Please select your home edition
Edition
Mackay Boats 728x90 TOP

New York Yacht Club American Magic: Data Driven

by Will Ricketson, NYYC American Magic 9 Nov 2020 22:44 PST
Patriot, American Magic's second AC75 foiling monohull, practices on the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand, site of the 36th America's Cup next March © Will Ricketson

A strong argument could be made that the most important word in the modern America's Cup is "data".

After years of design, production and fitting-out work, each day of sailing on an AC75 represents a crucial opportunity for a team to evaluate its progress and improve. Terabytes of information pour into servers as systems are relentlessly tested.

It takes a special combination of skill, inventiveness, and cool under pressure to manage the flow of priceless data from the boat's sensors to the team's analysis tools. From those tools come refined schematics for builders, lessons for sailors, and a better chance of winning.

American Magic Instrumentation Engineer Elvira Llabres manages the team's data flow on and off the water. Before the AC75 goes sailing each day, dozens of systems, instruments and sensors need to be activated, calibrated, and checked. On the water, Elvira's usual perch is on Chase 2, American Magic's mighty four-engined performance support craft. Chase 2 bristles with monitors, specialists and KVH telecommunications gear, and is the hub of the team's improvement process.

From Chase 2, Elvira monitors data coming off the race boat in real time. While traveling at high speeds alongside the AC75, she can flag anomalies, fix problems as they occur, and identify potential breakthroughs. Onshore, Elvira ensures that each day's information haul is organized, uploaded and distributed to each department on the 150-strong team.

"Being part of something this big is really challenging, and really something that motivates me," said Elvira, now in her 5th America's Cup campaign after starting her career at IBM. "I think I'm very lucky, combining my passions. Seeing that we are improving, day by day, makes it for me."

Related Articles

America's Cup: Controversial agreement signed
According to Italian media, the secret AC Partnership agreement has been signed by CoR/D* International sailing journalist, Fabio Pozo, writing for the Milan based newspaper La Stampa, reports that the secret America's Cup Partnership (ACP) agreement is expected to be signed next week. Posted on 21 Sep
America's Cup: Vision for the Naples unveiled
Emirates Team NZ and Sport e Salute unveiled the vision for the America's Cup in Naples in 2027. Emirates Team NZ and Sport e Salute, the publicly-owned Italian company responsible for promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle across the nation, unveiled the vision for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup in Naples in 2027. Posted on 20 Sep
Womens America's Cup opportunities expand
the pathway for female athletes has never been stronger than in the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup 2024 and the inaugural Puig Women's America's Cup was announced following the publication of the Protocol for the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup in Barcelona. It was a moment not only for women's sport and equality but showed that the America's Cup was Posted on 19 Sep
America's Cup: The Elephant(s) in the Room
Some shafts of light have been shed on the negotiation positions of the Challengers and Defender. With nearly 250 pages of America's Cup regulations released, it's clear both the Challenger and Defender have ben forced to take a pragmatic stance on the Naples Cup. Some shafts of light have been shed on the positions of the Challengers and Defender. Posted on 18 Sep
America's Cup: Luna Rossa's Challenge accepted
According to local media the Italian team, Luna Rossa has had its Challenge accepted by the Kiwis. Leading America's Cup journalist, Fabio Pozzo, reports that the Italian team, Luna Rossa has had its Challenge accepted for the 2027 Cup in Naples. Posted on 12 Sep
America's Cup: ETNZ's design boss on new AC75 Rule
Kiwi design chief, Dan Bernasconi on recycled AC75 hulls, electric power and other rule changes. Kiwi design chief, Dan Bernasconi on the use of recycled AC75 hulls, the switch to full electric power, and other changes. He claims there is plenty of performance gain left in the AC75 for the designer teams. Posted on 12 Sep
America's Cup: Class Rule and Tech Regs out
The America's Cup Class Rule and Technical Regulations for the Naples Match have been published With the clock ticking down to the start of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup in Naples in 2027, the AC75 Class Rules and Technical Regulations have been issued to all teams and published with a focus on cost containment. Posted on 11 Sep
America's Cup: Running silent and deep, again.
A look at the flotsam that has surfaced as the Cup teams again go into deep and silent negotiation. A look at the state of the Cup - given the three weeks of silence since the hasty final Protocol signing. Previously a long deep dive by the teams has indicated that a lot of negotiation is underway. Here's what we've seen floating on the surface. Posted on 10 Sep
From The Other Side - The State of the Sport
The editors of Sail-World New Zealand and Inside Great Lakes Sailing discuss the state of sailing. The Editors of Inside Great Lakes Sailing and Sail-World New Zealand got together last week to shoot the breeze in an unscripted video discussion, without any pre-arranged "talking points" about various aspects of the sport. Posted on 5 Sep
Youth America's Cup set to continue in Naples
The Youth America's Cup is a sign-post to the future direction of the America's Cup itself. Since its inaugural event in 2013, the Youth America's Cup, designed as a competition for sailors under the age of 25, has always been the most remarkable sign-post to the future direction of the America's Cup itself. Posted on 4 Sep
V-DRY-XHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeSwitch One Design