they will not be sailing for another couple of weeks and are expected, at best, to be sailing in the Semi-Finals in early August, against Italian Luna Rossa, which is also yet to race, pending a Jury Hearing and Decision.

Despite the uncontested start, the New Zealanders hit the line right on the split second, hitting speeds of over 40kts on the first leg sailing at a faster time for the first leg than they had done on the first race – just over 40 secs – 3 secs faster than Race 1

Winds were reported at 16kts and had been up to 18.5kts earlier in the day, with just under 2kts of incoming tide. Golden Gate Bridge was shrouded in fog at the top end of the course, and dropping down to the top of the 40metre high AC72 wingsail, at times during the seven leg race.

On the first downwind Emirates Team NZ hit 33kts average downwind, with the crew again not setting a Code Zero, as the sail is inefficent at these wind speeds. Their speed topped out at 38kts, on the bottom of the leg.

Upwind speed the AC72's speeds averaged 20kts, dropping to below 8kts in a tack. Initially she stayed on the right hand side of the course (Alcatraz Island) before crossing the tide to the waterfront side.

On the second downwind leg, speeds again hit 33-38kts dropping to 23kts in non-foiling gybes, and 31kts in foiling gybes.

Upwind for the second time was a replay of the first with similar speeds and course across the Bay. From the bow-on view the massive twist in the Emirates Team NZ wingsail was apparent.

The fog rolled into the course, with the breeze increasing to just under 20kts for the next downwind leg.

Boat speed incraesed up to 36kts and more - dropping to 27kts in a foiling gybe and staying above 30kts in other gybes.

At the bottom of the course, past Alacratz for the last time, Emirates Team NZ foiled at over 38kts on 20.6kts of windspeed and only dropping to 31 kts on the final foiling gybe.

The final leg to the finish saw speeds of 42.5kts, and crossed the finish at a mere 31kts.

Overall the race was a faster time than Race 1 and a very impressive almost faultless performance.