Cup Spy July 21: 'Probably one of our best days on the water so far here in Barcelona.'
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 23 Jul 2023 00:41 AEST
23 July 2023
American Magic - LEQ12 - Day 42 - July 21, 2023 - Barcelona © Paul Todd/America's Cup
American Magic continued their testing program today, in a choppy sea state with the swell coming at an awkward angle for the AC40.
President of Sailing Operations Terry Hutchinson discusses the significance of the seastate off Barcelona in his post-session interview.
What happened in the Cup - July 22, 2023:
- American Magic - sailed out of Barcelona, after a two day absence.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not sail. The team are expected to move into their new permanent base, in Port Vell, next week, which is another milestone for the team.
- Luna Rossa - Did not sail from Cagliari in their LEQ12 or Barcelona in their AC-40, they have operational bases in both locations.
- Emirates Team New Zealand have shut down their sailing program until Tuesday or so - as their sailing team competed in SailGP Los Angeles.
- INEOS Britannia will not be sailing until August 1, and are transiting to Barcelona from their pre-Cup base in Mallorca.
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Weather conditions at Barcelona July 21, 2023:
On the water the AC37 Recon teams reported a Southerly breeze of 10-14kts. At the real-time observation station at Port Olimpic the wind peaked at 14kts average at 1230hrs - 1500hrs, gusting 17kts and then falling away.
- Sea state: BF 5
- Conditions: Sunny
- American Magic (LEQ12): Dock-out: 1055hrs Dock-in: 1637hrs
Commentary:
President of Sailing Operations for American Magic described the day as "probably one of our best days on the water so far here in Barcelona."
From a testing perspective the US Challenger got a solid working over by the Barcelona sea-state.
Sailing their AC40 test platform, the US team encountered a difficult angle of the sea and the wind.
"We've gone from a perfectly flat water venue in Auckland, to a sea-state venue here in Barcelona, and both present different challenges to the teams," Hutchinson saild.
"But, I think the the last run home down to the racecourse was a was a really good test for the guys on the boat and really good test for the systems of the boat, and then a good test for the foil. So I look forward to looking at the data and seeing seeing what we get. It was lumpy."
Lea Sitjà, of the AC37 Joint Recon Program, asked what was the most difficult part of today's sailing. Hutchinson replied that it was when there was a sea state from the easterly direction, and the wind from a southerly direction. "They're off axis," he said.
"Port gybe in particular was very challenging downwind. And I think that's a difficult situation for the sailors to deal with. Upwind is a little bit easier. But you were still seeing some ventilation happening on the foils, and particularly on port tack."
The team was testing different foils, and there have been many questions over the weeks since the teams started sailing in Barcelona as to which was the best foil shape. With the AC75 class now in its second Version and with three generations of boats and test boats, one would think that with the collective design talent in the teams, that the wingfoils at least would have started to fall into the same development concept.
But Terry Hutchinson points out that it is not just a matter of reading the test data to come up with the optimum foil.
"The science will tell you one thing, and the sailor feel will tell you another thing, and so you as always you have to blend them together and try to come up with a good conclusion."
Of course the question remains, as to whether the Barcelona seaway issue is peculiar to the AC40 and its foiling geometry, or whether the AC75, with the different foiling geometry of a longer boat, is not as badly affected.
Emirates Team NZ did not appear to be affected by an increased seastate in Auckland, once the sailing team adjusted their sailing technique, and they also appeared to be comfortable, in the Barcelona seaway. It would seem that once American Magic start sailing their AC75 in Barcelona, they too will have their answers.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
American Magic - AC40 and LEQ12 - Day 39 - July 14, 2023 - Barcelona
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team:
Very intense jib sails test today for American Magic on LEQ12 America.
Roll out was at 0851hrs with a new version G port foil wing and a version D flap (see updated component declaration).
Dock out was at 1055hrs with Lucas, Michael, Paul and Andrew on board while Riley and Harry stayed on stand-by all suited-up on the chase boat.
The wind was blowing 6-8kts at 210º with some interesting waves that grew up throughout the day (wind chop of 0.7m, 3.6secs periods at 190º with swell of 1.4m, 6.6secs periods at 090º) making almost impossible to keep the boat under control for more than 30secs at the end of the day.
They rigged up main #3 with a brand-new jib #0 and by 1202hrs they were sailing upwind followed by a long downwind on starboard tack. Overall, they used 7 different jibs today, five of them new, as the wind kept on increasing up to 14 kt at 15:23h. You can see down below the complete list of jibs used and their times.
I suspect they had some crew rotation as well today when they stopped, but I cannot confirm it 100%. Most of the day was spent on straight line sailing, either upwind or downwind, to "feel" the new jibs and get some data out of them so not many maneuvers executed today, with too many complete touch downs.
The last bit of the day required a battery change at 1514hrs and a jib #3 hoist, used one. From then on, they sailed four imaginary one1lap upwind-downwind courses with no marks where they were losing control of the boat constantly. I counted 21 times where they either ventilated the leeward foil wing or they dropped the boat hard to windward, either upwind or downwind, always requiring a complete restart. Tired of crashing into the waves every 200m, they called it a day at 1616hr and went back to port on tow with a dock in 1637hrs. Lea Sitjà.
- Lea Sitjà (AC37 Joint Recon team)
Session Statistics: American Magic - LEQ12 - Day 42 - July 21, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny
- Wind Strength 10-14kts
- Wind Direction: 180 degrees
- Sea State: Beaufort 5
- Crane In: 0905hrs Dock Out: 1055hrs
- Dock In: 1637hrs Crane out: 1745hrs
- Total Tacks: 10 - Fully foiling: 3; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 4
- Total Gybes: 7 - Fully foiling: 3; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 4
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.