Cup Spy Feb 15-17: Brits and Swiss start up their AC40-OD programs
by Compiled by Richard Gladwell/Sail-world.com/nz 17 Feb 2023 20:59 PST
18 February 2023
Athena - AC40-2 - INEOS Britannia - AC40 - Day 3 - February 16, 2023 © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup
What happened in the Cup - Feb 15-17, 2023:
- INEOS Britannia and Alinghi Red Bull Racing continued to work up their newly launched AC40-One Designs, sailing out of Mallorca and Barcelona respectively. They started within a day of each other in Mallorca and Barcelona respecrively
- Emirates Team New Zealand did not sail, in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, the most serious weather event to be experienced in New Zealand. Several members of the sailing team travelled to Sydney for the SailGP regatta on February 18-19, with Practice on February 17.
- Luna Rossa has their LEQ12 in the boat shed undergoing several upgrades, and is expected to be there for a week. Co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill is also in Sydney on SailGP duties for the USA team, needing to turn in a top performance to stay in contention for the Final.
- 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 17, 2023 - Day 4
Top sailing journalist, Justin Chisholm was on the water and made various observations on the British boat:
The British team rounded the week off with another short sharp afternoon session sailied in light 7 - 9 knot winds on flat seas in Palma Bay.
The same crew for the second day running – helmsmen Giles Scott and Dylan Fletcher with trimmers Leigh McMillan and Bleddyn Mon – opted for the J2 headsail, despite the relatively light winds. Despite the lack of pressure the British AC40 didn't need much encouragement to get into flight mode.
Just prior to takeoff we witnessed a little windward heel which was corrected by a quick jab of 'overtrim' on the main-traveller at which point the boat popped out of the water at somewhere around 16 knots of wind. While most of the sailing tie was spent on straight line sailing – including some prolonged bow up/stern down intervals, but the final 30 minutes of the day was given over to boat handling maneuvers such as tacks, gybes, bear aways and round-ups – and a few combinations of all of these.
Some time was lost at the start of the session to fix an unknown technical issue, as well as later in the afternoon when what was retrospectively identified as a small hydraulics leak curtailed the chance of any further sailing at 1600. With a light forecast for the weekend the sailing team now have two days off, with the next possible sailing session scheduled for Monday earliest.
Session Statistics - Mallorca - February 17, 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: 1130hrs Dock Out: 1300hrs
- Dock In: 1630hrs Crane out: 1700hrs
- Total Tacks: 9 - Fully foiling: 8 Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 6 - Fully foiling: 4; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down:
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Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Barcelona - February 17, 2023 - Day 4
From the AC37 Joint Recon team:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40 at 09:00, stepped the mast and craned the yacht into the water. The shore crew ran through standard pre-sailing tests and prepared the mainsail head on the mast, the yacht then taken just off the dock. Both the M1 mainsail and J1 jib were hoisted in the port.
As has been the case for the last few days, the southwest thermal wind came in at midday, at which point the yacht was released from the towline. While the wind was still below 5 knots, the team carried out a capsize test. With relative ease, the AC40 was righted as the bow was slowly towed head to wind. Once checked, the go ahead was given to sail.
The team started with an upwind/downwind stint on the J1 before changing for the J2. Another two stints were sailed in stronger breeze, performing mostly foiling tacks and gybes, as well as roundings and bare-aways. On one occasion, a physical orange buoy was used as a downwind mark, with the yacht rounding not closer than one boat length.
The sails were brought down outside the port and the yacht was docked by 15:00. After lifting out of the water, it appears the port wing arm inspection hatch was opened on the interior surface of the foil, however the issue was not clear to the Recon team.
Efforts were made by the shore crew to block the view of the camera from seeing what was happening, as the multiple crew members deliberated around it. Ultimately, a high-vis vest was used to cover the foil until the yacht was towed out of view.
Session Statistics - Barcelona, Spain - February 17, 2023 - Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Day 4
- Wind Strength: 10-12kts
- Wind Direction: SSW
- Weather: Sunny 12°C
- Sea State: Slight
- Roll out: 0940hrs Dock Out: 1115hrs
- Dock In: 1455hrs Crane out: 1520hrs
- Total Tacks: 10; Fully foiling: 5; Touch & Go: 5; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 16; Fully foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 8; Touch Down: 1
Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis , Lucian Cujean , Bryan Mettraux , Yves Detrey , Nicolas Charbonnier , Maxime Bachelin
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INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Mallorca - February 16, 2023 - Day 3
Top sailing journalist, Justin Chisholm was on the water and made various observations on the British boat:
For INEOS Britannia's third day with their AC40 the team timed things perfectly in the afternoon to get the most out of a consistent but light late afternoon breeze of no more than 8 knots.
After rolling out of the shed at midday the shore crew spent some time seemingly testing the foil arm cant systems before the boat was launched ready for a dock out at 1415.
Out on the water, after the mainsail hoist was complete the boat was towed southwest for 3 nautical miles closer to the best of the breeze. With the J1 hoisted, despite the light winds the UK crew – helmsmen Giles Scott and trialist Dylan Fletcher, along with trimmers Leigh McMillan and Bleddyn Mon – were able to coax the boat into the air without needing to be towed.
Once up the sailors stayed airborne for most of the next two hours, stopping briefly only a couple of times.
The crew completed a series of 30 maneuvers – split equally between tacks and gybes – with the vast majority fully foiling. Towards the end of the day they even threw in some unexpected and slick JK and DB (tack bear away) turns. With the breeze fading, time was called shortly before 1700.
Session Statistics - Mallorca - February 16, 2023 - INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Day 3
- Weather: Overcast with sunny periods 10-13° C
- Wind Strength 6.5 - 8kts
- Wind Direction: 180 degrees
- Roll out: 1330hrs Dock Out: 1415hrs
- Dock In: 1710hrs Crane out: 1740hrs
- Total Tacks: 15 - Fully foiling: 14; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 16 - Fully foiling: 13; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Dylan Fletcher and Giles Scott, Leigh McMillan and Bledyn Mon
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Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Barcelona - February 15, 2023 - Day 3
From the AC37 Joint Recon team:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40 at 08:30, stepped the mast and craned the yacht into the water.
The shore crew ran through standard pre-sailing tests and prepared the mainsail head on the mast before towing the yacht just off the dock to hoist the main in the port. The yacht was towed North towards Badalona to start with upwind legs along the coast.
The weather was as forecast, cirrus clouds (indication of a warm front arriving), light wind and very flat sea.
A light Garbi, southwest thermal wind, came in at midday, but was not strong enough to get on the foil. The team sailed upwind for a couple of short stints, with a few non-foiling tacks to get each side familiar with the controls on the different sides.
By 14:00 the wind increased to nine knots, enough for ARBR to get their AC40 on foil for the first time.
Three stints up and down the city coastline were sailed on foil, with a good effort made to fit in many manoeuvres before the end of the session; 30 tacks on the last upwind leg alone. A few bare aways and roundings were also practised in between manoeuvres in front of Barceloneta, the intended racing area.
The team spent five and a half hours on the water, covering over 60 Nautical Miles. Speeds of around 30 knots were reached. An end to the session was called as the team reached the port at 16:20.
Session Statistics - Barcelona, Spain - February 15, 2023 - Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC40-OD - Day 3
- Wind Strength: 8-10kts
- Wind Direction: SW
- Weather: Sunny 10°C
- Sea State: Slight
- Roll out: 1020hrs Dock Out: 1100hrs
- Dock In: 1650hrs Crane out: 1710hrs
- Total Tacks: 35; Fully foiling: 8; Touch & Go: 15; Touch Down: 12
- Total Gybes: 10; Fully foiling: 8; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Yves Detrey, Nicolas Charbonnier, Lucien Cujean,
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INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Mallorca - February 15, 2023 - Day 2
Top sailing journalist, Justin Chisholm was on the water and made various observations on the British boat:
The British America's Cup team rolled their AC40 out of the shed for the second time today, for it to be rigged, christened 'Athena' before launching for a two hour commissioning and testing session dockside at the base.
The AC40 appeared noticeably more 'tender' alongside a team chase boat than the team's T6 LEQ12 with any body weight movement affecting the heel of the boat. Considerable care was taken to keep movement on deck to a minimum while a member of the shore crew was hoisted up the mast as part of the testing process.
There were also noticeably less laptops involved in the testing and setup process than are normally used on T6.
During the process the support crew could be see checking mast rotation. Later at 1100 the boat was tied up for the first time against its official support boat INEOS Chase 3 to check attachment points and side towing procedures.
After docking out shortly after 1230 the crew of Giles Scott and Ben Cornish (helmsmen) and Leigh McMillan and Bleddyn Mon (trimmers) got straight into testing mode even before the boat left the harbour with a series of partial foil arm raises that rocked the boat backwards and forwards.
Outside the harbour a short foiling tow run was followed by an hour long delay as technicians came aboard to remedy what we believe to be an issue with the rudder rake control.
Further towed foiling runs followed before the M1 masinsail skins were hoisted and set up. A further wait ensued as the crew scanned the horizon for enough breeze to go sailing. Eventually at around 1630 the boat was towed into a 15 minute foiling run that included two foiling tacks and ended with a partially completed foiling gybe.
Three more foiling runs took place with the boat looking comfortable in flight even in some confused chop stirred up by the chase boats. With the breeze fading, time was called at shortly after 1700, followed by sails down and a foiling towed run back to the dock.
Session Statistics - Mallorca - February 15, 2023 - INEOS Britannia - AC40-OD - Day 2
- Weather: Sunny 7-13°C
- Wind Strength 5-7.5kts
- Wind Direction: 240 degrees
- Roll out: 0925hrs Dock Out: 1235hrs
- Dock In: 1740hrs Crane out: 1810hrs
- Total Tacks: 4 - Fully foiling: 3; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 3
- Total Gybes: 4 - Fully foiling: 2; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Ben Cornish and Giles Scott, Luke Parkinson and Bledyn Mon
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