Cup Spy Oct 25: American Magic brings the foil cameras into play
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 26 Oct 2023 14:01 BST
26 October 2023
American Magic - AC40 - Day 81 - Barcelona - October 25, 2023 © Job Vermeulen / America's Cup
What happened in the Cup - October 25, 2023:
- American Magic - having missed yesterday's session due to a too rough sea state, the US Challenger was out on the water off Barcelona, but with their AC40 America sailing alone. Their AC75 Patriot is expected to come into play on November 6.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - Emirates Team New Zealand's have had their last sail in their AC75, Te Rehutai, and the team now heads for Auckland, leaving the AC75 in Barcelona, and exporting an AC40 to Jeddah for next months second Preliminary Regatta.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team
- INEOS Britannia - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team. Their test boat T6 is still in the shed after the catastrophic destruction of their rudder and rudder assembly during a towing session.
- Orient Express Racing Team - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team
- All teams are shipping AC40s to Jeddah for the second Preliminary Events at the end of November. Organisers will obviously be monitoring the security and war situation in the surrounding territories, before giving the teams a green light to travel to the venue.
American Magic - AC40 - October 25, 2023 - Barcelona - from Sebastian Peri Brusa - NYYC AM Recon Unit
New York Yacht Club American Magic (NYYC AM) rolled out their AC40-5 America at 07:45hrs on LEQ12 mode, with foil wing and flap #4 on the starboard side, and with foil wing and flap #3 on the port side.
The piece of hardware identified yesterday on the starboard side wing, was still there today. Two Go-Pro cam-recorders could be seen being placed inside, one at the top and another one at the bottom, pointing towards the wing tip. Possibly, to record the fluid dynamics of the water going over and under the foil wing and flap. In addition, modifications were identified on the lower part of the starboard side arm, on the insertion of the foil head
America was craned to the water at 08:15hrs and docked out at 09.30hrs, as planned, with Tom Slingsby and Riley Gibbs on the starboard side, and Paul Goodison and Michael Menninger on port.
Non one-design sails were selected for today's training.
The MNC-1, being used for the first time since modifications were reported on October 11th on the Components Declaration Form, and the J2 with no window and rectangular head.
Sails were hoisted at 09.50hrs and 10.10hrs, respectively, while coming out of the port.
The first part of the training consisted of doing some "S" training exercises, from closed-hauled course to a broad reaching course while sailing upwind on port tack. Also, multiple take-offs were conducted on the same tack. Given the fact that the cameras were positioned on the starboard side wing, this exercise was possibly planned to record and later analyze the fluid dynamics while sailing upwind on port tack, when standing on foil #4, while changing course and also when taking-off.
In very shifty and unstable conditions, varying from 270 degrees to 200 degrees in direction and from 4kts to 16 kts in strength approximately, it was hard to test components and arrive to conclusions in a reliable way.
From 11:15hrs till 11:45hrs the wind decreased considerably for a while, and the team decided to take a break, after trying to take-off being towed with no success.
From 11:45hrs onwards, the second part of the day consisted of virtual races, using virtual marks and boundaries. Five to six tacks per upwind leg and four to five gybes on the downwind were performed.
A total of two two-lap upwind-downwind races were conducted.
Not much to say about the races, very hard to judge anything in such shifty and unstable conditions (and with the boat sailing solo).
America entered the port at 12:45hrs, sails were lowered at 13:00hrs and docked at 13:10hrs.
The team will resume their on-the-water sessions on November 6th with their AC75 Patriot.
Session Statistics: American Magic - AC40 - October 25, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Cloudy 24 degrees C
- Wind Strength: 6.5kts - 16kts
- Wind Direction: 200 degrees - 275 degrees
- Sea State: 1.0 metre Mostly flat.
- Crane In: 0815hrs Dock Out: 0930hrs
- Dock In: 1310hrs Crane out: 1335hrs
- Total Tacks: 23 - Fully foiling: 20; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 31 - Fully foiling: 29; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2
Crew: Tom Slingsby (Stb) - Paul Goodison (Port); Riley Gibbs (Stb) - Michael Menninger (Port)
Weather Observations - Port Olimpic - 25 October, 2023
The breeze is recorded at Port Olimpic at a point 12 metres above water level, and adjacent to the America's Cup course.
American Magic sailed in a weather window that ran from 0930hrs to 1310hrs
The breeze today in the sailing period of 0930hrs to 1310hrs was averaging 10kts, gusting to over 15kts on one occasion and hitting 13kts on a couple of others.
Wave height was a surprising 0.8mtr, dropping below that mark once in the session.
The data from Olimpic Port needs to be read against the AC37 Joint Recon comments and readings taken much closer to the water surface - and also the team comments.
The last day for racing in the 2024 America's Cup is October 27, 2023 - so Wednesday's conditions are well within the 12 month window for the upcoming Match, which starts on October 12, 2024.
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