Cup Spy - June 27: Swiss blow a jib but tacking improves
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 29 Jun 2023 20:45 AEST
29 June 2023
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 72 - June 27, 2023 - Barcelona © Alex Carabi / America's Cup
What happened in the Cup - June 27 2023:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed from Barcelona in a 10-20kt breeze from SSW, having a better day than yesterday.
- American Magic - we have no information on whether the team sailed - there is no mention of the US team in the AC37 Joint Recon System (RFS), and the team don't seem to be posting either, however there are several images in RFS with American Magic's AC40 in the background and shown as leaving the port ahead of Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
- Luna Rossa sailed from Cagliari, in the fresh breeze of 15kts from the SSE.
- Emirates Team New Zealand is en route to Barcelona with a projected arrival date of July 2.
- INEOS Britannia is not sailing until August 1
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Sail-World NZ Commentary:
Three teams are currently sailing in Barcelona and Cagliari. The other teams are en route to Barcelona - which is the only venue permitted for sailing from July 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023. American Magic has started sailing their new AC40. The last day permitted for sailing anywhere other than Barcelona is on Friday.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed their AC75 again today, turning in better dry tack percentages than yesterday, going from 28% to 74% a day later. The difference is best explained by a less funky, and more substantial breeze today. The familiar pattern of the SSW breeze building to a peak around noon before fading somewhat and then rebuilding around 4.00pm.
Drama of the day was when the Swiss blew the clew out of another jib. The cause seemed to be an increase in the breeze with the J2 jib being taken out of its designed range. Not surprisingly it was replaced with a smaller sail.
The jury will be out on the performance of the Swiss AC75 until the other teams - American Magic and Emirates Team New Zealand - arrive and start sailing their AC75's. It is only at that point will we know if the issues and performance fluctuations we see from the Swiss are endemic in the venue and AC75, or if they are part of the Swiss team's learning curve. Similarly for both AC75 teams - they need to find out if there is an issue with the venue, and how they react in response - if indeed a response is required.
In Cagliari, Luna Rossa passed another mini-milestone - their 75th sailing day in their AC75. Back on board was Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold medalist in the Nacra 17, Ruggerio Tita. He had just returned from a couple of weeks of training camp in Marseille - venue for the 2024 Sailing Olympics.
In his absence Tita said the Italian LEQ12 test boat had changed little while he was in Marseille.
"Yes, there has been some some mods here and there, but nothing major. But the thing is that I think the main thing is team and the coordination between the guys, it came up very high level and we were able to push very hard manoeuvres and survive. So we're really happy about that."
Turning to the development and hours they had spent on the simulator - Tita said that the time they had put into its development was paying off.
"It's a work that we that we put together a lot of months ago, and now is a pay off because all the math that we put on the simulator we work into our playbook. In the beginning it was not really perfect, and neither was the coordination within the boat and the guys on board. But now I think this work is slowly coming to pay off."
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team - Michele Melis:
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Day 75 - June 27, 2023 - Cagliari
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli rolled out their LEQ12 prototype at 10:45 for their 75th day of sailing.
On the starboard wing several dots at a number of chord sections along span were noted, perhaps simply markings for better footage reference. Once the mast was stepped, the yacht was craned in and the usual checks followed before dock-out scheduled for 11:45.
This time the mainsail M1 was only positioned on deck without being locked in the mast at first. Similar to the previous sailing day, six crews boarded the prototype which was slowly towed out of the harbor by Chase-1 while the seabreeze was filling in. In the following 20 minutes the LEQ12 has been towed at different boat speeds, 20, 25 and 30kn with minimal visible cant variation and varying ride height.
Downstream below the water surface a thick stream of air bubbles trailing the starboard foil has been observed several times at upper boat speeds ranges.
Having completed these test, the towline was passed to Chase-2 and the mainsail M1 was hoisted with the J1.5 foresail. The LEQ12 was foilborne by 12:35 for 25minutes completing a series of foil to foil tacks, occasionally not raising the windward board and some gybes before stopping.
While Chase-2 dropped the usual marks, sailors gathered and debriefed before lowering the J1.5, to hoist the J2 as the seabreeze was increasing to 13-15ks.
After this break, the LEQ12 took off, performed some hard bear-aways and headed straight to the leeward marks practicing some fast gate entries and rounding maneuvers before a start with time on distance was recorded.
Some legs around the marks followed for the next 35 minutes before stopping for lunch.
Then Chase-2 towed up the prototype which quickly entered again the starting box for another prestart with time on distance and came down hullborne shortly after. The LEQ12 was foilborne again for the last 35 minutes of the day completing two legs on the physical marks before employing some virtual marks to keep up the pace while Chase-2 collected the others.
On the last downwind stint some gybes have been observed before stopping by the harbour to lower the sails. During this day a foiling time of 94 minutes out of 198 in total, with 24 tacks, and 22 gybes were counted [Michele Melis AC Recon].
Session Statistics: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Day 75 - June 27, 2023 - Cagliari
- Weather: Sunny 29°C
- Wind Strength 10-15kts
- Wind Direction: SSE
- Sea State: Light chop
- Roll out: 1100hrs Dock Out: 1145hrs
- Dock In: 1510hrs Crane out: 1700hrs
- Total Tacks: 24 - Fully foiling: 22; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 22 - Fully foiling: 19; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Ruggero Tita, Jimmy Spithill, Andrea Tesei, Vittorio Bissaro
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 72 - June 27, 2023 - Barcelona
From the AC37 Joint Recon team:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 09:45, anticipating the wind to really fill in later in the day. The ‘Garbi’ wind started with a moderate breeze from the south-southwest and steadily increased in strength, peaking with a strong breeze in the same direction by late afternoon. The sea state increased significantly as the wind exceeded 15 knots, with an aggressive chop reaching 0.5m in height and 3s in period.
Before docking out, the team calibrated systems, with an attention to traveller and mast rotation. After dock out at 13:00, the M2-2L mainsail and J2-2L jib were hoisted and the yacht was towed north towards Badalona, where the wind is generally stronger at the early stages of ‘Garbi’ South to South West thermal winds. The yacht was released on a tow start, however fell off the foils through a tack. After another tow start, the team warmed up with a tack, bear away and four gybes downwind, then stopped to change jib to the J3-1R (last used May 9, 2023) ahead of pre-start practice.
The yacht sailed with two boards down towards the gate before lifting the windward foil and passing through the marks. Then heading out to the right side of the course, before tacking back towards the start box on starboard, and gybing around the committee mark to port. After sailing back out to the right and tacking at the boundary, a mistake brought the boat down, but regained flight and sailed for the start line, crossing it on starboard before a jib clew broke during a tack at the boundary.
The J5-1R (230503) was hoisted and sailing resumed in increased sea state, as the team sailed another four short stints, mostly around the course 1.5NM course. The team demonstrated good consistency, with much better tacks today, improving to 76% fully foiling manoeuvres overall, compared to 59% the previous day. This is so far their best performance in terms of fully foiling percentage. The team were on the water for four hours, covering over 45NM.
Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 72 - June 27, 2023 - Barcelona
- Wind Strength: 12-15kts
- Wind Direction: SSW
- Weather: Sunny 22°C
- Sea State: Beaufort 3
- Crane In: 1010hrs Dock Out: 1300hrs
- Crane In: 1710hrs Dock Out: 1730hrs
- Total Tacks: 19; Fully foiling: 14; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 4
- Total Gybes: 19; Fully foiling: 15; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Maxime Bachelin, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Yves Detrey, Bryan Mettraux, Barnabé Delarze, Florian Trüb, Nico Stahlberg, Théry Schir
Additional Images:
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. Its format is intended to give Sail-World readers a snapshot of all teams' progress on a given day or period.