RAKED & FLYING
Recon is going global with the sailing programme of New York Yacht Club American Magic beginning in the beautiful waters of Pensacola, Alinghi Red Bull Racing in Barcelona and Emirates Team New Zealand continuing their one design commissioning of the AC40 down in New Zealand. Later in the week we will see Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli launch their new test boat, so it’s a big week in this America’s Cup cycle.
Down in New Zealand, the Kiwi team was ripping around Rangitoto Island at speeds touching “high 30’s” according to helmsman Andy Maloney as the team opted for what looked like maximum rake on the mast as they tested out both the settings on the AC40 and different ‘modes’ – sailing higher to the wind and exploring VMG gybing angles downwind. It’s a lengthy process to commission a totally new class of boat and the team put in another solid three-hour session, starting on the J2 jib before switching up to the big J1 and then as the breeze came in, reduced the drag and went for the J3 to hit the highest speeds of the day.
Over in Pensacola, there remains much anticipation to see Patriot, the popular AC75 of the American Magic syndicate that suffered such a dramatic capsize and near sinking in the Prada Cup Round Robin against Luna Rossa on the 17th January 2021, sail once again. That doesn't look far off, as she hit the water for a successful tow test today after rolling out fo the shed for a mast step the day before.
Over in Barcelona, Alinghi Red Bull Racing ventured out onto the water today to test their slightly smaller, flat-cut M2-2L mainsail in a breezy 20 knots where foiling in the tricky sea state looked like a challenge.
And the countdown has officially begun for the launch of Luna Rossa Prad Pirelli’s LEQ12 – the test boat that the Italians will use as trial horse for their design team ahead of confirming their AC75 for Barcelona AC37.
For those wondering what ‘LEQ12’ means, Dan Bernasconi of Emirates Team New Zealand explains: “LEQ12 means any yacht used for development or training that is Less than or EQual to 12m LOA. It is defined in Rule 11.92 of the Technical Regulations. Admittedly it’s not a catchy name… we thought quite hard about a better term – considering things like ‘Prototype yacht’, but that didn’t really work as an old AC75 could also be considered a prototype. We wanted something short, and in the end, we couldn’t think of anything better than LEQ12. It’s a bit of a nerdy name: LEQ is used in some programming languages to mean less than or equal.”
Watch this space, it’s all happening this week. (Magnus Wheatley)