Cup Spy: A significant design deadline looms as strategies unfold with 18 months to racing.
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 21 Feb 2023 05:01 PST
21 February 2023
INEOS Britannia - AC40 - Day 3 - Day 27, February 15, 2023 © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup
Five of the six teams entered in the 2024 America's Cup are sailing, some with only one boat, others with two, and Emirates Team New Zealand with three.
With about 18 months left until the start of racing in August 2024, the various team strategies are unfolding and changing.
Some look to be on their anticipated timeline, others are behind where they should be.
For the first time in recent America's Cup history the teams are able to run multiple streams of boats, and strategies - which for competitive reasons, they are unwilling to make comment.
Looming fast is the approaching cut-off date for the teams to sign off on the final hull design for their AC75 race boat to be sailed in the 2024 America's Cup, and for which construction will start in March or maybe a month later.
In the technically complex AC75 Class, construction from the lofting of the first lines in the building facility, to launch is typically 12 months.
Working backwards from the start of the America's Cup Regatta in October 2024, and allowing six months for work-up, that points to a target launch date of April 2024. And again working backwards, we get a construction start in March/April 2023 for Challengers. Emirates Team New Zealand, have indicated they will start construction in "the second quarter of 2023".
For those not up to play with some of the lingo used in the 2024 America's Cup here's a quick guide on the meaning of the boat names/types and the strategies that are permitted with each:
1. AC40-One Design:
A 12 metre foiling monohull that approximates to a half scale AC75. It was designed by Emirates Team NZ as a progression of the 2021 Cup winner, Te Rehutai. It is the boat that will be sailed in the Youth and Womens America's Cups, and for some preliminary events by the AC sailing teams. Each team must have at least one AC40-OD. The boats are built by McConaghy Boats in China and are allocated to the teams on the basis of order of entry. The teams are allocated two consecutive building slots by order of entry, which they can take up or negotiate use of their second slot with a later entry, allowing that team to jump the building queue. Only AC40-OD components can be used on the One-Design class. If any new parts are introduced, the maiden AC-40, by definition, is no longer a one design and becomes a LEQ12.
Emirates Team NZ, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, INEOS Britannia have sailed AC40 One Designs to date. There is no information available as to when teams will take delivery of their AC-40's, and how many they will be getting.
2. LEQ12 (Less than or EQual to 12 metres):
A special test boat designed and built by the teams. There are no restrictions on this boat except that it must be less than 12 metres long, and there are restrictions on numbers of new parts - hulls (only one is allowed), foil arms, wing foils, wing flaps, rudders and rigs. Custom design LEQ12's built by Luna Rossa and INEOS Britannia are quite different from each other and the AC40 One Design. The British boat seems to have been designed as a test platform to capture sensor data and to trial new options - such as mainsail sheeting and jib sheeting, now self tacking jibs are allowed. The Italian boat is a lot closer to Emirates Team NZ's Cup winner, and also the AC40, but still has significant differences - for instance it can take six crew instead of the four on the AC40.
There are no restrictions with the use of an LEQ12 in training, however they will not able to be raced in AC40 competition. It is permitted for a team to sail its AC40 One Design against their LEQ12 - which Emirates Team New Zealand have already done. This enables a team to run a multi-phase program each day which can comprises match racing practice, performance testing with the LEQ12 against the AC-40 OD, and the usual speed and performance testing of the LEQ12 sailing alone running through a specific test script for the session, which in turn is part of a test-block following a boat upgrade period.
Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, and INEOS Britannia have sailed LEQ12's to date.
3. AC75:
The AC75 is being used again in the 2024 America's Cup, but to Version 2 of the AC75 Class rule.The main differences from Version 1 to Version 2 are a reduction in total weight by about 700kgs, of which the reduction from 11 crew to eight on the V2 accounts for about 290kg.
Other changes include a small change in sail area, bigger wings, an increase in foil arm/wing foil depth (draft) by 200mm, removal of jib sheet winches and replacement with self-tacking jibs, removal of running backstays, removal of the bowsprit and Code Zero jib. Teams are allowed to use cyclists/leg power to pressurise hydraulic control systems instead of hand/arm powered grinding systems used in the 2021 Cup.
The repurposed AC75 offers teams the chance to test full-size AC75 Version 2 design options, rather than at half-scale. The teams can also sail an LEQ12 or AC40-OD (less likely) against their AC75, for contested two boat testing, with the LEQ12's being relatively close to the AC75 performance, according to the feedback from the AC37 Joint Recon teams.
In the 2021 America's Cup cycle, teams were allowed to build two AC75's (with restrictions on launch dates). Pre-COVID it was planned for the teams to race their first generation AC75's in two America's Cup World Series regattas. The information gained from that exercise would have been invaluable into the design of their second AC75 and raceboats. With the cancellation of the two ACWS events in 2020, the teams had to sign-off on their raceboat hull designs without the benefit of competitive race data from their first AC75's. For the build up into the 2021 America's Cup, all teams built half-scale (up to 12 Metres long) test boats, with varying degrees of success, and benefit.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing, American Magic and Emirates Team NZ have all sailed or will be sailing repurposed AC75's. Luna Rossa have not indicated whether they will sail their 2021 America's Cup challenger which tied the score at 3-3 after Day 3 of the 2021 America's Cup.
The teams are allowed to sail only one AC75 at a time, and Emirates Team NZ, for instance is not permitted to sail Te Rehutai, their 2021 America's Cup champion against their raceboat when it is launched. If new components are put onto the 2021, or Legacy AC75's, they come off the allowed "New Quantity" for their 2024 raceboat.
Teams, Times, Boats and Strategy:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing are running a AC40 One Design and an AC75 ex Emirates Team NZ.
In the Recon File System Alinghi RBS have four days logged against their AC40-OD and 44 days against their AC75, for a total of 48days - which includes any time the boat is pulled out of the shed by not sailed/towed. Alinghi RBR has only sailed for two of the four days in RFS. At a guess the Swiss have not sailed the AC75 for four of the 44 days in the RFS. They have the most sailing days of the six teams. They were also the first team to start sailing.
They have taken some steps towards a Version 2 of the AC75 class rule. The visible modifications include the introduction of a boomless mainsail, and introduction of hydraulically controlled mainsail clew sheeting. However cyclist powered hydraulic systems are yet to make an appearance - or, if they have been fitted are not obvious.
The Swiss last sailed the AC75 out of Barcelona on February 12, having rigged and launched the AC75 on February 10. That sail was the 44th day of sailing day of reporting for the Swiss AC75 in the AC37 Joint Recon System. [To get reported in the RFS a team only has to bring a boat out of the team boatshed, just for rigging, or to go sailing. Of the 44 days, the Swiss have probably had only four that were non-sailing.]
Previously, their AC75 was last sailed on February 1. The AC37 Recon team stated that the AC75 had been forced ashore by a spell of bad weather, however it would seem that some modifications have also been implemented. A couple of new seats in the cockpit were mentioned by the AC37 Joint Recon team.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing have rigged, towed and practice capsize tested and sailed their AC40 out of Barcelona. The AC40 has four days in its Recon System log - two of which are rigging and test towing.
Last week, Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed their AC40 One Design on four days February 13, 14, 15 and 17. They are the only team to be sailing out of Barcelona.
The team now has two boats in operation in the 2024 America's Cup. Their strategy is not clear, however assuming they don't have a LEQ12 under construction, and presumably will get two AC-40's. That being the case they can do as ETNZ has done and convert one of those to a LEQ12 development boat, but under the rules, which limits a team to only one LEQ12 hull, they have to leave the other as a One-Design.
- Luna Rossa are currently only running one yacht, they last sailed their LEQ12 from Cagliari, on February 12, 2023. See Cup Spy report here.
They have 32days logged in the RFS of which only two are non-sailing days.
- INEOS Britannia are running two yachts a LEQ12, which has 24 days logged in RFS but six of the 24 days were spent on rigging towing pole (ruled by the Measurement Committee to be a Mast Tube) and setup of their intended mast. The British LEQ12 came out of the shed on October 27 2022, but did not sail until December 19, 2022.
They last sailed their LEQ12 test boat on February 8, when they capsized and inverted their yacht T6. On the tow back to their base in Mallorca, the lithium batteries caught fire. T6 is still under repair.
They rolled out their AC40 One Design on February 10 and rigged it. The AC40 has four days in RFS of which one day was a non-sailing day.
INEOS Britannia had an active week, last week, sailing three days out of Mallorca, on February 15, 16 and 17 in their new AC40 One Design.
- American Magic decommissioned their AC75 Patriot on February 4 and will not be back sailing until early March. They are the only Challenger from 2021 to repurpose their AC75, and test at full scale design solutions to the new concepts of Version 2 of the AC75 Class Rule. For their last sail, on the Gulf of Mexico click here
- Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their two AC40's one as a LEQ12 development boat the other as an AC-40 One Design.
The Defender pulled their first AC40 out of the shed, three days after the earliest permitted sailing date on September 20, 2022, and sailed a day later.
They sailed AC40-1 for 14 days, most of which was spent in commissioning and checking the boat's suitability for Youth and Womens America's Cup events. It was then fitted with a development anhedral foil and used as a LEQ12 - where it has logged 17 days in RFS for a total of 31 days of which two were spent in rig setup.
Emirates Team NZ launched a second AC40 - One Design, which has only four days in RFS - however joint sailing days against the LEQ12 are not separately recorded.
The team is the first to sail two boats against each other.
Emirates Team NZ was forced to stop sailing on February 10 with the pending arrival of Cyclone Gabriella, which has resulted in New Zealand being placed in a state of emergency, after the worst weather event in New Zealand's history.
The core of the sailing team has went to Australia last week for SailGP Sydney, where they finished sixth overall on the series which was shortened to two days.
Late last week, the team let it be known that they would be sailing their AC75, "back out foiling around the harbour with one or two new configurations in due course."
We're expecting to see it sailing sometime this week.
- No update since the French K-Challenge held a media conference in Paris on February 2, and announced they have a partnered with a naming sponsor Accor Group and will be known as Orient Express Team. They will also partner with Emirates Team New Zealand for an AC75 design and other technology package. They also travelled to Australia for the SailGP Sydney regatta, this weekend, winning all three races against nine F50 teams, including several helmed by America's Cup skippers.
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: