Cup Spy August 3: Cup hopefuls grapple with super seastate in Barcelona
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 4 Aug 2023 05:27 BST
4 August 2023
INEOS Britannia - LEQ12 - Day 64 - August 3, 2023 - Barcelona © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup
Two teams had an interesting work out in the worst sea state since the teams began assembling on July 1, for a four month period, which coincides with the period in which the 2024 America's Cup will be sailed in 12 months starting on August 12, 2024.
Thursday better than any other answered the questions and speculation about the Barcelona seaway. Judging by the Kiwis experience, it did not trouble the AC75 as much as the Brits smaller 40ft boat. It does test the sailors ability - which probably means that the teams which get an early start in Barcelona in AC75s to whichever version of the Class Rule should start with an advantage over the late comers.
INEOS Britannia picked a challenging day to restart their testing program, after losing seven weeks in the shift to Barcelona and their new permanent base. Emirates Team New Zealand sailing their AC75 was relatively untroubled by the seaway.
What happened in the Cup - August 3, 2023:
- Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their AC75, after missing the fresh breeze of Wednesday. Josh Junior summed up the day with the comment "we got the waves but not the wind." The Recon team trailing ETNZ put the swell height at 1.14metres from 110° with a 9-15kt breeze from 195°-225° - significantly "off axis" from the sailing breeze.
- INEOS Britannia - returned to the America's Cup fray, after a break of seven weeks, and with a smaller sailing geometry than the AC75 had a more difficult time due to a mix of commissioning issues - due to this being their first sailing day at Barcelona, and being a shorter overall length in the difficult three-way seastate. They looked to have a good sail at the end of the day foiling easily on one tack for a four minute stretch - captured on video.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not sail.
- Luna Rossa - there was no report from the AC37 Joint Recon, or images from the those made available through the Recon File System. The team is sailing from Cagliari and Barcelona, but only Cagliari is being reported as that is where their test boat is located.
- American Magic - were not reported as sailing.
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Weather conditions at Barcelona August 3, 2023:
On the water the AC37 Recon teams reported a breeze of only 8-15kts from 150° degrees-240 °(covering INEOS Britannia) and 195°-225° (ETNZ Recon team).
INEOS reported the seastate as being a "confused moderate chop". ETNZ's Recon team was more specific with 1.14metre swells from 110°.
At the real-time observation station at Port Olimpic, the real-time recordings (see image above) over a 6 hour period the period between 1100hrs to 1615hrs showed the breeze at starting at 0kts at 1100hrs (and "gusting" to 0kts) from 100° (effectively an easterly) before veering in a quite erratic manner getting around to 270° (W) two hours later at 1300hrs, before steadying up around 225° (SSW). According to the Port Olimpic weather station the breeze hit peak windstrength of 15kts gusting to 17kts around 1530hrs. This was towards the end of the Kiwis session. The Brits stayed out, not docking in until 1800hrs when the breeze had eased away to 10-15kts but started veering erratically to the East.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
Emirates Team NZ - AC75 - Day 30 - August 3, 2023 - Barcelona
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team (Sebastian Peri Brusa):
ETNZ rolled out their B2 AC75 from the shed at 10.33 am. The boat was craned to the water at 11:08 and the team docked out at 12.45, after a forty-five-minute postponement due to lack of wind. The M2 and the J2 were hoisted inside the port at 12:54 and 12:57, respectively.
Today´s training consisted of sailing around a virtual course during most of the day, doing two to four tacks on the upwind legs and two to three gybes on the downwinds.
The main challenge was related to the sailing conditions. Today was the day with the biggest swell since ETNZ started their activities in Barcelona. A one-meter average swell from 105 deg, combined with unstable wind direction and intensity made it very difficult to have a stable boat at all times, and even more challenging when maneuvering.
More specifically, it was harder to achieve stability in the vertical axis on starboard tack when sailing in opposite direction to the swell, and in particular, when coming out from the tacks and the gybes from port into starboard. Accelerating after the maneuvers in opposite direction to the swell was not an easy task today and it required greater changes of course and bigger adjustments on the sails trimming and flight controlling.
At 13:50 when the wind increased in intensity, the J2 was replaced by the J4 and there was a cyclists´ rotation.
At the end of the day ETNZ practiced two pre-starts in 14 to 15 knots of wind, using their two chase boats as marks. The first one entering on port tack and the other one on starboard tack. Both starting sequences were followed by a short two-lap upwind-downwind virtual course.
They did in total 20 tacks and 16 gybes, standing on their foils on almost all of them. At the beginning of the day, when the wind was lighter and when maneuvering from port tack into starboard tack, it was the only moment when they ended up landing or touching and going in some of their tacks and gybes.
As regards boat tuning, ETNZ continues to sail with little tension on the lower shrouds, even in choppy and wavy conditions like today.
Sails were lowered at 15:25hrs once inside the port, the boat was back in the dock at 15:37hrs, craned out at 16:07hrs and back in the shed at 16:30hrs.
A good day at the office for ETNZ in the most challenging conditions they have seen in Barcelona so far.
Session Statistics - Emirates Team NZ - AC75 - Day 30 - August 3, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: 27°C Cloudy
- Wind Strength: 9-15kts
- Wind Direction: 195° - 225° degrees
- Sea State: 1.4metres, from 110°
- Crane In: 1108hrs Dock Out: 1245hrs
- Dock In: 1557hrs Crane out: 1607hrs
- Total Tacks: 20 - Fully foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 16 - Fully foiling: 12; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 3
Crew: Nathan Outteridge, Peter Burling, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke
INEOS Britannia - LEQ12 - Day 62 - August 1, 2023 - Barcelona
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team (Justin Chisholm)
INEOS Britannia's first on-the-water session in Barcelona aboard their 40-foot T6 LEQ12 test boat proved to be a testing day for the British crew who had to contend with a shifty and variable strength breeze that ranged from 7-15 knots and moved from 260 to 160 during the day, and a horribly confused sea state made up of a 1mtr plus swell and an unpredictable chop.
Perhaps no surprise then that the British crew (helmsmen Giles Scott and Dyland Fletcher, with trimmers / flight controllers Luke Parkinson and Iain Jensen, plus cyclor Neil Hunter in the fifth man position) struggled to achieve their normal smooth flight performance that we had become accustomed to in Palma as they carved out multiple windward leeward laps up and down the Barcelona shoreline.
After the first tow up, take offs appeared tricky with often several attempts required before steady flight was achieved.
There were also plenty of splash downs – upwind and downwind – as the crew tried to get their heads around the lumpy and unpredictable sea state. Starting on the J2-2 in 12-15 knots of wind the boat looked somewhat overpowered and difficult to control.
Things appeared to improve when the switch was made to the J4-1 with tacks and gybes appearing smoother and more under control. However, when the wind eased to 7-10 knots and shifted hard left, T6 appeared to be lacking enough power to take off because of the sea state. A switch back to the J2-2 (and a breeze increase back to 12-14 knots) corrected that issue, but the British crew still had to work hard to get T6 into the correct angle of attack to attempt takeoffs.
This involved heavily backing the jib to push the bow away and piling two to three extra bodies to windward to help get the boat up to a speed where there was enough flow for the foils to deliver righting moment. One at least one occasion this required Neil Hunter to scramble under the foot of the mainsail to cross to the windward side.
The final run of the day was a hair raising downwind blast which saw T6 deal admirably with the sea state as the crew headed for home. Sails were dropped by 1650 and dock in took place at 1705.
Tomorrow (Friday August 4) has been scheduled as a non-sailing tow testing day.
Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia - LEQ12 - Day 62 - August 3, 2023 - Mallorca
- Weather: Sunny 13°C
- Wind Strength 8-15kts
- Wind Direction:150°-240°
- Sea State: Confused moderate chop
- Crane In: 1145hrs Dock Out: 1300hrs
- Dock In: 1800hrs Crane out: 1830hrs
- Total Tacks: 0 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 0 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Giles Scott, Dylan Fletcher, Luke Parkinson, Iain Jensen
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.