FOUR WAY AC40 SHOOT-OUT

With the agreement of the teams, a three-day section of their training schedules has been carved out to allow the organisers, the television companies and technology suppliers the chance to test their equipment and protocols ahead of the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú in September. It began on Thursday afternoon with Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia doing a short session with what Giles Scott described as “loose line-ups” in the late afternoon to dial in their onboard telemetry and continued today (Friday) with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and NYYC American Magic joining the programme.

Teams are not allowed under the Protocol that governs the 37th America’s Cup to train and race against each other in the lead up to the event so this was a rare, indeed unique, chance to see the syndicates go head-to-head before racing starts in earnest. As a sighter for what is to come, it was mesmeric, with all the teams showing incredible form, skill and dexterity as they handled their fully one-design AC40s in a lumpy easterly seaway and a breeze that was consistently measured at deck level around 10-12 knots. And a quick mention for the AC40s themselves – wow what a boat. In these kinds of breezes, they are, unquestionably, the most exciting class in the world, the speeds are phenomenal and bothy the sight and sound as they whistle by are fascinating to watch under the control of the best sailors on the planet.

Following the Emirates Team New Zealand vs INEOS Britannia line up initially, the two teams went at each other with no holds barred. The big take-away from the early hour of exchanges as the two boats lined up loosely was that the Kiwis looked sharper on the exit of manoeuvres and slightly more committed going into them. This yielded a gain upwind and time and again ‘Te Kãkahi’ came from behind to seize the lead. Downwind, INEOS Britannia briefly came off the foils and at the speeds they were travelling (high 30’s) it was game over and the Kiwis stretched ahead. But this was training, and the Kiwis slowed down to continue the boat-on-boat action and it was thrilling to watch as either boat took the advantage before a Kiwi nosedive brought that part of this special training to a close.

The British proved beyond doubt, with Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott steering, that they could find their groove, and whilst the Kiwis stopped for what appeared to be a jib halyard issue, the British just pushed on harder and harder, gaining valuable on-water time in their AC40.

With manoeuvre co-ordination seemingly ironed out, INEOS Britannia looked weaponised come the first proper dial down into the box ahead of the first ‘real’ start. Off the line, INEOS Britannia looked a different boat and took an early lead to windward that they wouldn’t relinquish. Speed differences were minimal. Tacks on both boats were crisp with immediate windward heel post tack and INEOS Britannia looked very much the real deal as they stretched away and led over the first lap of the course.

But, in the blink of an eye on the second upwind leg, the British day was over. The rudder looked to break the surface and at warp speed, ‘Athena’ drove into a hairy pitch-pole that cork-screwed them and resulted in the jib (J3) clew being ripped clean away. It all happened literally in a second and an explosion of spray. The reason, discovered post-sailing, was that INEOS Britannia were looking to execute a 270 degree turn to close the gap up for the training and testing of the comms to be purposeful. It certainly wasn’t an error or a lapse of concentration just an unfortunate ventilation in the building seaway that had a dramatic effect. Great shame as the battle was really heating up between the Defender and Challenger of Record. Fortunately no injuries sustained despite the episode happening at speeds in the 40 knot region.  

Once the jib had been removed, team members were observed looking at an issue around the mast, but the British day was unfortunately done, and they towed back to port leaving Emirates Team New Zealand to continue training and testing the comms for the regatta alone.

Ben Ainslie talked through one of the most stellar days in the America’s Cup so far saying: “It was a beautiful day’s sailing out there, started off 10-12 knots and built to 16-18 knots later in the afternoon and the idea for the day was to help with the race management and the media get things set up for the regatta later this year and we managed to do some up and down with the Kiwis which was great. It was nice to line-up with another AC40 and some good interaction. Unfortunately, we had a big nosedive in the middle of the first sort of scheduled practise race which ended the day with a ripped jib, and some other issues, but other than that it's a fantastic day out there.”

Talking through the move that ended the British day, Ben was matter-of-fact as he recounted the issue whilst praising the resilience of the AC40: “The idea was to keep the racing close so we had a little bit of a lead and we were trying to 270 to re-align and yeah just in the bear away we went two boards down to get the gybe and either got too high or not quite sure exactly what we got wrong but will look back into that, but ultimately yeah got too high on the ride height, the rudder came out of the water and a massive nosedive at plus 40 knots so it was quite a moment really. It's impressive actually that the boat held together structurally in terms of the hull and the rig, we ripped our headsail (J3) which was a shame, but other than that the damage to the boat was minor which was quite impressive really given the speed and the loads.”

Heading over to the NYYC American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli course, we landed into a Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison masterclass in their fourth race as they lead the Italians by a distance. In the conditions, ‘Magic’ looked almost unbeatable with the sailors exerting incredible pitch control and their customary bow down/windward heel to flat orientation. Around the windward mark, post the rapid bear-away, it was noticeable the tiny tweaks that the trimmers were exerting on the mainsail, fanning it consistently with the waves and really powering away. Hugely impressive stuff from the Americans who more than fulfilled their top-billing in many people’s eyes. One to watch in Vilanova i La Geltrú for sure.

Riley Gibbs, who was onboard ‘Magic’ today gave an insight into how the team are operating at such a high level, saying: “We've done a lot of work earlier on this summer and to see kind of pay off and see all the wheels turning as they should be with the team is really great and we've got a really good dynamic going here…we kind of want to ease into it you know, a lot of it is seeing how we go around the entire track and not just in the first beat so yeah just trying to get the most out of the day whether that's holding back or you know pushing as hard as you can… we were trying a lot of different setups, we did another run to the bottom and just you know always looking to improve i guess.” American Magic looked more than impressive today. Ominous.

After the four-race session on the easterly course, time was called on the session by the American Magic team and they headed back to base, but Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Emirates Team New Zealand agreed to initiate action back on the America’s Cup course and enjoyed two very interesting races. The big take-away, particularly for the Kiwis, is that any stall on the start-line whilst the opponent is at full tilt is almost hari-kari for your race. Twice Pete Burling was seen to stall in the final seconds and that was the tale of those races pretty much right there. The Italians seized the lead, covered hard, sailed like demons and didn’t put a foot wrong, giving zero chances of a passing lane.

To be fair, the starts were pre-ordained with each boat selecting an end to start from to test the race management software as Ray Davies explained: “We only did one pre start where we actually called it a proper pre-start with the opposition where we tried to do our own thing, the other ones with Prada for example we agreed to start at an end each just so we could get the race away, so really nothing to take away from the starts, it was just a formality to check the system was working and we could actually get off the line together. And around the course Prada were going quite well, they had a good mode in the last couple of races when the wind was up and we felt pretty similar with INEOS and the races we did with them, they were going quite nicely but probably Luna Rossa seemed to have the day today.”

Speaking straight after sailing, Francesco Bruni gave a brilliant interview that spoke for all the teams as he said: “It was a great day today for all the teams. I think finally meeting each other and with boats that are very close in performance, really, really, close so that was very interesting.  The difference was in the millimetres, so it makes a lot of very fun racing… we were trying very hard to pick their small differences and there must have been some because there was always a little bit of edge difference in speed one way or the other but really small compared to what we're used to seeing in the America's Cup ,so yeah, the race was always open and it was always very close, so good fun.”

Fascinating day in Barcelona – largely to be taken for what it is programmed to be – but seeing these wonderful foiling vessels being pushed hard around difficult race-courses in a sea-way that just built and built was a huge treat. Vilanova i La Geltrú promises to be something very special and when the gloves are fully off, we are in for one heck of a spectacle. The programme continues and concludes on Saturday in similar conditions. (Magnus Wheatley)

On-Water Recon Unit Notes – NYYC American Magic: First ever day of proper racing between LRPP and NYAM in AC40 One Design mode. NYAM showed who’s the boss by wining 3 races out of 4. Moreover, they were leading as well, the only race they lost but ventilated and fell behind LRPP for once. NYAM rolled out ‘Magic’ @9:30h and docked out @11:30h with Paul Goodison, Tom Slingsby, Michael Menninger and Riley Gibbs onboard. 

The rest of the off-duty crew followed closely on the chase boat. A nice seab reeze of 9-12kt @220º and flattish water greeted them out of the port ,and they decided to hoist jib#3. Initially ‘Magic’ warmed up for 20’ on her own and LRPP, on jib#3 too, joined shortly after.

Following a quick break they went on full racing mode @12:54h to complete 4 races until 14:34h. All the action has been captured on video from the bottom gate. This is the summary of the races:

RACE 1 (1 lap): Won by Magic. Start @13:00h, Finish @13:11h. Following the prestart procedure LRPP started on the lee of Magic with both boats lined-up close together. Magic won the start as LRPP bore away just before crossing the start line to avoid being early while Magic held her course to may be an OCS, or to LRPP being late. Magic led all the way up to the top gate and well into the run when LRPP ventilated to a complete stop. Magic crossed the bottom gate ahead and stopped waiting for LRPP to join for race 2.

RACE 2 (2 laps): Won by Magic. Start @13:20h, finish @13:37h. Even start as LRPP came hard and faster from windward onto Magic who was pinching and may be forced LRPP into an OCS. However, LRPP couldn’t hold her line falling behind and having to tack away early. LRPP was first at the top gate, split rounding and split run, and still first at the bottom gate with just 2 boat lengths ahead. They swapped positions several times on the second upwind, but Magic got the lead, just, at the top gate where they split on the last run for LRPP to catch up with Magic right at the last crossing 50m before the finish line. But Magic on stb tack used her right of way to win the race by forcing LRPP off the finish line and embarrassingly off the foils too.

RACE 3 (2 laps): Won by LRPP. Start @13:50h, finish @14:05h. It was an even start with a big gap between both boats and LRPP on the lee. On the first beat we saw a LRPP slam tack on the bow of Magic to a split top gate rounding. LRPP led all the way on the first run, but Magic managed to snick in at the bottom gate. Magic, on the inside, rounded up with two boards down while LRPP, outside with better speed and using only one board, kept an extremely narrow gap to pinch and gain a lee bow position forcing Magic into an early tack away. But after some crossings it was Magic who led at the top gate of this last beat and up to the first crossing on the last run. However, Magic ventilated in a straight line and lost the lead of the race allowing LRPP to cross comfortably and unexpectedly first the finish line.

RACE 4 (2 laps): Won by Magic. Start @14:20h, finish @14:34h. Close start again as LRPP to windward and with better acceleration almost managed to roll over Magic, who barely held on, but eventually LRPP couldn’t hold the pinching line of Magic and fell behind. This time it was Magic who slam tacked in front of LRPP before the top gate and rounded up first. LRPP split at the gate and at the run but trailed behind and even dropped off the foils at the bottom gate rounding. From then on, Magic led and covered tight LRPP during all the second lap finally crossing first the finish line.

Magic sailed to port @14:47h and docked in @15:22h while LRPP stayed on the water and kept training. Overall, Magic foiled for 1h48’ out of 3h52’ on the water. Lea Sitjà, Recon Unit NYAM.

On-Water Recon Unit Notes – INEOS Britannia (11th August 2023): For the second day of the special racing session, INEOS Britannia was paired up with Emirates Team New Zealand on one course with American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team on the other. The outlined plan for the British and New Zealand racecourse was to run a series of racing 'scenarios' between the two teams with the first being a regular start sequence with both teams coming into the start box on time and both then starting on time.

A variety of other scenarios – like one boat entering late and one boat starting prematurely – were planned for the rest of the day. We were assigned to the leeward end of the racecourse to capture the prestart, start, and leeward gate roundings. Racing was scheduled to start at 1240 and both teams were out on the water by midday when they engaged in a prolonged session of free sailing – sometimes alone but often together in close quarters racing mode. The contest looked very evenly matched with both teams looking slick on the manoeuvres in the initial flat water/11 knot breeze. The New Zealand crew were the only ones to make a slip up with a sudden nosedive shortly after a gybe.

Racing finally got under way at around 1345 with the teams using a start line formed by two unanchored New Zealand chase boats. There was little in the way of pre-start skirmishing (apparently pre agreed between the teams) and – after some major porpoising by INEOS Britannia on two foils (08.10 in highlights video) Emirates Team New Zealand led off the start line. At the top mark, however, the British were ahead and they maintained a lead of around 13 seconds at the leeward gate. Halfway up the second beat the British boat bore away hard – attempting (we found out later in the interview with Ben Ainslie) to do a 270 degree turn to close up the gap with the New Zealand boat – and nosedived heavily. A capsize was avoided but as the boat came head to wind the jib could be seen to have come apart close to the clew. That damage meant the day was over for the British team who dropped sails and returned to the harbour on foils.

With no reported damage to the boat or rig, the team is scheduled to be out on the water again tomorrow for the third day of the special racing session.

On-Water Recon Unit Notes – Emirates Team New Zealand (11th August 2023): ETNZ rolled out their AC40 “Te Kakahi” from the shed at 10.45 in one-design configuration. The boat was craned to the water at 11:20 and the team docked out at 12.02, as planned. The main and the J3 were hoisted at 12:08 and 12:21 respectively inside the harbour. A combined training session with team INEOS Britannia was organized for the day.

At the beginning of the day and for approximately one hour, many speed tests were carried out sailing upwind and downwind. The level of parity in between these two teams was impressive. They could sail for long periods of time with marginal gains or losses. Maybe INEOS slightly faster and higher on the upwinds and faster and lower on the downwinds, but ETNZ much more regular on manoeuvres.

After those speed tests and two practice pre-starts; one two-lap upwind-downwind race was conducted, starting in between two non-anchored chase boats that were also used as gates. On the final start, ETNZ had a much better one due to the fact that INEOS Britannia had an important nose-dive on their final approach to the starting line. Nevertheless, they were able to recover and round the top mark in the lead. On the downwind, their ten boat-lengths lead was maintained, and they continued in the front after rounding the gates. Half-way on the second upwind, INEOS Britannia bore away, nose-dived hard, and their J3 got severely damaged breaking in two parts from the clew, bringing the race to an end. 

After making sure everyone was safe and once the situation was under control, ETNZ sailed on their own for another hour approximately doing some upwinds and downwinds, with some tacks and gybes. At this time, this RU headed to the LRPP and AM race-course to get some shots of their windward mark rounding’s as asked and planned. 

At 15:08 once the races in between LRPP and AM were over, LRPP approached ETNZ and two races were carried out in between these teams, with the same format. It was agreed that each of them would start on different ends of the starting line, avoiding boat-to-boat pre-start match racing techniques.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli started in the front on the two races and was able to lead and slightly extend on both. 

When talking about the sailing conditions, today we had a classic sea breeze Garbi, shifting to the right persistently during the day, starting on 180 and reaching 205 on the afternoon. As regards intensity, building during the day, commencing with 9 to 10 knots, and ending the day with 14 to 15 knots on average, measured at sea level. 

Once back in the port, the J3 was lowered at 15:58 and the main four minutes afterwards. The boat was back in the dock at 16:08, craned out at 16:32 and back in the shed at 16:57. No breakdowns today for ETNZ. Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on ETNZ 

On-Water Recon Unit Notes – Emirates Team New Zealand (10th August 2023): ETNZ rolled out their AC40 “Te Kãkahi” from the shed at 12.30 on one-design configuration. The boat was craned to the water at 13:39 and the team docked out at 14.20. The main and the J1 were hoisted at 14:28 and 14:35 respectively.

The main objective of the day was to test the new hardware and equipment added to the boat that will be used at the racing events. This included an antenna at the top of the mast, protest and boundary lights at the back, protest buttons, intercoms, among other things. In addition, robotic marks were launched to the water and tested.

Once on the water and after doing many kinds of tests and checks for approximately two hours, a speed testing session was carried out together with INEOS Britannia.
Three long upwinds and downwinds were executed, without using marks. On the first upwind, since the teams had different sails configurations, ETNZ with their J1 and INEOS with their J2, not much real comparisons could be concluded.

Later, ETNZ changed into their J2 and then the differences were minimal in between the two boats, on both upwind and downwind legs. They could sail for long periods of time on speed-testing positions and no big gains or losses could be noticed, either on speed or angle. The only considerable differences happened when one of the two boats had a really bad manoeuvre, falling from their foils landing completely, that happened only in two opportunities during the entire combined session.

ETNZ did in total 31 tacks and 26 gybes, fully foiling on almost all of them, even at the beginning of the day when we had an average wind intensity of four knots of true wind speed measured at sea level.

When talking about the sailing conditions, it was an unusual day, with the wind shifting to the left persistently during the day, starting on 145 and reaching 95, late on the afternoon. As regards intensity, very little wind during the beginning of the session averaging 4 knots and increasing to 7 to 8 knots from 4:30 pm onwards.

Sails were lowered at 17:58 once inside the port, the boat was back in the dock at 18:05, craned out at 18:25 and back in the shed at 18:55. Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on ETNZ