Cup Spy Oct 13: Swiss beat the jinx, sailing on Black Friday

Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 93 - Barcelona - October 13, 2023 © Paul Todd/America's Cup

On Black Friday, October 13th, Alinghi Red Bull Racing team had a blistering five hour sailing session with their AC75 in building wind conditions.

This was the first day of the parallel period for the 37th Match for the America's Cup.

The dates of the Challenger Selection Series have been announced as follows:

Here are the precise dates in 2024 for the CSS Racing Period, published under Article 7.6 of the Protocol in consultation with COR/D:

The first day for racing will be Thursday 29 August 2024 and the final day for racing Monday 7 October 2024.

The first race in 37th match for the America's Cup is on October 12, 2024.

What happened in the Cup - October 13, 2023:

• Luna Rossa sailed their AC 40 One Design off Barcelona.
• INEOS Britannia - did not sail - their damaged test boat from October 6 remains in the shed.
• Emirates Team New Zealand - did not sail, the nucleus of the sailing team are competing in SailGP Cadiz this weekend.
• American Magic did not sail - several team members, including co-helm Tom Slingsby, are also competing in SailGP Cadiz this weekend
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed their AC75 off Barcelona in ideal sailing conditions.
• Orient Express Racing Team (formerly K-Challenge) are also competing in SailGP Cadiz this weekend.

AC37 Joint Recon Team Report:

Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - October 13, 2023 - Barcelona - from Elia Miquel- ARBR Recon Unit

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (ARBR) team had a blistering five hour sailing session sailing the AC75 in building wind conditions.

ARBR team rolled out their AC75 at 9:00hrs. The yacht was craned in, and the usual pre-sailing checks were carried out, with engineers onboard testing hydraulics on the mast and both foils.

The team docked out at 11:00hrs, hoisting the M2-2R mainsail and J1-2R headsail inside the port and being towed out by 11:23hrs. The wind conditions outside were 5knts from 190º with some clouds all over the city and hazy on the horizon. Only Luna Rossa with their one design AC40 and Alinghi were spotted training today on waters of Barcelona.

Alinghi started sailing in displacement mode by the port entrance, following by several self- take-off always on their port tack, apparently It's easier for them to create lift with their T starboard foil in light wind conditions. As the wind was barely reaching 6 knots, they were struggling and touching-down with the first manoeuvres, until they did a long downwind approaching to El Forum. .

With a building breeze of 10 knots average at 13:42hrs, the team substituted the J1-2R with a J3-1R and did two laps upwind-downwind.

Flying low during the upwind, and maintaining 44 knots of speed downwind and through the gybes there was an immediate touch of leeward heel, driving on the immersed foil before inducing wicked windward heel and power.

At 13:34hrs, after almost two hours of sailing the Chase-boat approached and the cyclors rotated as new batteries went onboard. At 13.57hrs, after the hydration break, they foiled for one hour following the same upwind-downwind manoeuvres pattern. Right after, with a tow line and 13 knots from the south and choppy sea state, they went for the third jib configuration of the day, dropping the J3-1R and hoisting the J4-1 headsail.

The last stint of the session started at 15:17hrs, with a zig-zagging long bear away and ended up with eighteen tacks approaching to the port entrance, where the the day wrapped up with sails lowered at 16:00hrs, after which the yacht was towed back to the base, docking in at 16:20hrs.

The team covered a total of 90 nautical miles over five hours on the water, 160min were spend sailing with 62 manoeuvres performed, 90% fully foiling.

Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - October 13, 2023 - Barcelona

• Weather: Sunny 23° C
• Wind Strength: 10-16ktskts
• Wind Direction: 200°
• Sea State: Choppy 0.1 - 0.3mtr
• Crane In: 0900hrs Dock Out: 1100hrs
• Dock In: 1620hrs Crane out: 1740hrs
• Total Tacks: 35 - Fully foiling: 31; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 2
• Total Gybes: 27 - Fully foiling: 25; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2

Crew: Maxime Bachelin, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey, Florian Trüb, Nils Theuninck, Arthur Cevey, Augustin Maillefer, Barnabé Delarze, Thery Schir

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. Weather information is by Predictwind