DANCING IN PENSACOLA
Speak with wise-heads in and around the America’s Cup and many will point towards the sailing programme being executed out in Pensacola, Florida by the New York Yacht Club American Magic Team as the blueprint to winter training.
Great conditions, a pretty blank canvas to create artistry on, and one of the world’s great sailing playgrounds, is the backdrop - perfect to place some of the world’s finest foiling sailors for a full-on session. With Tom Slingsby back in the port driving pod and Paul Goodison flying from starboard, the team, who still profess to being in commissioning and training mode with a number of new hires dotted throughout the crew, were absolutely flying today. In total they pulled-off a stunning 34 gybes with 29 foil-to-foil – an 85% success rate – and 23 tacks with 20 foil-to-foil (almost 87% success rate) and that’s in to the ‘sit up and take notice’ realms and the longest to date of any challenger.
With one of the world’s best sailmakers, America’s Cup and Round the World legend Richard Bouzaid on the coach boat today, it’s a very big indicator of where the Americans think the big gains will be found in this cycle. But for now, it’s all about getting those vital hours on the water for the sailing team who looked mightily impressive, harnessing enormous power and sending Patriot at speeds of up to 43 knots.
With Slingsby back onboard, there’s an added sense of edge to the sailing team and over some 83 nautical miles, yes you read that correctly, and a building breeze in the afternoon, the Magic team were really putting the pedal to the floor. Terry Hutchinson, skipper and President of Sailing Operations was delighted with the day saying: “Obviously we were sailing the boat up-range and it was good to see Tom and Goody (Paul Goodison) interacting in that regard as the last time we sailed the boat in these conditions it was quite a handful.”
Terry is leading the team and keeping them grounded. He knows that it’s a long haul to the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, so when asked about the team’s perceived top-billing amongst the challengers, he delivered the line of: “Been there, done that, talk to me in October 2024.”
But commentators and spectators are right to look at what’s happening over in Pensacola. The American Magic Team look better and better with every passing session and their concentration on getting maximum time on the water is paying dividends. The cyclor system appears to be working extremely well with the boat flying on manual power all day and the athletes in the power group were rotated throughout the session. A total of three jibs were used from J1 to J3 as the breeze increased into the afternoon as the team de-powered and one interesting statistic taken by the on-water recon team was that today’s flight time, actually the time spent up on the foils, was a whopping 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Impressive by any measure. Watch American Magic, they are coming fast. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Patriot sailed approximately 83nm (the longest to date) comprised of 15 W/L legs. The breeze shifted early and filled in throughout the day, resulting in using 3 different headsails, eventually using the J3 till the end of the day. Patriot was on foil for a combined total of 2 Hrs 40Min (longest to date) and completed 34 gybes (most to date), noting only a small number of minor touch downs and one rather hard splash down. Boat speeds were up a little today Upwind approximately 34k and downwind 43k (using the GPS aboard the RIB). Richard Bouzaid was noted as being on a coach boat. Power requirements were met by the cyclists according to the interview (with Terry Hutchinson).
Patriot was on foil a total of 2Hrs 40Min, the longest in a session to date. The longer foiling times were: 18, 29, 10, 11, 19, 24, and 28 minutes for the last sail of the day. Six headsails were loaded into the support rib for today.
Windspeed was measured using a handheld anemometer approximately 8 feet above sea level. 0932 7k N/ 1000 11-12k SE/ 1146 12-14k E/ 1234 10-14 SE/ 1402 12-14 E/ 1438 18k E
Total Tacks: 23 – 20 foil-to-foil; 3 touch & go
Total Gybes: 34 – 29 foil-to-foil; 3 touch & go, 2 touchdowns
Take-off speed: 17 knots at 80- degrees TWA (True Wind Angle)
Dock-out: 8am Dock-In: 2.46pm
Conditions: 7 knots (AM) rising to 18 knots (PM); 72 degrees, mostly cloudy
Helms: Paul Goodison/Tom Slingsby
Trimmer: Riley Gibbs
Flight Control: Andrew Campbell
Power Group: Colton Hall / John Croom/ Dan Morris / Lucas Calabrese / Terry Hutchinson were observed in various positions