MAXED OUT AT MOTUKOREA
‘Control’ was the word of the day for Emirates Team New Zealand as the LEQ12 test team ventured out ahead of incoming inclement weather early for a blistering day with pulses of breeze hitting above 20 knots and vicious outgoing tide whipping up waves around the mouth of the harbour channel in Auckland. Flat water was highly sought after and the Motukorea Channel provided some shelter for some very fast laps where, even in the sea state, the LEQ12 was hitting “around about 50 knots” according to Blair Tuke, the team’s Flight Controller.
The LEQ12 in manual flight mode in high winds is a place for the very best only but even they get it wrong sometimes and some notable splashdowns were observed as the 40 footer struggled for grip as the team pushed to the limits of possibility.
Blair summed the day up saying: Yeah, it was an epic day, one of the ‘funner’ ones we've had. We started quite early as there’s this nor-east breeze that’s going to continue to build over next 12 hours or so, so we wanted to get ahead of that and managed to do that. Started off just out between Bean Rock and Browns Island and we were just doing some control things there so it wasn't always our prettiest work, we were trying a few different things so we had a few crash downs but in general the boat was going really nicely and then as the wind built we decided to go check out the waves out in the channel and it got quite windy, well over 20 knots there and yeah the outgoing current was unreal.”
As the LEQ12 hit the waves, it was a wet and wild ride as Blair explained: “I don't know the exact top speed, round about 50 knots I think, somewhere there, but in the waves you don't get all of that because it’s pretty hard to control the boat but all the team did great work just controlling it, I even ended up with the goggles full of water at the end and full of fog and had to take them off after we went for submarine mode but yeah we came back and good to sail all the way up the harbour here.”
One aspect that the recon team noted was the sense of complete calm onboard at high speed and through the occasional splashdowns with clear protocols to managing the boat and keeping it upright. Blair Tuke gave an honest assessment saying: “That's something we're always learning and I think we did a pretty good job of it today but a couple of times the cockpits ended up pretty full of water but nice to get out and push it in those waves that you see at the start, we wouldn’t have done that six months ago, so the team’s come a long way.”
The M2 mainsail looked under perfect control all day with only the minimum of trim required and delivered with pin-point accuracy from Andy Maloney and Blair Tuke whilst steering angles were sharp, especially through the gybes, from Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling. The new J3 with its heavy battening and square top made a rare but short appearance today and was quickly switched out for the one-design version to complete the session.
Foil validation was once again in focus with the same configuration as yesterday and the new long-span anhedral hanging off the port foil arm with white measurement strips seen on both the underside and topside and at least five cameras capturing the flow and detachment points.
Another great session for the Kiwis who will have to pick their sessions wisely for the rest of the week with more wind forecast through to Friday.
On-Water Recon Unit Notes: The yacht was swung into the pen at 08.31 looking to be in the same set up as yesterday. Bow towed out of the pen in 10-12 knots of ENE breeze, she bent on sails just outside the break wall. The J3 OD was on its lock at 09.09 followed by the M2 at 09.11.
She was up and sailing, beating down the harbour by 09.22, all the way out to Motuihe Island before turning and running back down towards Bean Rock. She did two full laps of this area with long boards out to the natural boundaries before coming to a stop off Northern Leading. She changed out the one-design J3 for the development #3 with fatter square top head. The OD came down at 09.51 and the development #3 was on the lock by 09.58.
The LEQ12 was up and sailing again at 10.02 completing another two laps of the Motukorea channel with some big round ups and bear aways observed. Also, several periods where the yacht sailed to windward with both boards down.
At the end of the second downwind she headed out the Rangitoto channel but did not go past a line from Rangitoto light house to Takapuna boat ramp. The sea state here was large, steep and very uncomfortable for us in the recon boat. She looked in control most of the time but there were several moments where the yacht crashed down hard sending spray flying. After a bad 360 degree turn she came off her foils in the worst of the sea state and took 5 to 8 times as long as flat water to get foil borne again.
Once up and sailing again she turned for home, as we were North West of her when she turned for home we had no chance of keeping up as the sea had really built up and the breeze was above 20 knots.
She came to a stop off the base at 11.33 and had sails down by 11.39.
Dock out: 0900 Dock-in: 1150
Onboard the Boats Today
Helms LEQ12: Pete Burling / Nathan Outteridge
Crews LEQ12: Blair Tuke / Andy Maloney
Wind Strength:
Weather: ENE 10-12 building through the morning to above 20 knots at times. Cloud increasing. Flat sea conditions in the Motukorea channel, up to 1.4 M wave with short 7-8 second period off Rangitoto lighthouse. 18 degrees.
Sea State AM: Moderate
Sail Used onboard LEQ12:
M2 Mainsail: 2 hours 22 minutes
J3 OD Jib: 2 hours 05 minutes
J3 LEQ Jib: 1 hour 41 minutes
Total Tacks: 26 – 26 foil-to-foil, 0 touch & go.
Total Gybes: 25 – 21 foil-to-foil, 1 touch & go, 1 touchdown.