Cup Spy Dec 17 : American Magic dances on Pensacola Bay
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-world.com/nz 17 Dec 2022 20:26 PST
18 December 2022
American Magic - Patriot - AC75 - December 17, 2022 - Pensacola, Florida © Paul Todd/America's Cup
What happened in the Cup - Dec 17, 2022:
- American Magic sailed on Pensacola Bay.
- Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their LEQ12 on Friday for the first time since the catastrophic nosedive.
- Luna Rossa did not sail.
- INEOS Britannia remained ashore. Olympic rower Matt Rossiter, will be joining the team. Rossiter represented Britain in the Mens Four at Tokyo2020, placing fourth in the Olympic Final.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing went into the shed in Barcelona on November 16 for upgrades and is yet to emerge
American Magic - AC75 Version 2 - Pensacola - December 17, 2022 - Day 26
American Magic put in their 26th day of sailing an AC75 which has been almost converted to comply with AC75 Version 2 which will be the America's Cup Class for the 37th America's Cup. The Match gets underway on October 12, 2024 in open ocean off Barcelona. Spain.
With the exception of one day on the Gulf of Mexico, American Magic has sailed the other 25 days in the confines of Pensacola Bay, Florida, enjoying flat water and excellent foiling conditions. By contrast Barcelona is expected to throw up a confused cross-sea state with swells, not in the direction of the wind and running at up to two metres.
The crew were in the festive mood during the departure process, with Santa hats part of the day's dress code. The temperature was down to match a nippy 53F or 11C.
The team started on their J#3 jib (90 minutes) and then changed up to the J#2 (60 minutes) later in the session as the wind eased back to 9kts.
As should have been the case in these conditions, the boat handling statistics looked very good, being able to achieve 100% success in auto-starts on all on 12 occasions and 100% foiling gybes (29 gybes), foiling tacks were down for some reason to a 66% success rate, touching down in 9 of 36 tacks.
However Patriot is a different boat in this regard with her unusual keel line making easy, and inconsequential contact with the surface.
Also not disclosed are what system changes have been made, whether they were flying on auto-pilot for flight control, or if there were still hang-over issues from the dowsing some of the systems took on the capsize three days ago.
The US Team covered 54nm comprising 20 Windward/leeward legs. The sailing session started just after 1000hrs and finished 2hrs 42 minutes later. The AC37 Recon team paced the AC75 at 33kts upwind and 42kts downwind. The speeds are about would be expected from a top team, given the funky breeze, with areas of lower pressure reported in the middle of Pensacola Bay by the Recon team.
Despite their keen sailing program, the team aren't expected to sail again on Sunday.
Session Statistics - Pensacola - December 17, 2022 - American Magic - AC75 V1.5
- Wind Strength 8-15kts (AM) 9kts (PM)
- Wind Direction: N (AM) N (PM)
- Sea State: <1ft(AM) <1-2ft (PM)
- Roll out: 0753hrs Dock Out: 0923hrs
- Dock In: 1306hrs Crane out: 1330hrs
- Total Tacks: 36 - Fully foiling: 24; Touch & Go: 9; Touch Down: 3
- Total Gybes: 29 - Fully foiling: 29; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Paul Goodison, Terry Hutchinson, Tom Slingsby, Andrew Campbell, John Croom, Dan Morris, Ethan, Ashton, Tim
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.
Additional Images: