DRAMA IN BARCELONA FOR THE SWISS

A number of near capsizes and one full capsize that saw crew-members in the water as they tried to attach the tow-line were the headliners but more importantly, the technique of sailing in big waves and 20 knots of breeze was tested to the max. The key is all in slowing the boat down off the wind to stop the bow digging into the waves and using boat boards to keep speed under check.

Bryan Mettraux, trimming from the port side on the team’s now LEQ12 AC40, breaks down the day for us and talks through the various pitch and ride height that the team were trying to achieve as well as new sail trim downwind with a deeper mainsail setting. Bryan describes the day as “difficult at the end but we have to learn how to sail the boat in these conditions” so for sure, he saw value in what was a tricky day of testing on the new Tubercle foil.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are scheduled to sail for the rest of this week.

On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-4 at 09:00, ahead of forecast rain followed by an organised photoshoot. After standard pre-sailing checks,

the team docked out at 13:30, with members of the foil design team, Michel Kermarec and Nico Bailey, on Chase Alpha. The conditions for the day started calm, with a forecasted increase towards 20 knots of East wind. With the wind came an extreme chop/swell, ranging from 1m - 1.5m in height and 4-6s in period.

The M1-1 OD was hoisted in port and the yacht was towed out through the shipping lane, 5NM South East, out of the wind hole close to the city where Cumulonimbus clouds started to form above. With intent of testing, sailing commenced at 14:15, as a very short stint on port was sailed before changing to the J3-1 OD. A 5-minute reference was taken on port upwind before tacking to starboard and sailing on the new ‘tubercle’ foil for 10 minutes. A bear away and eight gybes followed, as the yacht then rounded up and tacked to sail back out to sea on port.

At this point the wind and sea state increased significantly, with gusts of 20 knots. It became increasingly difficult for all boats chasing to keep up with the yacht faring better off upwind. They then bore away to sail downwind impressively in the large swell, definitely on the limit. They encountered trouble after a gybe but managed to keep the head of the mainsail out of the water, and successfully managed to carry on sailing. After a second close call, they continued to sail with two boards down before losing it on starboard tack towards home. The yacht was completely on its side and two sailors, Nico Charbonnier and Bryan Mettraux,

ended up in the water while attempting to safely set up the towline. The yacht was righted, and sails were dropped before towing back to base.

The team spent three and a half hours on the water, covering 45NM and completing 12 manoeuvres (75% Fully Foiling).

Dock-Out: 1330 Dock-In: 1705

Conditions: 'Llevant' - East Wind - 6-8kn E @ 14:10, 9-12kn E @ 14:25, 14-17kn E @ 16:10 - Sailors quoted seeing 19-20kn maximum wind speed.

Weather AM: 18℃, Mostly Cloudy + Light Rain

Weather PM: 17℃, Sunny

Sea State AM: Beaufort 2

Sea State PM: Beaufort 3-5 - 1-1.5m 4-6s E Swell

Onboard Today:

Driving Group: Maxime Bachelin / Nicolas Charbonnier

Flight Control: Bryan Mettraux / Lucien Cujean / Yves Detrey

Power Group: Arthur Cevey / Augustin Maillefer / Barnabé Delarze / Théry Schir

Recon Crew Notes: Starboard: Maxime B + Yves D, Port: Nico C + Bryan M

Sails Used:

Mainsail M1 (M1-1 OD): 2 hours 45 minutes.

Jib (J1-1 LE): 15 minutes.

Jib (J3-1 OD): 1 hour 45 minutes.

Total Tacks: 2 – 2 foil-to-foil, 0 touch & go, 0 touchdowns.

Total Gybes: 10 – 7 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 1 touchdown.

Take-Off speed: 18 knots @ 90° TWA (True Wind Angle)

Recon Notes:

14:15 – 14:20 Sailing upwind on port tack in different modes before changing to J3.

14:35 – 15:40 Sailing (2 Tacks - Fully Foiling, 7 Gybes - Fully Foiling, 2 Gybes - Touch & Go, 1 Gybe - Touch Down)

15:50 – 15:55 Sailing mostly with 2 boards down