REFITTED T6 ROLLS OUT

Today though was a day for the British shore team to really earn their keep as the tight-knit team went through the highly necessary and very detailed measurement protocols that are rooted in pure science. T6 had the technicians onboard with plenty of laptops whilst theodolites and plumb-bobs were dropped, rams were jacked, measurements were taken to the nth degree and perfection was sought. It was eleven hours. This is a seriously scientific campaign that INEOS Britannia are mounting.

But the talking point was undoubtedly the short starboard foil arm housing highly angular, inverted gull-wing foils that seek to reach deep into the imaginary box and are such a completely different concept to the wide-span, gradual anhedral designs that we’ve seen from the likes of American Magic, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, that they are remarkable in themselves. What’s being explored here on this ‘test’ boat is pure engineering at scale with one eye on the America’s Cup rulebook and another on the supercomputer analysis. In the current Cup cycle, this is akin to the wing-keel of Australia II for its difference.

The now customary INEOS Britannia ‘Pitot’ tubes for flow analysis protruded forward from an enlarged lower bulb whilst underneath the inner foil arms on both sides of the gull-wing foil were seen sculpted fins that appeared to kink at the mid-section, perhaps to aid better underside flow or promote stability. It will be fascinating to see how she flies.

The deepened and perhaps fattened bustle that carries well aft before stopping just short of the rudder is another tweak that will be interesting to see on the water. The new profile appears to be more pinched in the aft run-off, from greater volume in the aft third, than the old section the team were running before. Volume in the bustle is certainly something the teams will all be looking at closely in the final AC75 designs and INEOS Britannia’s designers are clearly on to this with the prototype.

But quite how T6 will perform on the water with the new foil and bustle is a question to be answered perhaps on Thursday this week as she was rolled back into the team’s base in Palma for final preparations tomorrow (Wednesday). What the team couldn’t hide today was the delight in seeing their LEQ12 back in action. Capsizes happen in this America’s Cup cycle – it’s very much part of the foiling game – but how you bounce back is key.

INEOS Britannia are bouncing hard. All credit to the shore team for a magnificent effort over the past six weeks. Sailing – we can’t wait.

Recon Team Notes: INEOS Britannia rolled their T6 LEQ12 test boat out of the shed today after a six-week repair/upgrade session following its capsize during its last outing on February 8.

Understandably after the capsize and the long layoff, the team spent the day ashore, stepping and calibrating the rig in the now familiar way: first levelling the boat on its cradle using hydraulic jacks, stepping the mast and connecting the standing rigging, calibrating and centring the mast using theodolites and laser sighting equipment.

This process took 11 hours – with the boat rolled out at 0900 and put back in the hangar at close to 2000.

Only two obvious modifications were apparent. Firstly, a new shorter starboard foil arm fitted with an inverted gull wing foil (each of the four planes of the wing has a fin/fence on the underside; and both starboard and port foils had pitot tubes protruding forwards from the larger than previous central bulb).

Secondly a new profile for the yacht's bustle, which appeared to be deeper and more rounded over the length of the boat and now tapers to a fine blade rather than the previous flat section. Fitted later in the day was a bracket attaching what is presumed to be a sensor on the inside plane of the new starboard foil.

According to the team, T6 is scheduled for another day in the boatshed tomorrow with sailing anticipated on Thursday.