MISTY MYSTICAL BULL
If there were any doubts as to the levels of confidence building into the Alinghi Red Bull Racing programme, they were thoroughly dispelled on a devastating Monday session that saw Dean Barker return in his role as Sailing Team Advisor monitoring and gauging the significant improvements that have been made in recent weeks. The Swiss have leap-frogged forward both in terms of technical additions and sailing style. They are a compelling outfit to watch, and the programme is relentless in its intensity.
On Monday Alinghi Red Bull Racing looked the real deal. Sailing just off the Barcelona waterfront on the area designated for the 37th America’s Cup, they had the hammer down and the Bull’s tail was firmly up. However, Barcelona was throwing a curve-ball with a thick mist that rolled in offshore soon after the team started sailing and in the interests of safety, the call was made to sail in displacement back to the shoreline where the fog wasn’t forming. Seeing BoatZero emerge from the mist was a sight – something mystical there. Awesome.
And BoatZero itself looks like a new boat and it’s very clear that reducing crew numbers to eight is having a huge effect on flight and the maintenance of foil time. Everything looks calm and controlled, the sailors look very much in command of their charge and the foiling techniques honed in the AC40 are creeping in at pace – windward heel upwind, high flight downwind and crisp tacks and gybes with exits through the transitions at pace. Everything is coming together with the cyclors looking highly effective – although almost hidden on the centreline – and the designated flight controller pods forward of the helmsmen allow for improved communication that translates into fast improving co-ordination. Brilliant upgrade.
One person in the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team that is always worth talking to is Adolfo Carrau, the design co-ordinator who spends so much time on the water bridging Marcelino Botin’s design office with the sailor feedback. The big integration is clearly the custom cyclor system that the Swiss have installed and Adolfo gave an interesting perspective saying: “Well the cyclors have been on the boat for a couple of days now and a big part of the day was getting the guys comfortable with the new systems and to learn how to choose the systems and to know what they are expected to do in the manoeuvres and straight lines…the system is our own custom system which we cannot tell much about…we have Théry Schir, he's a professional cyclist, and the thing is what we're doing on this boat is very different to what they (pro-cyclists) do as sometimes we need bursts of output during the manoeuvres and then in a straight line you are feeling the accumulator so it's a bit different and that's what they need to get used to in the next few months.”
Observers have been impressed with the near vertical learning curve that the Swiss have been on and the improvement in sailing technique and the confidence building is almost tangible, it’s certainly very evident. Adolfo sees it slightly different saying: “It's noticeable that it's a ‘slow ramp’ but the guys are improving day by day and at the same time we are rotating crew in most positions so I think that's one of the goals for the team is to get all the all the crew at similar levels so we can choose the best group when the right time comes.”
And talking about the huge time on the water that the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team have put in, it’s clearly a sailing challenge that the whole team is taking head-on. “It's very important (that we sail the most) because we are we are the new team with new sailors so they need a lot of time and we feel there is still a lot of catching up to do to get to the to the level of the other teams.”
On this performance and with other teams struggling to get consistent time-on-the-water, Alinghi Red Bull Racing look very much at the races and very much in the running for this America’s Cup.
Compelling to watch, the team are back out on Tuesday with the AC40.
The Bull never stops. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 08:30, stepped the mast and craned in. The M1 main was raised in the port, the J2 jib just outside the entrance. Sailing commenced at 11:20, with a downwind stint close to the shore where the wind was best.
By midday, the wind filled in and the J2 jib was exchanged for the J4. As the third sailing stint commenced at 13:10, the cowling on the recon vessel broke off the outboard. The recon unit slowly returned to the Alinghi Red Bull Racing base on one engine, moved onto a smaller support boat and headed back out by 14:10. It is not known what the team did during the hour that the recon unit was not observing.
By the time the recon unit reached the sailing area, a thick fog set on the sea outside Barcelona, with a visibility at times limited to 100m. At first, it was not possible to locate the team. At 14:20, the AC75 emerged from the fog, sailing upwind. The replaced recon vessel was not able to keep up, as the team disappeared back into the fog and their location was lost again for 15 minutes. The team re-emerged from the fog, sailing in displacement mode back towards the coast, where the fog had lifted. Sailing in such conditions unsafe.
A downwind stint was sailed, with one foiling gybe performed, before the jib was dropped and replaced with the J5. ARBR sailed their final stint upwind, put in two tacks and called it a day.
Once craned out, it was observed that the foil arm inspection hatch was removed for cleaning. ARBR spent almost six hours on the water, covering well over 50 Nautical Miles.
Onboard Today
Driving Group: Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Charbonnier
Flight Control: Bryan Mettraux / Yves Detrey
Power Group: Barnabé Delarze / Théry Schir/ Florian Trüb / Nicolas Rolaz
Conditions:
Garbi - Thermal breeze - 9-11kn S @ 11:45 , 12-15kn SSW @ 13:00 , 13-16kn @ 14:50. Weather AM: 14°c, Mostly cloudy. Weather PM: 14°c, Intermittent clouds.
Sails Used:
M1 (M1-1R): 5 hours 10 minutes
J2 (J2-2L): 1 hour 45 minutes
J4 (J4-1R): 1 hour 55 minutes
J5 (J5-1R): 35 minutes
Total Tacks: 11 – 4 foil-to-foil, 6 touch & go, 1 touchdown.
Total Gybes: 6 – 3 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 1 touchdown.
Recon Notes: 11:20 – 11:45 Sailing (2 Gybes - Fully Foiling, 1 Gybe - Touch & Go, 1 Gybe - Touch Down)
12:00 – 12:40 Sailing (3 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 5 Tacks - Touch & Go, 1 Tack – Touch Down, 1 Gybe - Fully Foiling, 1 Gybe - Touch & Go)
13:10 – 14:45 Sailing (The manoeuvres during this period is unknown as the recon unit returned to base to change ribs)
15:30 – 15:40 Sailing (1 Tack – Full Foiling, 1 Tack – Touch & Go)
Dock-Out: 1030 Dock-In: 1615