Cup Spy July 31: Swiss, Italians, and Kiwis resume workup at Barcelona
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 1 Aug 2023 05:10 PDT
1 August 2023
Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa - AC75 & 40 - Day 28 - July 31, 2023 - Barcelona © Job Vermeulen / America's Cup
Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa and Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed off Barcelona on Monday.
What happened in the Cup - July 31, 2023:
- Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their AC75, in a mix of speed testing/performance data collection, followed by some race practice at the end of the 3.5hrs session. The Kiwis seem to be resolving their sailing technique issues in sailing with a seaway which is significantly different on opposite tacks.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing moved their AC40/LEQ12 to their new permanent base at Maremagnum. They sailed with their new test wingfoil on the port side today. Dean Barker was back as a co-helmsman. The Swiss sailed only one boat today, after a 10-day break.
- Luna Rossa - were sighted on the water at Barcelona in their AC40 One-Design, but by agreement between the teams there is no recon surveillance of teams sailing the One-Design version of the AC40.
- American Magic - were not reported as sailing.
- INEOS Britannia were expected to start two boat testing with an AC40 against their test boat T6, but apparently this did not happen.
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Weather conditions at Barcelona July 31, 2023:
On the water the AC37 Recon teams reported a breeze of 5-18kts from 180°.
At the real-time observation station at Port Olimpic, the real-time recordings (see image above) over a six hour period showed the breeze varying significantly in strength and direction, it then settled down at a strength of 5kts at 1200hrs, and then steadily increased until it reached an average strength of 18kts gusting 20kts. The direction at Port Olimpic remained steady at 180°.
Both Recon Teams reported the cross swell coming from the east (090°) - at right angles to the wind direction(180°).
The Port Olimpic wind direction and strength readings tied in with the data reported offshore by the AC37 Recon Program crews.
We are now 12 months and two weeks away from the start of the Challenger Selection Series in Barcelona.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
Emirates Team NZ - AC75 - Day 28 - July 31, 2023 - Barcelona
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team:
ETNZ rolled out their B2 AC75 from the shed at 10.30 am. The boat was craned to the water at 11:03 and the team docked out at 12.00, as planned. The M2 was hoisted inside the port at 12:10 and the J2 at 12:26 once out.
The team started the day doing maneuvers for a little bit more than one hour. Tacks, gybes, bear aways and head ups were executed. Except for two tacks in which they ended up landing completely, all the rest was performed standing on their foils consistently. Those drills were later complemented with some pre-starting movements using virtual marks positions.
At 13:34 when the wind increased to approximately ten knots, the J2 was replaced for the J3 and the team decided go for speed testing, sailing on a straight line, maybe to evaluate performance with the modified J3 reported a couple days ago. They seemed to be trying different modes.
At 14:23 after a long upwind and downwind leg with the J3, the J5 came up in replacement when the wind intensity was over fifteen knots of breeze at sea level. Some further pre-starting movements and short upwind-downwind legs were carried out.
ETNZ did approximately 25 tacks and 24 gybes today, only falling down on two tacks at the beginning of the day when conditions were lighter.
The issues on the jib halyard mast case from the last training day seem that had been repaired during the weekend, as on all sail changes the halyard could be lowered all the way down to the deck with no need of anyone up in the mast.
Sailing conditions: Wind intensity constantly increasing and turning right during the day.
We started at 12:22 with 5 knots from 165 and ended up with over 16 knots of breeze from 180.
Sails were lowered at 15:08, the boat was back in the dock at 15:25, craned out at 15:53 and back in the shed at 16:22.
Report by Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on ETNZ.
Session Statistics - Emirates Team NZ - AC75 - Day 28 - July 31, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: 29°C Sunny
- Wind Strength: 5-16kts
- Wind Direction: 180° - 185° (S)
- Sea State: 0.83metres, choppy from SE (130°-140°)
- Crane In: 1103hrs Dock Out: 1200hrs
- Dock In: 1525hrs Crane out: 1553hrs
- Total Tacks: 25 - Fully foiling: 21; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 3
- Total Gybes: 24 - Fully foiling: 24; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Nathan Outteridge, Peter Burling, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke
Alinghi Red Bull Racing LEQ12 - Day 45 - July 31, 2023 - Barcelona
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-4 at 08:30 from the old base at Barcelona Nautic Centre. The 'new' foil was repositioned from the starboard foil arm to port.
The yacht was subsequently craned in and towed to the new base at Maremagnum.
Observations were conducted from the recon boat situated on the outside of the team chase boats, on the opposite side of the dock to the AC40, due to the lack of an allocated recon observing spot at the new base. System testing was slightly interrupted by a brief spell of rain. A camera was subsequently added to the bottom surface of the port foil. The team docked out at 12:00 with One Design sails in tow.
The new 15m Catalyst was on the water today, with key members of the team, Marcelino Botin, Nico Bailey, and co-general manager Silvio Arrivabene.. Following a short tow to commission the foil on the port foil arm, there was a period of hydraulics maintenance before sailing finally commenced at 13:05hrs.
The 'Garbi' afternoon thermal wind started at a gentle 6-8 knots from 180° at 12:30, then gradually picked up, reaching a peak of 15-17 knots from the same direction by 14:40hrs before strengthening further to 16-18 knots from 190° at 15:40. Sea conditions were somewhat challenging, with a residual East swell ranging between 0.8m-1.3m at 5-second intervals. The swell was combined with strong wind chop as the breeze increased.
Stint 1 involved one tack and two gybes before sailing upwind on a port tack out to sea, followed by a long downwind sail to the Forum, and then to the course. The stint continued into pre-start practice with an abundant use of two boards down. Three pre-start practices were conducted, with one lap of the course after the third pre-start. A big gybe touchdown was observed during the downwind stretch, as the team quickly recovered and practiced a bear away to continue to the leeward gate.
Stint 1 concluded with an exchange of the J2 jib with the J3 jib as the wind increased. Stint 2 commenced with a lengthy upwind stretch offshore to test the new foil in the amplified wind with the J3, followed by a downwind return to the course.
After a short pause, Stint 3 started with several laps around the course, with a slight loss of consistency in downwind manoeuvres. This could be attributed to the stronger wind conditions.
The session ended at 15:35, with sails dropped and the yacht towed back to the old base. The sails were taken off and transported to the new base. After crane out, hydraulic fluid maintenance was carried out before dropping the rig.
The yacht docked in at 16:00, marking an end to a 4-hour (135 minutes sailing) session on the water, covering 50 nautical miles. 45 manoeuvres were observed, 84% fully foiling.
Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing LEQ12 - Day 45 - July 31, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny 30°C
- Wind Strength 6-18kts
- Wind Direction: 180°
- Sea State: 1.3m at 5sec period, with a strong wind chop
- Crane In: 0830hrs Dock Out: 0855hrs
- Dock In: 1600hrs Crane out: 1620hrs
- Total Tacks: 46 - Fully foiling: 42; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 22 - Fully foiling: 22; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 1
Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Dean Barker, Bryan Mettraux, Nico Rolaz
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.