Cup Spy Feb 20-21: The shortest sail, capsizes and close-calls and a big foiling tack/gybe day
by Compiled by Richard Gladwell/Sail-world.com/nz 23 Feb 2023 18:51 PST
22 February 2023
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Day 33 - February 23, 2023 - Cagliari © Ivo Rovira / America'sCup
Team New Zealand set a record for the shortest sail yet - just 7 minutes, in their LEQ12 on a light day on the Hauraki Gulf in their first sail since Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the upper North Island of New Zealand.
Despite only sailing for seven minutes, the Kiwi crew crammed in three foiling tack. It is not clear if mainsail issues on their LEQ12, triggered an early end to the Kiwis' sailing session.
In Barcelona, Alinghi Red Bull Racing set another record, capsizing twice in the same session after trying some very aggressive sailing manoeuvres, in their new and very tender AC-40. But it was nice to see the Swiss pushing the limits.
Emirates Team NZ and Luna Rossa are both sailing LEQ12 development boats, Alinghi Red Bull Racing and INEOS Britannia are sailing newly launched AC40-One Designs as are the Kiwis for their second boat in a three boat program.
What happened in the Cup - Feb 20-21, 2023:
- On February 21, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli emerged from the boat shed, in Cagliari, after a week inside. Changes had been made - more in the cause of small changes, rather than a dramatic shift in design direction. After dropping a couple of marks, the team went into a high maneuver-count training session - doing 40 turns, and having a close call in the capsize stakes.
- INEOS Britannia moved location several times, off Mallorca, to get the forecast breeze - hitting high boatspeeds and throwing in almost 30 turns. The British program remains stalled by the capsize of their test/development boat after its inversion and battery fire almost two weeks ago. The repair guesstimate was three weeks.
- Emirates Team New Zealand continued with their two boat program. For some reason on the LEQ12 development boat they seem to be having mainsail hoisting issues - it took six crew and 10 minutes to fit the mainsail luff to their mast tracks. A new development that is not quite bug-free perhaps?
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed their AC-40 out of Barcelona in a stronger than expected breeze. In the second part of the session they courageously performed 20 foiling manoeuvres at high speed, before nosediving in one and capsizing, and then capsizing again after being righted, when the main and jib sheets came on too quickly.
- American Magic have decommissioned their AC75 and will not start training again until the beginning of March
- Orient Express Team (formerly French K-Challenge) - no update.
INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Mallorca - February 20, 2023 - Day 5
Top sailing journalist, Justin Chisholm was on the water and made various observations on the British boat:
The INEOS Britannia sailors and their on-water support team had to work hard to get the most out of today's afternoon sessions, with multiple sail changes and a prolonged period of waiting for a forecast 15 knot southerly to arrive.
The Brits docked out at 1300 with a rumoured plan of doing some practice course racing around a pair of orange buoys we spotted in the back of the team's largest chase boat.
In the end the team had to reposition several times to get the earliest access to the new breeze which came on fast at 1545.
Having quickly changed from the J1 jib to the J2, the crew - helmsmen Giles Scott and trialist Dylan Fletcher, with trimmers Bleddyn Mon and Leigh McMillan - were immediately up on foils for a series of high speed laps of Palma Bay.
Their retinue included 17 foiling tacks and 12 gybes (mostly foiling but with a couple of touchdowns earlier in the afternoon and a pair of wild ones with splashdowns later in the day. With the breeze beginning to fade, time was called on the day at 1730.
Session Statistics - Mallorca - February 20, 2023 - INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Day 4
- Weather: Sunny 15 degrees - 19 degrees C
- Wind Strength 7-15kts Flat sea
- Wind Direction: 170 degrees
- Roll out: 1200hrs Dock Out: 1304hrs
- Dock In: 1800hrs Crane out: 1830hrs
- Total Tacks: 17 - Fully foiling: 17 Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 3
- Total Gybes: 12 - Fully foiling: 8; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott, Luke Parkinson and Bledyn Mon
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Cagliari - February 21, 2023 - Day 33
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team [Michele Melis AC-Recon]:
After a week of sailing break while undergoing some modifications on the LEQ12, the LRPP team opted for an early rollout at 6:00am seeking the forecasted light NW offshore breeze. With forecast update the rollout was postposted at 7:00 and, after stepping the mast, the team proceeded with some precise alignment checks on the cradled prototype followed by some hydraulic checks by the mast base region.
On the boat configuration side several changes were observed at mast base fittings, on the inboard PS foil wing, flap and foil arm stock. As the daily temperature increased, the team scheduled the dock out at 1pm to catch the typical SE sea breeze between 8-12kn with some choppy sea state during the whole afternoon.
On the sail usage front, the team hoisted the primary mainsail M1-1, the J1.5-1 at first and finally the J2-1. The LEQ12 hosted four crew with swapping helmsmen and flight controllers. Clearly the sailing session focussed on light to medium breeze maneuvers and take-off capability in some choppy waves with the new boat configuration. The chase dropped some marks in the middle of the session and the prototype completed approx eight legs.
The AC37 Joint Recon Unit alternated between awaiting at marks with binocular observation in distance and following for some legs. A nose dive was observed while rounding the downwind mark almost capsizing at low speed with successful recovery. Luna Rossa performed a total of approx 40 maneuvers, out of which 19 tacks and 21 gybes were recorded - along with some additional rounding maneuvers such as classic round ups bearing away or heading up, early gybes, tack bear aways, and round up tacks.
Luna Rossa had a total foiling time of approx 80 minutes, and three self take offs were recorded with the usual third crew member sitting on windward deck and crossing before taking off building boat speed. Certainly the LRPP LEQ12 looks quicker each day out in the gulf.
Session Statistics - Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Cagliari - February 21, 2023 - Day 33
- Wind Strength 10-12kts
- Wind Direction: SE
- Weather: Sunny 17 degreesC
- Sea State:
- Roll out: 1030hrs Dock Out: 1230hrs
- Dock In: 1620hrs Crane out: 1800hrs
- Total Tacks: 19 - Fully foiling: 14; Touch & Go: 5; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 21 - Fully foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 1
Crew: Francesco Bruni,Ruggero Tita, Andrea Tesei Umberto Molineris, Vittorio Bissaro
Emirates Team NZ - LEQ12 - Auckland - February 21, 2022 - Day 18
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team [Alastair Moore AC-Recon]:
A later start today due to the light forecast for the morning. Both the LEQ12 and the AC40 were in the pen with sails loaded on chase boats by 13.30. The crews assembled on the dock around Chase 2 for Ray Davies to outline the plan for the afternoon, this lasted at least five minutes and looked quite in depth.
The yachts docked out at 14.30 and were taken under tow out to the Rough Rock area just NE of North Head where they stopped, took side tows and began hoisting. Compared to the AC40 it took a lot longer to hoist the main. On the LEQ 12 it took six people about 10 minutes to load the head boards up the luff tracks.
Again close to full hoist there looked to be a lot of activity in between the mainsail skins at both clew and tack ends. For the LEQ12 it took about 21 minutes to hoist her sails. She was off the chase boat and sailing at 15.13, upwind on starboard to begin with. The yacht tacked off Cheltenham laying for about saltworks on the Rangitoto shore, everything looked as normal until she tacked back onto Starboard looking to line up with the AC40.
A large wrinkle was noticed down the luff of the main on its port skin. The LEQ12 tacked, sailed for another 2 minutes on port then slowly steered head to wind and dropped sails.
As the sails were being lowered Chase 2 came alongside Chase 1 and some tech personnel were exchanged. Then the LEQ12 was towed home to be craned out at 16.15
Session Statistics - Emirates Team NZ - LEQ12 - Auckland - February 21, 2022 - Day 18
- Wind Strength: Very light seabreeze
- Wind Direction: NE
- Sea State: Slight
- Roll out: 1330hrs Dock Out: 1430hrs
- Dock In: 1600hrs Crane out: 1615hrs
- Total Tacks: 3 - Fully foiling: 3; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 0 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Nathan Outteridge, Peter Burling, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Barcelona - February 21, 2023 - Day 5
From the AC37 Joint Recon team:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40 at 08:45, and prepped the boat ahead of a long day on the water.
The shore crew ran through standard procedures at the dock before towing just off the dock to hoist the one design M1 mainsail and J1 jib.
The day saw another Garbi southwest thermal wind, which came in stronger than previous days, especially towards the end of the session.
By midday, the team was sailing upwind/downwind stints with a J1 [jib] setup. After an hour of sailing and 18 foiling manoeuvres later, the team switched the J1 for the J2. After a short upwind stretch, the team stopped to check systems, with engineers below deck and inspecting the rudder stock and quadrant, while the crew rotated.
The team sailed one of their most aggressive stint of the campaign, performing 20 foiling manoeuvres in just under an hour before capsizing. At 15:50, following a foiling gybe to port, the AC40 nose-dived at high speed, then rolled onto its side.
The yacht was righted as the bow was towed head to wind. A few pails of water were removed from the forepeak and the go ahead was given to continue sailing. As the tow line was released, the lines were sheeted while the boat was unbalanced, causing the yacht to capsize again.
The yacht was righted again and a short stint was sailed, finishing the session in front of the port entrance.
The team were on the water for five hours, sailing over 65 Nautical Miles hitting top speeds of around 40 knots in when the wind reached 15+ knots. No sailing Wednesday.
Session Statistics - Barcelona, Spain - February 21, 2023 - Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Day 5
- Wind Strength: 13-16kts
- Wind Direction: SSW (AM) SW (PM)
- Weather: Sunny 14-17 degreesC
- Sea State: Slight
- Roll out: 0950hrs Dock Out: 1130hrs
- Dock In: 1705hrs Crane out: 1720hrs
- Total Tacks: 25; Fully foiling: 16; Touch & Go: 5; Touch Down: 4
- Total Gybes: 18; Fully foiling: 13; Touch & Go: 4; Touch Down: 1
Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Yves Detrey, Nicolas Rolaz, Nicolas Charbonnier, Maxime Bachelin, Lucien Cujean, Bryan Mettraux. Sailors were rotated at 14:15 - Arnaud P, Nico R, Yves D OFF, Lucian C, Maxime B ON. It was not clear what other rotations were made.
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