40 KNOTS + FOR THE BULL
After a few days off, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team came back out of their temporary shed at the Barcelona Nautic Center today with Dean Barker jetting in to start putting the pedal to the floor as the light-weather that has dogged the Mediterranean for a week finally broke, producing winds in the upper bracket of safe sailing.
What Dean Barker adds to this young Swiss team is a real mettle and gradually he’s eking the performance out of the team as they push harder and gain confidence step-by-step. Today BoatZero was on rails at times, hitting speeds “into the 40’s” according to Nils Theuninck the port jib trimmer, on some dramatic bear-aways and executing some fine foil-to-foil manoeuvres that will have sent the building confidence around the Swiss, sky-high.
Clearly the relationship between designated Skipper, Arnaud Psarofaghis, and Barker is proving to be a positive one with Arnaud leaning on the experience of the Kiwi to extract ever-better helming performance and it’s clear that the new boomless configuration is offering a balance and control above what the team has experienced to date.
Nils Theunink confirmed what the recon teams saw on the water saying: “The boat feels lighter and more controllable and the mainsail looks so much better.” Clearly a big tick to the Alinghi Red Bull Racing engineers and sail designers who have been slaving over the design and build for months, since almost the start of the programme. And the connection between deck and sail, as well as the whole clew box aerodynamic are looking slicker and slicker. If this truly is to be an area of design development, then Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s sail team are making big steps forward. Interesting to watch how this area is refined and developed over the coming months.
As the breeze built through the day and the hazy cloud cover shrouded Barcelona, as forecast, BoatZero was put to its max with some fast runs out along the Barcelona waterfront. Finding stability in the puffy conditions was tough at times with the flight controllers working hard to keep the boat level and low-riding fast but it was an encouraging performance ahead of a big rise and splash-down to conclude the session – heart in mouth time for the boys but all safe and well!
It's a considered approach that the Swiss are employing and with the forecast suggesting that stronger winds are in to stay for a while along the southern Mediterranean coastline, there could be some big days ahead for Alinghi Red Bull Racing on the water with the next scheduled sailing day being Saturday.
It’s going to be fascinating to watch. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: The team spent the first half of the session adjusting the main and changing jibs as the wind increased. (Much time was spent setting up the Mainsail on the new mainsheet system). They settled with the J4 and committed a 40-minute stint, practicing a few bear-aways and foiling manoeuvres, completing their best foiling tack yet. The team changed for the J5 when the wind increased to 17+ knots, however called an end to the session after a short upwind stint. The wind increase came as forecast and will continue tomorrow. With a fairly flat sea state and building breeze, Alinghi sailed approximately 30 Nautical Miles, reaching speeds upwards of 40 knots. The team aim to resume sailing on Saturday 5 November.
Wind speeds were measured with an anemometer 3m above sea level. The wind increased throughout the day, coming from Southwest with a few wind shifts. 2.5 - 5.5kn 225° @ 10:50, 5 - 7kn 180° @ 12:10, 8.5 - 10kn 210° @ 12:30, 13kn 210° @ 13:00, 14-16kn 240° @ 13:50, 17+ knots 250° @ 14:10. Sailing 12:10 - 12:15 (Brief stint with J2), Sailing 12:35 - 12:45 (Brief stint with J3, before changing to J4), Sailing 13:10 - 13:50 (3 Foiling Gybes - Touch Downs, 2 Foiling Gybes - Touch and Go, 1 Fully Foiling Tack, 1 Foiling Tack - Touch Down), Sailing 14:10 - 14:20 (Brief stint with J5). Sails down at 14:40 and tow back to base in displacement mode.
Sails:
Mainsail (M2-2L): Hoisted @ 10:50, Dropped @ 14:40
Jibs:
J2-1L: Hoisted @ 12:00, Dropped @ 12:20
J3-1R: Hoisted @ 12:30, Dropped @ 12:40
J4-1R: Hoisted @ 13:05, Dropped @ 14:00
J5-1R: Hoisted @ 14:10, Dropped @ 14:25
Total Tacks: 2 (1 foil-to-foil)
Total Gybes: 5 (0 foil-to foil, 2 touch & go)
Dock-out: 10.30am Dock-In: 15.00pm
Wind Strength: 5 knots (AM) 17 knots (PM) – 21 degrees, mostly cloudy. South-westerly.
Sea State: 1