Cup Spy August 18: Luna Rossa enjoys another beautiful foiling day in Sardinia
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 19 Aug 2023 15:38 BST
20 August 2023
Luna Rossa - AC40 - Day 82 - August 18, 2023 - Cagliari © Ivo Rovira / America's Cup
Two America's Cup Challengers sailed on Friday in good testing conditions off Cagliari and Barcelona. Both sailed their custom designed test boats.
What happened in the Cup - August 18 2023:
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - The Italians once again enjoyed near perfect foiling conditions, at Cagliari, Sardinia, with a 10-13kt breeze, steady in direction and clear skies. They sailed their LEQ12 test boat and are now on Day 82 of their America's Cup program - the most days of any team to date in this America's Cup cycle in a single boat.
- INEOS Britannia - Yesterday's maelstrom has departed Barcelona, and the British had a 3.5hr test session in their development boat T6 in light 6-8kt winds
- Emirates Team New Zealand did not sail
- American Magic did not sail
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not sail.
- Orient Express Racing Team (formerly K-Challenge) did not sail after being splashed on Wednesday.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Report:
INEOS Britannia- LEQ12 - Day 70 - August 18, 2023 - Barcelona
INEOS Britannia squeezed in a three hour sailing session aboard their T6 LEQ12 today despite light winds and a bumpy sea state which made life difficult for the sailors.
The team rolled T6 out at 0940hrs with the boat launched at 1021hrs. After docking out at 1205hrs sails (M1-2 mainsail and J1-2 headsail) were up by 1230hrs with the boat exiting the harbour on a bow tow by 1235hrs. After a long tow offshore T6 broke off the tow on her foils at 1240 for a five minute flight in 6-7 knots of breeze that ended with a touchdown tack.
A second tow up was followed by 15 minutes of flight. A third tow up was followed by a 50 minute flight upwind in 7 - 8 knots. The crew looked to be experimenting with high mode sailing (with the headsail periodically being trimmed close to the centreline) and with low flight height. At this point T6 was approximately nine nautical miles offshore. After turning downwind for five minutes the boat struggled through two gybes before coming to a stop at 1400hrs.
After a break to change batteries the team attempted two more unsuccessful tow ups before time was called at 1445hrs After a long tow in – that was punctuated halfway by a big splash down that required the crew of T6 to disconnect the tow line – the boat was back in the harbour at 1520hrs and docked in at 1535hrs. The British team announced a tentative intention to sail tomorrow (Saturday August 19) with a final decision to be made at 0800hrs.
Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia- LEQ12 - Day 70 - August 18, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny 29°C
- Wind Strength 6-8kts
- Wind Direction: 090° - 100°
- Sea State: "Nasty"
- Crane In: 1021hrs Dock Out: 1205hrs
- Dock In: 1535hrs Crane out: 1600hrs
- Total Tacks: 8 - Fully foiling: 1; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 5
- Total Gybes: 5 - Fully foiling: 2; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Dylan Fletcher, Giles Scott, Iain Jensen, Luke Parkinson, Neil Hunter (5th man)
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Day 82 - August 18, 2023 - Cagliari
The Italian team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli rolled out their LEQ12 prototype at 8:45, proceeding with the mast stepping procedure and craning the yacht in by 9:05.
The boat configuration remained unchanged compared to the previous day with what seems Wing02 on port and Wing03 on starboard, yet to be confirmed by declaration. The usual routine checks followed and dockout was scheduled for 10:00hrs after having locked in the newest mainsail M1-2, which was then hoisted and paired to the J2-1.
Forecast looked Barcelona like on the seastate side with significant cross chop overlapping with swell of approx .7-1m 3-4s from 135° , offsetted from TWD which was displayed blowing 11-13kts from 145 TWA just outside the harbour.
Once sails were hoisted, the LEQ12 was foilborne after a short pull by chase2 providing some initial boat speed. Considering the ships traffic, the team decided to attempt the first two self take offs on starboard tack but both ended after a couple of minutes as during the tack maneuver, the LEQ12 hit the swell while transitioning. As the LEQ12 was up and foiling via self take off, it headed upwind some miles offshore of la Sella del Diavolo to execute some long straight line testing and occasionally tacking.
Considering the swell size and offset, the RU chase was not entirely able to follow the LEQ12 and had to cut some corners for steady and dry footage. After the awaited bear away, the LEQ12 was observed sailing for a long downwind run touch and going through the highest wave crests pitching through the swell and combining this with some rather rare gybes before finally trimming up and stopping.
During the break, shore crew members were observed checking below deck while sailors debriefed and swapped between starboard/portside pods and Chase/LEQ12. This sailing path has been observed twice while remaining relatively offshore perhaps taking advantage of the seastate with steady breeze of 12-13kn.
Afterwards, the LEQ12 headed downwind for some gybes and sailed straight towards the harbour looking fast and stable, beside a minor bow down splash. For the last foiling stint, the LEQ12 was towed up and performed a series of manuevers around the chase boats before coming to a stop, sails were lowered by 13:15 and the day was called with approx. 119 minutes of foiling out of 198 minutes total, 24 tacks and 18 gybes.
[Michele Melis AC Recon].
Crew: (Co-Helms): Francesco Bruni, Jimmy Spithill, Andrea Tesei, Umberto Molineris
Session Statistics: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - August 18, 2023 - Cagliari
- Weather: Sunshine, 27°
- Wind Strength 10-13kts
- Wind Direction: 145° - 150°
- Sea State: No report
- Dockout: 1000hrs Dock In: 1310hrs
- Total Tacks: 24 - Fully foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 5; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 18 - Fully foiling: 10; Touch & Go: 8; Touch Down: 2
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.
Additional Images: