EKING OUT THE RIDE
They paused all morning for the dense, patchy fog to clear in Pensacola Bay, but for the New York Yacht Club American Magic Team it was well worth the wait. A late dock-out at 2.40pm almost called for navigation lights but the mark of this team is to eke maximum time on the water, and it was a thoroughly entertaining and worthwhile late afternoon blast with the team making the absolute most of the 6-knot breeze.
Tow-ups were the call and despite the wind wand being snapped off (these are the most throw-away items on AC75s at the moment), a highly respectable flight time of almost an hour ensued with Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison gaining valuable time-on-the-water in the lower wind range. Mainsheet trim and traveller adjustments were aggressive, meaning the cyclors were at the max, as the huge mainsail was fanned to promote flight – particularly straight after the tacks and gybes – almost like the team were sailing a foiling dinghy. Those ‘fans’ were precise and co-ordinated whilst Dan Morris, the jib trimmer could be seen crossing the boat to trim the J1 jib from the windward side – clearly the main/jib co-ordination is something the Americans have focussed on and they looked good all afternoon.
Dan Morris confirmed the new windward trim position after sailing, saying: “It's a feature right now as we continue develop the boat, so at the moment we have with the option to trim the sail from the windward side all the time which is pretty nice - that's what I’m used to, and we just have to see how we’re able to develop from that point.” And in regards the programme, Morris also confirmed the no-stone-unturned approach with this full-on working challenge at the moment: “we’re working on the boat, the sails, working on the systems – we’re just going through everything right now and every department is super busy just trying to implement the changes that we that we see throughout the day sailing.”
These are valuable days for the team, testing at full-scale on their AC75 from Auckland and it's a relentless programme for everyone at American Magic but the buzz around the camp is palpable. Today’s stats were solid with 12 tacks and 9 at full foil-to-foil – a 75% success rate and 11 gybes with 8 fully foil-to-foil – an equally impressive 72% success rate especially considering the conditions. With two ex-International Moth World Champions and respective Olympic gold medallists on the controls, it’s no wonder that American Magic are concentrating on sailing style and it’s impressive to watch. The recon team noted that the longest flying time today was 29 minutes and also observed a crash-landing right at the end of the session that may have caused jib luff damage but was not observed.
American Magic are leading the way on the water in this America’s Cup cycle and are becoming more compelling day by day. The relentless programme continues into Friday.
On Water Recon-Unit Notes: Patriot sailed approximately 35nm, comprised of 4 W/L and reaching legs. The team waited for the fog to lift and for the sea breeze to fill in before leaving the dock at 1440. It was all tow ups today, no self-foils. Dan Morris was observed changing sides during manoeuvres. Patriot sailed for 1 1/2 hours and completed 23 manoeuvres. The longest flying time was 29min. The wind instrument attached to the bowsprit was knocked off by the tow rope during an attempted tow up when Patriot came off foil and crashed. Damage to the luff of the jib is possible but was not observed. Boat speeds were approximately 26k upwind/ 32k downwind according to the onboard GPS. (Magnus Wheatley)
Patriot was on foil a combined total of approximately 57 min. Flight times ranged from 3 minutes to 29 minutes. Two headsails were loaded into the support rib today.
Total Tacks: 12 – 9 foil-to-foil, 1 touch & go, 2 touchdowns
Total Gybes: 11 – 8 foil-to-foil, 3 touchdowns
Take off speed: 17 knots at 80 degrees TWA (True Wind Angle)
Onboard Today:
Helms: Tom Slingsby / Paul Goodison
Trimmer: Dan Morris
Flight Control: Andrew Campbell
Power Group: Colton Hall / Trevor Burd / Lucas Calabrese
Conditions: (PM) 6 knots – Sunny 79 degrees
Sails Used:
M1 (AM-MN8): 1 hour 55 minutes
J1 (J1-6): 1 hours 33 minutes