Cup Spy Nov 14: Patriot gets a first sailing workout in Barcelona
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 16 Nov 05:25 PST
16 November 2023
Alinghi Red Bull Racing and American Magic - AC75 - Barcelona - November 14, 2022 © Alex Carabi / America's Cup
The Swiss again sailed their AC75, in Barcelona enjoying warm temperatures, and a 15kt thermal breeze, as did American Magic, who got in their first full day of testing. In Auckland, Emirates Team NZ continued testing in their LEQ12/AC40 under leaden skies in a seabreeze of up to 17kts. (See earlier report www.sail-world.com/news/268779)
What happened in the Cup - November 14, 2023:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - sailed their AC75 from Barcelona and appeared to have a good day, returning some excellent dry foiling tacks and gybes.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Did not sail.
- INEOS Britannia - Did not sail - they had rudder/rudder box issues from the previous day - there is no further comment from the team as to the nature of the damage, or the impact it will have on their testing program.
- American Magic - American Magic had a successful day in the AC75 Patriot, after having to abort their sailing program on two previous days, due to foiling issues.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - Sailed their LEQ12/AC40 in a seabreeze of up to 17kts after aborting the previous day's session due to foil control issues. See earlier report www.sail-world.com/news/268779
- Orient Express Racing Team - Their AC40 is en route to Jeddah.
- All teams are/have shipped AC40s to Jeddah for the second Preliminary Event at the end of November. No further official update on security concerns.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
American Magic - AC75 - Day 50 - November 14, 2023 - Barcelona
American Magic had a 0745hrs roll out and 1030hrs dockout on their 2021 generation AC75 [S-W: Modified for V2 of the AC75 class rule) Patriot today was rewarded with some near perfect sailing conditions on the waters off Barcelona where a southerly breeze ranged up and down during the day from 9 to 15kts.
With just a light chop sea state to deal with the US yacht looked much happier than in yesterday's steep chop and the crew – led by co-helmsmen Paul Goodison and Lucas Calabrese – looked to be able to get the boat airborne with ease - although it took a while on the first take off to achieve stable flight.
The team's training and testing was carried out in conjunction with a sponsor photoshoot involving an additional media rib and a drone. After launching at 0825hrs and docking out precisely two hours later, Patriot left the harbour on a bow tow at 1035hrs before heading northeast at 30 kts for around 15 minutes.
Sails – MN7 mainsail and (we think) J2 headsail – were hoisted by 1105hrs and by 1110hrs and the boat was soon airborne in a 15 knot southerly breeze. Other than some short loops performed for the sponsor media team, over next three hours the crew put the boat through a series of long windward leeward laps during which the boat generally looked stable in flight with its characteristic bow down attitude upwind and down.
There were splashdowns at times but these were perhaps attributable to the often patchy nature of the breeze which at times dipped down as low as 7kts. Tacks and gybes looked unstable early in the day but by the end of the session the majority of the tacks were fully foiling, although the success rate on the gybes was lower.
It was notable that the headsail was often held late through some tacks and gybes. There were stops during the session but these looked to be for battery changes and cyclor rotation rather than for technical issues.
Time was called on the day at 1410hrs, with sails down at 1425hrs and the boat back on the dock at 1440hrs. No sailing is planned for tomorrow (Wednesday November 15).
Report from from Sebastian Peri Brusa - AC37 Joint Recon Team
Crew: Paul Goodison, Lucas Calabrese, Riley Gibbs, Michael Menninger, Andrew Campbell; John Croom, Madison Molitar, Colten Hall, Tim Hornsby, James Wright
Session Statistics: American Magic - AC75 - Day 50 - November 14, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny 23° C
- Wind Strength: 9 - 14kts
- Wind Direction: 180°
- Sea State: Light chop
- Crane In: 0825hrs Dock Out: 1025hrs
- Dock In: 1440hrs Crane out: 1510hrs
- Total Tacks: 22 - Fully foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 12 - Fully foiling: 5; Touch & Go: 4; Touch Down: 3
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 102 - November 14, 2023 - Barcelona
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 09:00hrs. The day's activities began with routine pre-sailing system tests, focusing on the Flight Control System (FCS) [S-W: In the Technical Specifications, FCS usually refers to the Foil Cant System - the electromechanical system used to raise and lower the Foil Arms when tacking and gybing] and sail controls, with particular attention given to traveller movement and mast rotation. Notably, the mainsail skin clew actuator was observed moving in sync with the mast rotation. On a separate occasion, the mast was notably rotated with input solely from the forward port cyclor.
The team docked out at 11:00hrs and towed the yacht out to the sailing area a few hundred meters off the W Hotel. The M2-2R mainsail was hoisted at 11:20, and another 25 minutes were spent fine-tuning control systems at the clew before hoisting the J3-1R jib.
Stint 1: Sailing started at 11:55hrs but faced multiple interruptions. Yves Detrey and Bryan Mettraux were seen inspecting the new jib sheet system on the foredeck, following an issue where the jib sheet was easing by itself, as later clarified by Maxime Bachelin in the post-sailing interview.
Stint 2: Consisted of an upwind-downwind warmup, culminating at the course start line, followed by a brief 5-minute break.
Stint 3: The team completed two laps of the 2nm course set at a bearing of 210°, engaging in match racing with Chase Alpha on the second lap. Two cyclors were rotated and the J3 jib was exchanged with the J5-1R jib at the end of the stint.
Stint 4: Began with a 20-minute warmup, focusing on checking the J5. The team performed a windward-leeward run, executing a 3-point rounding of the windward mark—a manoeuvre trialled for deeper downwind exit post-rounding.
Stint 5: Featured a standard starboard entry and gybe into the pre-start box, repeating the failed manoeuvre from the previous day, followed by two laps of the course, again racing Chase Alpha on the second lap. The day concluded with the team sailing upwind and lowering sails just before 15:00 outside the port entrance.
Post-sailing activities included a hydraulic fluid change carried out after crane out at 15:35hrs. The team spent just over four hours on the water, with a total sailing time of 125 minutes. A total of 61 manoeuvres were observed, with 93% of them being fully foiling.
Report from AC37 Joint Recon Team
Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Maxime Bachelin, Nico Charbonnier, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey
Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 102 - November 14, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: Sunny, 25°.
- Wind Strength 6-15kts (Garbi, Afternoon Thermal breeze)
- Wind Direction: 200-220°
- Sea State: SW 0.5mtr
- Crane In: 0935hrs Dock Out: 1100hrs
- Dock In: 1510hrs Crane out: 1535hrs
- Total Tacks: 35 - Fully foiling: 32; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 26 - Fully foiling: 25; Touch & Go: 1; 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.