SWISS REVEAL NEW STARBOARD FOIL

The slight anhedral design of what looks like perfectly symmetrical wings is very much ‘a la mode’ of what we’ve seen from the likes of Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on their LEQ programmes and on the Swiss foil, just like the others, the detailing is exquisite with the bulb smoothed and moulded into the aft run off and finished actually right on the flared foil flap junction on the underside to promote flow. The topside of the foil is almost flat at the mid-point to which the team have applied what looks like a pressure sensor and it’s there where attempts at wing flow run-off reduction are being made. The connector arm too is more sculpted than the one-design AC40 wing running on the port side with a slight elliptical ‘bump’ on the trailing edge which may indicate that not all the weight is down low in the bulb.

Some minor teething issues with the new foil today precluded any meaningful testing but a ten-minute tow test early on in the morning session whilst the AC40 sailed, will have started the commissioning process. The LEQ12 only sailed today on a downwind leg on starboard tack with their port foil immersed before dropping sails and slowly towing back to base with an unspecified issue that the shore team are inspecting.

Pietro Sibello, Sailing Team Adviser to Alinghi Red Bull Racing and a key part of the campaign talked about both the new foil and what they are looking to achieve saying: “For sure our approach and our planning on the foil testing is going on. The more we go on, the more we are focused on the details and of course we also have planning to test the different ideas on the design concepts… the leeway is a big part of the performance of the boat and also of the control of it, with the ride height and the cant angle of the foil we can have more or less grip as we call it on the foil so resistant to the side force, and the more you fly high the more positive leeway so the more sideways you go. The more cant-out you go, the better grip you have, so you go into the negative side, sliding on windward side.”

Meanwhile, out on a busy waterway, in a morning breeze that filled to around 10 knots before dying into the afternoon, New York Yacht Club American Magic were having a superb two-boat session with ‘America’ and ‘Magic.’ The headlines may well scream ‘capsize’ but this is becoming pretty run of the mill now for this exciting class and today it was Magic’s turn to dip the rig in a super-fast capsize having lost the rudder and piled into a corkscrew capsize. No problems for the sailors or the Chase Team who were in super-quick and had the boat upright and flying within 15 minutes. The recon team even described the capsize, privately, as ‘graceful.’

All morning, the LEQ12 ‘America’ appeared higher and faster, so much so that at times they had to double-board to slow-down. The early-doors gremlins that dogged the LEQ12 are a distant memory now and Michael Menninger, trimmer aboard with Tom Slingsby, Riley Gibbs and Lucas Calabrese summed up the day perfectly, saying: “The America has the foils that we designed on it and we're just trying to organise and structure tests to try to evaluate the foils and get some good data on them but luckily for us that boat today was going quite well upwind and downwind.” Clearly a sweet spot was found with the J1 jib flying and giving the horsepower whilst the beautiful new MN3 LEQ12 mainsail was sheeted hard. NYYC American Magic are more than finding their groove at the moment in Barcelona – a happy camp.

Emirates Team New Zealand were, by design, late to the sailing party today as they hosted local Catalan media at their World Trade Centre base, so it wasn’t until 2pm and into a dying breeze that they ventured out. But it was quite a performance when they did with ‘Te Rehutai’ taking flight of its own accord in winds that barely touched 4 knots and with a J2 jib flying. To say that the Kiwis have the DNA of the AC75 is an understatement, this was a devastating performance that will have other teams scratching their heads.

With the media dispatched back to shore, the Kiwis quickly changed up to the J1 jib and continued their training session offshore through to dock-in at 5pm and never sailing in more than 5 knots of breeze. The only time they struggled was on the gybes in circa 3 knots of breeze as to stay on the foils required big angles to be sailed and over just 6 gybes they nailed 2 foil-to-foil, 2 touch & go’s and 2 touchdowns. Impressive light airs performance from the Defenders of the 37^th America’s Cup on this, just their third day of sailing in Barcelona.

Speaking afterwards, Blair Tuke summed the session up, saying: “Yeah third day here in Barcelona, another really good day for the team, right on the bottom end of conditions, we had quite a lot of media out with us at the beginning of the day so the start of the day we were just doing flybys back and forth from the City and that was nice to show off the boat here in Barcelona and then from there, we continued out to sea a little bit, did some testing but really good to get a feel for these conditions. Quite different than the last couple of days here…really, really, good to see these conditions, we've been watching on Recon for a while now so across the three days we've already had a big range so it's good to see for the team.”

And Blair continued as he talked about the incredible low-range flying and manoeuvres: “We've been practising a lot back home as a team and it's always a little bit different with the sea state and the winds when you get here to see how you pull those off. Some of them weren’t probably the best or up to the standard we know we can achieve but some of them were also really good. All in all, a great day and good steps forward and these first few days for us have been really important to get here and established and operating as a team and it's gone super smoothly.”

Emirates Team New Zealand look very much the real deal here in Barcelona and with the Defenders in town there’s a new mood around Barcelona. It’s getting serious. The bar is being set and it’s down to business in this America’s Cup, for sure. (Magnus Wheatley)

On-Water Recon Unit Notes – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-4 (YELLOW boat) at 07:45, with a new foil on starboard. This foil has a more defined foil arm section, designed for tackling leeway. The top surface continues over the foil flap, with an apparent different material at the centre of the surface, perhaps a pressure pad. The shore crew member responsible for setting up GoPros was seen entering and exiting the deck hatch, potentially setting up cameras below deck.

Meanwhile the AC40-7 (RED boat) was rolled at 08:15 and prepared at the dock, before both boats docked out at 10:00. The Red boat hoisted the M1-2 and J1-2 OD sails, while the Yellow boat was taken straight out for a tow test aimed at commissioning the new foil. After a 10-minute tow, the M1-1 LE mainsail and a J1-1 LE jib were hoisted, notable for a new window in the foot of the sail.

The 'Llevant' eastern wind, blowing between 6-8 knots, along with a wave height of 0.4m-0.6m with a 4s period, were ideal for initial testing. However, the yellow boat sailed a long downwind on starboard but came to a stop without sailing on the new foil. The sails were dropped, and the yacht was slowly towed back to the base with the foil lifted out of the water. Pietro Sibello confirmed issues with the foil in the post-sailing interview, without providing specifics. Water ingress in the foil arm or issues with the cant hydraulics were suggested possibilities.

Meanwhile, the Red boat sailed North along the coast, coming together with stopped Yellow boat for a brief period, then sailing a long stretch offshore. With diminishing wind keeping speeds slow, sailing was aborted, and the yacht was towed back to port. Both boats were out of the water before 13:00. A short day for both yachts.

In total, the team spent two hours on the water, the recon boat covering a distance of 19 nautical miles. While no manoeuvres were performed by the Yellow boat, it was noted that sailing was only observed over a span of 10 minutes. Manoeuvres by the Red boat in the distance were not observed before sailing ended.

On Water recon notes – Emirates Team New Zealand: ETNZ rolled out their B2 AC75 from the shed at 12.30 am. Local journalists and photographers attended the base today from the time of the roll-out up to half day on the water on one of the chase boats. It was not a day to bring out any different components. The boat was craned to the water at 13:10 with while lots of interviews and photos were taken. Nothing unusual.

The team docked out at 14:00, as scheduled, with the M1 and J2 sails on board. Sails hoisted at 13:15. They sailed for a bit more than one hour with the J2, in conditions of not more than 4 knots of breeze. When the press left, they changed to the J1. It surprised me to see how they could take off with no assistance and even make tacks without falling from their foils, with the J2. It called my attention to see them sailing in such light conditions with the J2, which leads me to the following alternatives, being more convinced for the former one:

- The J1 is designed for an extremely low wind strength range and the cross-over to the J2 is at a very low TWS.

- They did not want to show the J1 to the press, for any unknown specific reason.

In addition, the fact that their performance was so good with the J2 in 4 knots of TWS convinces me of the former hypothesis.

Manoeuvres: Most tacks were foiling in these conditions, and even with the J2. Tacking seemed easier than gybing which demanded huge changes on the course to be able not to fall from the foils.

As regards boat balance, during all day they sailed slightly heel to windward, check photos and videos.

Conditions: The wind was always under 5 knots of breeze, averaging 4 knots, with moments of 3,5 or event 3. Direction 105 turning slightly right during the day up to 120. Flat water, just a slight swell from 110 approximately. Signs of stability in the upper atmosphere with medium clouds in the sky.

At 17:00 ETNZ was back at the dock, the boat was craned out at 17.30 and put back in the shed at 18.05.

On Water Recon Notes – American Magic: Very productive two boat session today with America showing great performance. Roll out was @7:45h for Magic (OD) and 8:30h for America (LEQ12) with no modifications on the foils from last day that I could appreciate.

Docking out was @9:51h, shortly ahead of schedule which shows how good the shore team is at getting the boats ready when free from system issues. By 10:08h we were out of the port with 5-7kt @90º wind, 0.4m, 2.8” @100º wind chop and 0.6m, 5.8” @120º easing swell. America rigged MN-3 main + jib #1 with Tom Slingsby, Michael Menninger, Riley Gibbs and Lucas Calabrese while Magic had MN-2 main + jib #1 with Paul Goodison, Andrew Campbell, Harry Melges and Severin Gramm.

The light wind and big lulls didn’t allow taking off, they began sailing @10:15h and for 20’ they sailed on displacement mode with a short foiling stint under assisted towing. They both stopped @10:35h for a quick debrief on their chase boats. By 10:48h the wind picked up to 10kt, same direction, and off they went foiling upwind on port tack (25kt BSP, 150º COG) where America was faster and higher. Three clean tacks to sail on starboard tack (25kt BSP, 50º COG) and America was faster and higher again. So much so that every now and then America had to drop both foils on the water to slow down and wait for Magic to line up again, it didn’t matter if to windward or leeward, America was always better.

They bore away into a downwind hitting 34kt BSP and 250º COG on port tack. After one clean jibe and when everything looked sweet Magic lost the rudder, nosedived with a tail spin and capsized @11:30h. They stopped to assess the damage, none, and changed both jibs @11:43h to #2 as the wind had picked up by then to 10-12kt @100º. Sailing resumed @12:00h with a long downwind on starboard tack (34kt BSP, 340º COG) in which America was consistently faster and lower than Magic. Next was a round up into upwind sailing @12:20h that finished when both boats went into a full touchdown tack stop as the wind was then blowing just 5kt. They drifted until 12:27h when a tow back to port was organised to reach the dock @13:00h. Lea Sitjà.