LUNA ROSSA LEQ12 BACK IN ACTION
They may have been off the recon radar for a week doing pure AC40 training for the Youth & Women’s teams, but it has been all action down in Cagliari with the LEQ12 undergoing some significant upgrades - most notably some changes to the starboard wing and uprated control panels in the cockpits.
Coming back out onto the pure summer waters of Sardinia with the nailed-on sea breezes, the team barely looked like they had missed a beat and were keen to get into data gathering through their usual high-pressure bear-aways and rapid turn-up manoeuvres that they favour, before throwing in some marks and getting time-on-distance practice and short-course race coverage.
Speaking after what was a relatively short, late afternoon session due to some technical issues in harbour delaying dock-out, Michele Cannoni, the Boat Captain, gave a wide-ranging interview summing up the day, speaking about the AC40 training last week and talking through the dockside issues before a fascinating interpolation of the new wing when pressed as to whether it was a ‘copy’ of other teams’ long-span anhedral foils: “maybe all the teams are getting to something similar let's say…”
Solid afternoon for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the LEQ12.
INTERVIEW: MICHELE CANNONI, BOAT CAPTAIN, LUNA ROSSA PRADA PIRELLI
On Water Recon Unit Notes: After a week of sailing their AC40 before taking it apart ahead of shipping to Barcelona, the Italian LEQ12 rolled out at 11:00 and the yacht was craned in by 11:20 with dock-out scheduled for 12:30.
Some modifications were observed by the cockpit screens layout and the starboard wing looking slightly more anhedral with removed winglets on the inboard and outboard tips onto which the flap fully extends.
Dock-out was postponed twice and the usual protocol checks lasted slightly longer as below deck a speculative hydraulic issue occurred seeing very briefly what looked like an accumulator being passed into a hatch.
Once all clear the yacht was towed out of the harbour by 15:00 hosting 6 crewmembers including Max Sirena in the starboard joyride seat. The M1 mainsail was hoisted with an added window sewn into its foot and paired with the J2.
The sea-breeze had already filled in and the anemometer displayed 12-14kn SE with choppy sea state overlapped with the remnants of a SE swell of approximately .5m at 7s period. The LEQ12 was all set by 15:15 and the first of several self-take-offs was recorded after which the windward flight trimmer was observed checking and adjusting the main luff while standing on deck.
In the following foiling stints, the LEQ12 seemed to follow a path sailing mostly straight-line: take off on portside tack, tacking onto starboard tack before bearing away and heading downwind, gybing and trimming back up. In addition to some two-boards time heading downwind, the team seemed to be testing several foiling modes. Considering the overlapped sea state, the LEQ12 looked well composed and upwind boat speeds, perhaps close reach/hauled, of 33-35kn were recorded while after a quick bear away, the recon unit chase boat could keep up with 39-41kn on broad reach.
The sea breeze looked to be decreasing to 8-11kn SSE, when Chase2 dropped some marks to be rounded while the LEQ12 performed a series of quick tacks and gybes. Once the racecourse was laid, one windward/leeward lap was observed, in addition to one practiced time-on-distance. Approximately 15 minutes later, the marks were recovered by Chase1 and the LEQ12 sailed for a little while freestyle and came to a stop at 17:15.
The team called it a day with a total foiling time of 83 out of 178 minutes with 13 tacks, 9 gybes [Michele Melis AC Recon].
Dock out: 1500 Dock-in: 1720
Conditions: 15:20 SSE 12-14kn / 16:10 SSE 10-12kn / 16:50 SSE 8-10kn
Weather AM: 29°c @ 1200, sunny.
Weather PM: 27°C @ 1400, sunny.
Sea State: 15:10 chop/SE .5m 7-8s
Onboard Today:
Helms: Marco Gradoni / Francesco Bruni
Crew: Umberto Molineris / Andrea Tesei / Vittorio Bissaro
Onboard (Joyride seat): Max Sirena
Sails Used:
Mainsail M1 (MN1-1S): 2 hours 30 minutes
J2 (J2-1-B): 2 hours
Total Tacks: 13 - 11 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 1 touchdown.
Total Gybes: 10 – 8 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go, 0 touchdowns.