UNLOCKING THE AC40 SECRETS
The relentless Alinghi Red Bull Racing programme continued at pace today with the team launching their repaired AC40 after the last session’s nosedive and near capsize, early in the morning to a Saharan sky. The sailors were at the base early for a dock out at 8.45am to catch the flat water and consistent breeze ahead of stronger breeze forecast for the area in the afternoon.
The ’commitment to the commitment’ is intense at Alinghi Red Bull Racing. The team simply don’t stop and their quest for the America’s Cup is more than real. Teams around the world will be noting this intensity and what they can’t ignore is the focus. The Swiss are on this, they’re well-settled in Barcelona and they’re doing everything they can to put themselves in the best shape come September 2024 when the Challenger Selection Series starts. It’s impressive all-round, the organisation, the dedication, the spirit.
Led from the front by Arnaud Psarofaghis, today the AC40 looked mighty. Upwind the windward heel technique was exaggerated, giving the boat oodles of power whilst downwind flight was high but stable. Foil time is looking increasingly assured, and the sail trim was first class – highly co-ordinated and accurate. The team worked hard on the key transition of the board drop and into the turn on the tacks and this looked better and better as the session went on, whilst downwind the flight controllers were resolutely on the knife edge of high flight.
Big concentration is being paid to the leeward skin of the mainsail upwind and the comms between the trimmers is where the Swiss are really making key strides. They look to be unlocking the secrets of the AC40 in double-quick time – no real surprise looking at the quality of the Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailors - but impressive all the same.
Bryan Mettraux is a key lieutenant of Psarofaghis who features prominently in the crew-lists on a daily basis of both the AC75 and AC40. The sailors, shore team and designers have forged deep trust in Mettraux who first trialled for the Swiss team at the age of 14 and is a key link between the sailors and the technical data analysts. Talking afterwards, he gave a unique insight into how the trimmers are working together saying: “On the AC40 it's quite useful because the leeward trimmer is pretty free so we can have a good talk together to speak about the shape of the leeward mainsail and it's pretty much the same on the AC75 so for sure we are looking at data but it's also about communication on board.”
That communication was key today as the team put in one of the most impressive stints seen anywhere in the America’s Cup with a blistering foiling run that lasted just over an hour and saw the sailors throw in no less than 20 manoeuvres. A cunningham issue curtailed the session short and it was a rare frustration on a day where the team again showed their class on the water.
The issue elicited over an hour’s repair work and tinkering to sort out in order to get the mainsail down but with the wind increasing, it was perhaps a fortuitous portent and as Bryan commented: “We had really nice sailing at the beginning and then an issue with the cunningham so it was pretty difficult to drop the sail down and then we couldn’t sail the boat anymore… it was good to use the lighter breeze in the morning and also to have a flatter sea state and you can see how it's blowing pretty hard now so it was the perfect timing.”
On reflection, Mettraux summed it up beautifully saying: “the boat is getting better and better,” but the Cup world knows that it’s the whole team at Alinghi Red Bull Racing that’s getting better and better on a daily basis. Relentless improvement and with a smile on their faces.
This is a campaign to watch. Everyone is. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40 at 06:45, their earliest start yet, with the intention to sail before the forecasted strong southwest wind in the afternoon. The shore crew ran through standard procedures at the dock before hoisting the M1 main and J2 jib in the port. The yacht was towed out of the port and released just outside the entrance to commence sailing immediately.
The team warmed up with two short stints, one downwind and one upwind, with a five-minute break to adjust the mainsail clew. The team then sailed a long downwind/upwind stretch, performing 20 foiling manoeuvres in just under an hour, touching the water more often close to the land where there was slightly less wind.
The team struggled to bring down the mainsail due to issues with the cunningham. By 12:30 the yacht was back in the port and an end to the day was called. A total of 35 nautical miles were covered over almost 4 hours on the water.
Onboard AC40-4 Today
Helms: Arnaud Psarofaghis / Maxime Bachelin
Crew: Bryan Mettraux / Nicolas Rolaz
Conditions: Garbi - thermal wind - 10-12kn SW @ 09:15 , 12-15kn SW @ 09:55 , 15-17kn SW @ 11:00. AM:13°c, Intermittent Clouds. PM: 15°c, Intermittent clouds.
Sails Used:
M1 (M1-1OD): 3 hours 5 minutes
J2 (J2-1OD): 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Tacks: 18 – 10 foil-to-foil, 4 touch & go, 4 touchdowns.
Total Gybes: 7 – 4 foil-to-foil, 3 touch & go.
Recon Notes:
09:20 – 09:25 Sailing (1 Gybe - Fully Foiling, 1 Gybe - Touch & Go)
09:30 – 09:45 Sailing (2 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 1 Tack - Touch & Go)
09:50 – 10:45 Sailing (8 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 3 Tacks - Touch & Go, 4 Tacks – Touch Down, 3 Gybes - Fully Foiling, 2 Gybes - Touch & Go)
Take off Speed: 16 knots at 90 degrees TWA (True Wind Angle)
Dock-Out: 0845 Dock-In: 1235