Cup Spy August 10: First of three days Test Racing starts Brits vs Kiwis
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 11 Aug 2023 14:19 AEST
11 August 2023
Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia - AC40s - Broadcast Testing - August 10, 2023 - Barcelona © Job Vermeulen / America's Cup
Today was the first of three days for the teams to test the race management and broadcast systems ahead of the first of three Preliminary Events.
The two AC40s were in one design configuration but with broadcast TV communications dome at top of mast.
What happened in the Cup - August 10 2023:
- Emirates Team New Zealand competed in test racing.
- INEOS Britannia competed in test racing.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not race.
- American Magic did not race.
- Luna Rossa did not race.
- No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).
Commentary:
Today was the first of three days that have been allocated for testing the Race Management System (RMS) and various other components used for the Preliminary Events in Vilanova in mid-September and Jeddah, in November.
"The main purpose of the last few days has been the installation and then getting the RMS system all up and running. So that's everything from cameras to communication to protest buttons, all of that," explained ETNZ's Blair Tuke. "We're only a small part, just testing as the sailors on onboard the boat. We were having communication with that broadcast team and all the software team back on land and just checking a lot of the different systems. I think 20 of them all based ashore."
The Challenger of Record (INEOS Britannia) and Defender (Emirates Team New Zealand) had permission - (or did they give it to themselves?) - to be the first two teams to sail against each other in this America's Cup cycle.
Blair Tuke again: "We've done a lot of two boat testing, as you know, back in New Zealand, so it wasn't totally foreign to us. But having a non Emirates team New Zealand boat right next to us was exciting. However the main priority of the day was RMS testing. We were being instructed what to do at different times, including testing out the range of the system - requiring us sail a long way off shore, and also further up the coast."
The session also was an informal test as to whether, in the hands of rival crews, as to whether the two AC40's in One Design mode had a speed difference.
"It's reassuring to see that, generally speaking, the boats or the boats have the same speed," said INEOS Britannia's Giles Scott. "I think from our perspective, it's good to get out in Barcelona, and continue to sail this boat in a bit more sea state than what we what we have historically. There's a few nuances around operating these these boats in terms of how the auto pilot systems work. But there were certainly some good takeaways for us for for today."
Having spent most of their time in Barcelona, and at their previous base in Palma, Mallorca, sailing their 12metre ling test boat T6, the Brits were a bit rusty on tacking and gybing the AC40.
"We're going through the water really quite nicely. I think we had a few few gybe exits that were potentially our Achilles heel out there. But over the course of a couple of hours, I think we got our heads around why that was happening. And, certainly it was good to make those, I suppose, silly mistakes early on in the piece," Scott added.
On Friday, the plan is for the testing to continue with Race Director Iain Murray to be running match racing, which will help prove or disprove the suitability of the 40ft foiling monohulls for match racing.
Weather conditions at Barcelona August 10, 2023:
The test session got away mid-afternoon, with both AC40s docking out about 1415hrs. They both reported different breezes on the water - with ETNZ calling it at 3.5kts just before 1500hrs. We can see from the real time recordings from Port Olimpic that the breeze stayed under 8kts (at Port Olimpic's recording height of 12metres).
The Recon Boats reported that the AC40s the British had difficulties with some maneuvers at this wind-strength, and around 1530 the breeze increased in speed from 6kts to 12kts and swung 30° to sit in an easterly direction. The Brits used this new breeze to have some tacking and gybing practice in their AC40. the breeze at 1600hrs today was a lower strength at 1600hrs than either of the two previous days.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
INEOS Britannia - AC40 - Test Racing Day 1 - August 10, 2023 - Barcelona
The first of three special days set aside for the testing of the America's Cup TV broadcast and race management systems saw INEOS Britannia and Emirates team New Zealand sparring in their AC40s – the first time two opposing teams have lined up against each other in the one design boats.
The only difference noted during rigging today was the addition of a white 'dome' structure to the top of the mast – which is presumed to house aerials for the broadcast and race management systems – and a large stern mounted video camera for on board and boat boat shots. Working busily on the boat ashore and once it was craned into the water were several members of the America's Cup TV team.
Dockout was at 1517hrs and by 1600hrs the British AC40 was out of the harbour just in time to see the onshore breeze ramp from five knots to just over 10 knots – perfect conditions for the testing session. Although no course marks were laid today the two teams soon engaged with each other sailing upwind in race mode, both flying J1 headsails. In straight line speed there seemed to be very little to choose between the two boats as they tore upwind at speeds in the high 20 to low 30 kts range, with both gaining the advantage at various times as they criss-crossed each other.
Downwind, the situation appeared to be the same with neither crew able to sail significantly lower or faster than the other. After an hour of sailing like this and with the breeze building a few knots both teams stopped to swap to the J2. More windward leeward sparring sessions followed with the teams occasionally separating to sail on their own for a few minutes before re-engaging.
As the breeze began to fade around 1800hrs the British crew seemed to be struggling with their gybes – errors that cost them dearly in distance against the Kiwis who barely put a foot wrong all day in the boat handling department. When the New Zealand crew called time around 1745 the British team stayed out a further 30 minutes.
With the breeze fading below 10 knots the crew had to resort to being towed on to their foils but got in what was likely a valuable long final downwind leg where they pulled off multiple gybes with much more aplomb than earlier. The British AC40 returned to the harbour at 1815hrs and was back on the dock at 1830hrs.
Justin Chisholm – Recon on INEOS Britannia
Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia - AC40 - Test Racing Day 1 - August 10, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny
- Wind Strength: 5-11kts (Detail: 1550hrs: 150 5 knots; 1627hrs: 120 10-11 knots; 1800hrs 120 7-8 knots)
- Wind Direction: 120°
- Sea State: Very confused chop <0.5 metre
- Crane In: 1415hrs Dock Out: 1517hrs
- Dock In: 1830hrs Crane out: 1900hrs
- Total Tacks: 25 - Fully foiling: 25; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 37 - Fully foiling: 26; Touch & Go: 6; Touch Down: 5
Crew: Co-Helms: Ben Ainslie (S) and Giles Scott (P); Bleddyn Mon, Leigh McMillan
Emirates Team New Zealand AC40 - Day BD1 - August 10, 2023 - Barcelona
ETNZ rolled out their AC40 “Te Kakahi” from the shed at 12.30hrs on one-design configuration. The boat was craned to the water at 13:39hrs and the team docked out at 14.20hrs. The main and the J1 were hoisted at 14:28hrs and 14:35hrs respectively.
The main objective of the day was to test the new hardware and equipment added to the boat that will be used at the preliminary regattas. This included an antenna at the top of the mast, protest and boundary lights at the back, protest buttons, intercoms, among other things. In addition, robotic marks were launched to the water and tested.
Once on the water and after doing many kinds of tests and checks for approximately two hours, a speed testing session was carried out together with Team INEOS Britannia.
Three long upwinds and downwinds were executed, without using marks. On the first upwind, with the J1, the boats seemed to be very evened in speed and angle, maybe INEOS slightly higher same speed, on average.
Later, both teams changed into their J2 and then the differences were minimal in between the two boats, on both upwind and downwind legs. They could sail for long periods of time on speed-testing positions and no big gains or losses could be noticed, either on speed or angle. The only considerable differences happened when one of the two boats had a really bad maneuver falling from their foils landing completely, that happened only in two opportunities during the entire combined session.
ETNZ did in total 31 tacks and 26 gybes, fully foiling on almost all of them, even at the beginning of the day when we had an average wind intensity of four knots of true wind speed measured at sea level.
When talking about the sailing conditions, it was an unusual day, with the wind shifting to the left persistently during the day, starting on 145 and reaching 95, late on the afternoon. As regards intensity, very little wind during the beginning of the session averaging 4 knots and increasing to 7 to 8 knots from 4:30 pm onwards.
Sails were lowered at 17:58hrs once inside the port, the boat was back in the dock at 18:05hrs, craned out at 18:25hrs and back in the shed at 18:55hrs.
Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on ETNZ
Crew: (Co-Helms): Peter Burling - Josh Junior (Stb) & Nathan Outteridge (Port); Andy Maloney (Stb) / Blair Tuke (Port). Peter had to leave earlier so there was an unusual configuration of sailors at the more than half of the day.
Session Statistics: Emirates Team New Zealand AC40 - Day BD1 - August 10, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunshine, mostly clear skies, 32°
- Wind Strength 3.5kts - 7.6kts.
- Wind Direction: 095° - 145°
- Sea State: 0.24m ; mostly flat.
- Dockout: 1420hrs Dock In: 1805hrs
- Total Tacks: 31 - Fully foiling: 29; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 0
- Total Gybes: 26 - Fully foiling: 23; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 0
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.