Cup Spy: Swiss have longest sailing day yet..American Magic gets cycling
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 18 Oct 2022 14:34 AEDT
18 October 2022
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Barcelona - October 17, 2022 © Alex Carabi / America's Cup
Swiss America's Cup Challenger resumed sailing off Barcelona on Monday, with the longest sailing session yet.
Key points October 17, 2022:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing trained off Barcelona in a six hour session
- None of the other teams that have launched a training/development boat sailed on Monday.
- New York Yacht Club's American Magic announced they have formed a partnership with a US bicycle component manufacturer - indicating one area of development for the US team.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing has long day:
Alinghi spent their longest day on the water so far, hoisting their mainsail just before noon, and dropping it at 1730hrs, returning to dock almost an hour later, having covered 65nm in six hours at sea. The Swiss started the session using the J1 (longest hoist) jib for an hour before changing down to the J2 for the rest of the session.
Conditions off Barcelona were overcast with light easterly wind of 8-10kts. There were no whitecaps, but there was a low building swell from the east with a jobble on top, which should have been well within the capabilities of a team at this level of experience. The wind slowly clocked east as the day progressed and filled in.
Generally they had a good day, there were some issues at the start of the session with the Swiss boat struggling to build sufficient speed to get foiling - but there is no Recon File System (RFS) video of them using a chase boat tow to lift off.
Boat Zero is still being sailed as a Version 1 AC75, which is its designed configuration.
It is difficult to determine whether the swell and sea state would have caused the same issues for a more experienced AC75 crew, and a second generation AC75. Boat Zero, formerly ENTZ's Te Aihe was always quite a wet boat, seemingly designed to be submersible - treating the on and off the water photographers to some spectacular shots, until the spray throwing tantrums were accepted as being commonplace. On its final sail in Auckland, the then Te Aihe did a nose dive at 49kts, and emerged largely unscathed.
Water can usually be seen draining from Alinghi Red Bull Racing, indicating that a lot of spray is coming on board, with the additional weight further inhibiting foiling in marginal conditions. It looks to be an issue that all teams will have to expect and be able to handle in Barcelona.
American Magic's Patriot, which sailed in similar conditions on Saturday, in flat water off Pensacola, looked a lot happier than Boat Zero on Monday off Barcelona.
But the US AC75 is aligned, albeit not complying with AC75 Version 2, which potentially makes the boat almost 1000kg lighter, plus being flat water, there was no spray coming aboard to add further weight.
Later in the Barcelona session ARBR, looked to be able to foil in a sustained manner and with stable height above the water. The unknown is whether they were flying on automated flight height control, or manual.
They were reported to have successfully done a "touch and go" on three gybes of the 17 tacks and gybes attempted - which is OK at this stage of the crews's experience. At this stage the focus is more likely to be on take-off, and maintaining flight height. The sea state off Barcelona is more difficult the Waitemata Harbour or Hauraki Gulf, and Alinghi RBR need to be cut a bit of slack in this regard. Other teams' turn will come.
At times the Swiss appeared very high on the foils. Most teams have distinctive markings on the rudder foil to give an indication as to how much of the foil is still immersed. It is not known if the Swiss have cameras focussed on the rudder, so the flight controller can see under the hull and sight the immersion level of the aft foil. Also those in the accompanying chase boat can make a call to the crew, before a nosedive is triggered if the rudder foil ventilates. Other RFS photos showed the Swiss still had a third of their rudder immersed, which is an OK safety margin, maybe.
American Magic goes cycling
American Magic have announced that they have partnered with SRAM, claimed to be the world's most innovative bicycle component manufacturer.
"This is an amazing opportunity to not only demonstrate our products and technologies in a new and unique way but be a part of one of the most historic and viewed sporting events in the world," said SRAM CEO Ken Lousberg in the media statement. "SRAM componentry will be integral to the success of this yacht."
"NYYC American Magic is investing a lot of time and resource into developing and testing systems for our next-generation AC75. SRAM has 35 years of experience working with high-performing teams, and we're excited to be collaborating and pushing the boundaries in our pursuit to win the 37th America's Cup," responded Terry Hutchinson, Skipper and President of Sailing Operations for NYYC American Magic.
There are no definitive answers as to whether or not cyclors, or grinders, are better to provide the human power required to provide the hydraulic pressure need to sail AC75's which now have no conventional winch systems.
Most have assumed that cyclors will be used, given the reduction in crew numbers from 11 to eight from Version 1 to Version 2 AC75 Class Rule. The big advantage of cyclors is that the bikes free up the riders' hands to perform other functions while pedalling. However the question remains as to the point of it all - and it may be a saner option to go electric, rather than televise the Monty Pythonesque sight of sailors pedaling their way around the race course in a high performance foiling yacht.
In the AC75, the cyclors will probably be lower and less visibly prominent than was the case in the AC50 in Bermuda, where four of the six crew were on bikes. Two of the crew who were from outside sailing, sailed their first ever yacht race at an America's Cup regatta.
Optics aside, there are a few other practical issues, such as how effective the cyclors/grinders will be when the AC75 is heeled. The edge that Emirates Team New Zealand had with cyclors in the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda was that the bikies could build hydraulic pressure back more quickly, which enabled the team to sail with one less hydraulic accumulator than the grinder powered systems. That gave an advantage of weight saving in the boat, which in turn improves light air foiling ability.
Whether the same edge applies in an AC75 remains to be seen.
It will also be interesting to see if any teams follow INEOS Team UK's lead in the last Cup where the grinders worked facing outward, rather than inward - on the basis that it allowed more effective grinder body positioning - which is a critical factor in the black art of effectively working a grinding pedestal
The power output of grinders and their time trials are always very impressive. But when one top designer in the 2010 America's Cup was asked as to why the teams had opted opted for fuel powered motors to power up the hydraulics, replacing grinders, he noted that four grinders only had the accumulated power output of a domestic sewing machine, "and they only last for 40 secs until the lactic acid cuts in," he added.
For another perspective on even cycling effectiveness see the video below of Robert Förstemann, Bronze medalist in the 2012 Olympics with the German Track Cycling as he attempts to toast a piece of bread using pedal power.
None of the other four teams sailed on Monday.
Session Statistics - Barcelona October 17, 2022 - Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 Version 1
- Wind Strength (AM) 8kts (PM): 14 knots
- Wind Direction: NE (AM) - E (PM)
- Sea State: 1.0 metres East Swell
- Crane in: 0905 Dock Out: 1130
- Dock In: 1820 Crane out: 1845
- Total Tacks: 8 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 4
- Total Gybes: 9 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 6
GPS Tracks:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Barcelona:
Image Gallery:
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, 2017 and 2021 America's Cups.