Cup Spy Dec 20: Kiwi test program strikes an unusually perfect day
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 20 Dec 2023 04:20 PST
20 December 2023
Emirates Team New Zealand - LEQ12 Prototype - Day 51 - December 20, 2023 - Auckland © Sam Thom/America's Cup
What happened in the Cup - December 20, 2023:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Have not sailed so far this week.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Suffered a compression crack in the port topside of their LEQ12 on Tuesday. The repair is underway.
- American Magic - Have sailed for six days from Barcelona in their AC75. There have been some modifications as they step up for the launch of their AC75 race boat in May 2024.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - Have been test sailing for four days, out of Auckland in their LEQ12 since winning SailGP Dubai and the second America's Cup Preliminary Regatta in Jeddah.
- INEOS Britannia - Have had rudder/rudder box issues for the second time in mid-November, but are expected to be switching to a twin AC40 program, to sail post Xmas.
- Orient Express Racing Team - No report, however they competed in the SailGP Dubai in the first week of December, placing 4th overall.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
Emirates Team New Zealand - LEQ12 - Day 50 - December 18, 2023 - Auckland
Emirates Team New Zealand struck a perfect seabreeze for 90 minutes during their 51st practice day in the LEQ12. The breeze did not vary in strength or direction for 90 minutes producing some high quality test data, from a long single tack leg paralleling the North Shore beaches.
Dock out was scheduled for 12:00hrs and sails were hoisted only minutes later out in front of the Viaduct Harbour. Sail choice today, for the majority of the session, was the M2-3 mainsail and J2-2 Jib. For the final 35 minutes of the session, a J3 Jib was hoisted which we believe to be a new one.
It was a fairly straight forward session, route wise, today for the Team. After a few manoeuvres down the harbour and out around North Head, the team sailed a long upwind leg all the way passed Tiritiri Matangi to the east.
The focus of today seemed to be around refining tacking with over 50 tacks recorded, by far the most we have seen. With the consistent NNE 11 building to 15 knot breeze, and mild sea state, it was the perfect day to test.
The tacks were looking mighty smooth, with many timed near perfect. It was impressive to see how little height was being lost on the exits of the tacks, and leeway seemed at a minimum today.
On many tacks, you could see a very early mast rotation and sail set happening, and others seemed to need more traveller up and a later pop through with the skins. Nathan Outteridge afterwards put this down to turn rate and timing.
The boards were being fired down a little later than other days and you could see the team really working on smooth foil entries into the water and transitions onto the new foils. Towards the top of the upwind near Tiri, breeze was getting up around 15 knots which we believe to be very top end for the J2. It was impressive to see how much jib sheet tension they were able to achieve and how much they were able to flatten off the jib.
Toward the end of the upwind, we saw the team do multiple low angle upwind runs. Speeds easily exceeded 31-32 knots. It was very difficult however, to tell the VMG compared to the higher angles they typically sail.
Finally, once to the east of Tiritiri Matangi, the team bore off and sailed back toward the city whilst practicing a few gybes on the way. The downwind did not seem to be the focus for today with nothing too special being tried or tested.
Half way home however, the team decided to turn up and stop abruptly. The chase boat we believe requested a Jib Change and so the J2 came down, and what we believe to be a new J3 went up.
The team then set off downwind again before arriving off Narrow Neck beach. Here they turned up, sailed a few reaches on both port and starboard including some impressive high speed gybes and tacks, then swiftly continued downwind again and basically sailed straight back to the Viaduct Harbour where they dropped sails at 15:15hrs.
After sailing we were able to grab Nathan Outteridge, Helmsman for ETNZ and have a quick chat regarding today’s session.
[Report from Sam Thom - AC37 Joint Recon Team]
Crew: Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke
Session Statistics: Emirates Team New Zealand - LEQ12 - Day 52 - December 20, 2023 - Auckland
- Weather: Sunshine 23° C
- Wind Strength: 9-15kts
- Wind Direction: NNE
- Sea State: 0.2mtr
- Crane In: 1050hrs Dock Out: 1200hrs
- Dock In: 1535hrs Crane out: 1605hrs
- Total Tacks: 54 - Fully foiling: 53; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 34 - Fully foiling: 24; Touch & Go: 0; 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.