BETTER & BETTER IN BARCELONA
Take an AC40 out into 20 knots of breeze and you can be absolutely certain of an interesting afternoon. And Alinghi Red Bull Racing certainly had a very interesting one off the waterfront in Barcelona as the sailors rotated in to give everyone maximum time on the water and the clear brief to live well outside of their comfort zone was more than evident.
Finding the limits in the AC40 are what all the teams are now pushing for, and the Swiss could be seen playing with ride heights and cant sweeps to extract the maximum data from these sensor-heavy boats. Everything is measured, monitored, relayed and captured for the team of analysts to examine as they now try to find that crucial nth degree that will mark the winners of the 37th America’s Cup.
For the sailors, they knew this was going to be a big session and so it proved. On the actual America’s Cup racecourse, close into the beach, the trimmers were working double-shifts to keep stability as some vicious gusts filtered across from the downtown area. The team looked to be concentrating on cant angles and found some superb modes low in flight with windward heel upwind that gave the AC40 every ounce of power and looked in ultimate control. A few hairy high rides downwind kept everyone honest and alert to the fact that these boats bite if your inputs are slightly off, but the overall sense from the team was of a job very well done by all.
Of note was the bow-up technique in big breeze that appears to be comfortable despite looking odd for a sailboat, and all day the Swiss team’s tacks and gybes were neat and co-ordinated with very few exceptions. With the wind building even further in the afternoon, and following a crew swap, Alinghi Red Bull Racing headed offshore finding more stable breeze and again completed long runs to extract the data and get comfortable with the boat’s different modes. The recon unit clocked an estimated 60 nautical miles covered today and that’s a healthy dose of sailing and one that the shore team’s analysts will be more than happy with.
In interview after sailing, Andrea Emone, herself a very accomplished grand prix racer and iQFOiL sailor with ambitions towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, gave a fascinating insight into the world of Technical Data Analysis. Talking about the sensors onboard the team’s AC40 and the AC75 she offered: “Sensors are not only for performance but plenty of other things depend on sensors so I couldn't tell you an exact number but what I can tell you is that it’s a lot, much more than you can imagine…and one sensor can create more than one variable and so imagine how big is the matrix of the numbers that each boat of this type is generating so we have to do a very good selection of what we want to see each day before going to the water that's for sure.”
Bouncing around at 30 to 40 knots chasing after the boats whilst buried in the data is not for the feint-hearted but Andrea is clear on her role and the output of the numbers, saying: “The basics of data is what you can have is a trend, is an average at the end (of the session). The sailor is seeing the instant and that's I think where data gives us a plus, but we don’t have the feeling and they do so at the end it's the common (trend) that makes the message.”
From today’s session, the team will have a ton of data to pore over. Progress is being made at a fast pace now for Alinghi Red Bull Racing and the clear buzz around the team is infectious from the sailors to the shore team to the management. The coming weeks are crucial to the programme ahead of signing off the design of their one-build AC75 and beginning the build process at the dedicated facility in Ecublens just outside Lausanne. And the sailors and shore team are doing everything to give the design office the very best data to work with from both the AC40 and AC75 programmes.
It’s highly professional and for certain, they’re making the America’s Cup world sit up and take notice. Alinghi Red Bull Racing just look better and better. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40 at 10:00, a delayed start due to strong west wind. The yacht was craned in, and systems prepared at the dock. The yacht was towed out and sails were raised at sea by 13:10, just as the wind strength decreased from earlier. The wind increased as the sailing day progressed, with conditions close to the shore flatter, but stronger gusts and bigger shifts. The wind was more stable further out to sea, but a short chop grew, clashing with the slight residual southwest swell of the previous day. Due to issues incurred on the recon vessel from the previous day, a smaller replacement RIB was supplied.
The team sailed two long stints, swapping crews between stints. Though marks were positioned just off the Forum, they were not used. A total of 16 tacks and gybes were performed in the first stint while the wind remained below 15 knots.
The wind increased significantly over the second stint, gusting over 20 knots. This is the first time in a while that the team has sailed in such conditions. The yacht was on a knife edge as they sailed closer to shore, with gusts and shifts requiring meticulous input. The sailors were able to keep the yacht from capsizing, despite a few close calls. A leeward crew member was seen moving about the deck to balance the boat as they navigated through patchy areas.
The replacement recon vessel was not able to keep up through the whole second stint as the team sailed offshore in larger swell. As a result, the AC40 was not clearly observed in the time between 14:35 and 15:00.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing returned back to base by 16:45, after four and a half hours on the water, covering more than 60 Nautical Miles.
Onboard Today
Driving Group: Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Charbonnier / Maxime Bachelin / Dean Barker / Pietro Sibellow / Lucien Cujean
Flight Control: Yves Detrey / Nicolas Rolas
Recon Notes: Crew changes were made at 14:40 but it is not clear who changed and into which position.
Conditions: Offshore wind - 8-10kn W @ 13:00 , 12-15kn W @ 14:50 , 15-20+kn W @ 15:30. Weather AM: 14°c, Sunny. Weather PM: 15°c, Sunny.
Sails Used:
M1 (M1-1): 3 hours 40 minutes
J3 (J3-1): 3 hours 10 minutes
Total Tacks: 14 – 6 foil-to-foil, 4 touch & go, 4 touchdowns.
Total Gybes: 11 – 7 foil-to-foil, 4 touch & go.
Recon Notes: 13:15 – 14:35 Sailing (4 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 2 Tacks - Touch & Go, 3 Tacks – Touch Down, 5 Gybes - Fully Foiling, 2 Gybes - Touch & Go)
14:55 – 16:10 Sailing (4 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 2 Tacks - Touch & Go, 1 Tacks – Touch Down, 2 Gybes - Fully Foiling, 2 Gybes - Touch & Go) This does not include all manoeuvres from the stint as we were not able to keep up and observe every tack/gybe clearly.
Dock-Out: 1240 Dock-In: 1645