CRUSHING IT IN PENSACOLA
Looking highly impressive, stable and controlled, the New York Yacht Club American Magic Team once again caught the early morning breeze out in Pensacola, docking out at 8.28am sharp after a crane in before 7am. The team are bracing themselves for the incoming, late season tropical storm, Nicole, that the National Hurricane Centre are predicting could escalate to a category 1 hurricane as it hits landfall
Important therefore for the Magic crew to capitalise on every available opportunity and whilst the breeze held at around 8-10 knots through to lunchtime, the team put in a thoroughly professional performance as they went through what Dan Morris, Sail Trimmer on Patriot, described as a: “long list of things to figure out” in regards systems and controls upgrades. “It’s all related to how the boat works and how we make the boat work, power going in, how we use that power and how that translates into speed.”
Once foiling, Patriot looked immensely powerful with the afterguard showing very smooth helming – none of the big scallops through the gusts – and the power generation from the cycling systems onboard is clearly working well. American Magic have teamed up with SRAM, one of the world’s leading technical bike suppliers of drivetrains and gearing and it’s proving to be a profitable partnership that promises much in the marine environment of the America’s Cup. And as the team went through an impressive 20 tacks with the majority being foiling or touchdown and go, it was a good day for the sailing team as Dan Morris explained: “We had another one of those classic early morning starts in Pensacola with proper solid morning breeze that pretty quickly faded by lunchtime. But what’s great is that you learn so much when you have these same conditions day in and day out…It’s more about we learn in these days so we can crush it later.”
As with all teams operating the boomless system, a lot of attention was being paid by several crewmembers to the clew area throughout the session. Although not new technology in the America’s Cup, clearly this is the area of the most concern in order to replicate settings accurately and ensure the leech tension can be adjusted as the breeze and puffs come through. Expect more development in this area as the sail designers and technical teams are pushed to deliver more control in this crucial area to enhance both the power of the mainsail when required and de-power accordingly through the wind ranges.
Patriot will be looking to step up through the wind ranges in coming sessions and as Dan Morris confirmed, the rig is the big area of development: “We don’t have runners (running backstays) anymore so that puts the rig under a lot more load, so we just need to address the rig and rigging. Once that’s all dialled in, we can then push up the wind ranges that we sail in.”
It's happening in Pensacola. The team are looking very strong. Watch this space. Magic is in the air. (Magnus Wheatley)
On water Recon Unit Notes: Patriot sailed approximately 31nm comprised of approximately 14 up/downwind legs. The breeze, for the first hour in the morning was 8-10k. Patriot completed the majority of sailing distance and manoeuvres during this time. Patriot appeared less stable, launching out of the water on a tow up attempt, and then crashing down three different times. The rest of the day consisted of frequent touch downs/tow ups as the breeze decreased to around 5k. The team appeared determined to battle the dying breeze but then calling the end of sailing at around 12:30. The next few sailing days are likely in question due to impacts from hurricane Nicole. Dan Morris noted concerns about the mast with regard to heavy air sailing in the interview.
Patriot was towed to the south end of bay to have an upwind start. Approximately 6 up/downwind legs were completed before the breeze died. Subsequent efforts resulted in frequent touch downs/tow ups. By the end of the day Patriot was reaching for short distances then making attempts to complete foiling tacks.
Patriot's initial take off was self at 9:10, 4 more self-take offs were observed. 12 towed take offs as the breeze lightened.
Total tacks: 20 – 9 foil-to-foil, 4 touch and go, 7 touchdowns
Total Gybes: 5 – all touchdowns
Take off speed: 21 knots at 90 degrees TWA (True Wind Angle)
Sails Used:
M1 (AM-MN9) – 4 hours 16 minutes
J1 (J1-6) – 2 hours 10 minutes
J4 (J1-5-2) – 1 hour 15 minutes
Conditions: Sunny, 70 degrees Fahrenheit
Wind at 8-10 knots (AM) dropping to 6-8 knots (PM)