SWISS CLOCK ON IN JEDDAH
With the America’s Cup community leaving Jeddah en-masse and the break-down of a most splendid venue in full swing, Alinghi Red Bull Racing wasted no time in resuming their training from their Obhur Creek base, taking to the pristine Red Sea waters on Sunday and Monday, keen to learn and capitalise on their positive momentum from the Preliminary Regatta where they finished on the podium in the overall standings.
How different the training days were, though, to the regatta where the team enjoyed 16-20 knots and a lumpy sea-state, for the final two training days in Jeddah it was slightly lighter and simply perfect for sail testing the team’s exquisitely detailed J1 and J2 LEQ jibs and the new mainsail design that looks to have a wider range.
Alongside the pure sail evaluation, what the coaches of Alinghi Red Bull Racing will be concentrating on is starting and high-pressure manoeuvres, the two areas that let them down in the regatta and with Phil Robertson and Dean Barker on hand it is going to be a busy winter. This is a team that knows the gap they are bridging to the more experienced teams and building consistency and second-nature into their execution is crucial ahead of 2024.
Nicolas Charbonnier, a vital member of the Driving Group and one sailor keen to make the raceboat in 2024 spoke after training saying: "We were a bit disappointed by our result, even if the result was good, we thought we could do better but it's good because we have a lot to work on for this winter to be ready for next year."
On Sunday the sea-breeze failed to materialise with the anemometer registering very light northerly breezes of just 4-7 knots through the afternoon whilst on Monday it was much improved with a more stable 13-15 knots and the team took the opportunity to launch the new mainsail on the LEQ as well as the new jibs.
Pietro Sibello, a cool head as Sailing Adviser gave a very interesting interview after the first day of training saying: “It's important for us to keep working after the event, as planned, and we had some sails to check today and tomorrow. Today was a marginal condition but still was valuable and so we have some data for the sail design programme… The mood is good we had the third in the AC 40 fleet and of course that we saw that we also didn't perform well in some races - we had some bad starts around the event and so we know where to work on as well so it's just I mean a good mood to keep working and yeah, the team is strong, today everybody was happy to keep working on the water.”
The America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah, presented by NEOM, was a great test for the team and one that they could take a lot of positives from. For sure, they had the pace when they got to the front of the fleet to match the very best and by and large their race positioning, tactics and manoeuvres were solid. At the top level it is all about hitting very high percentages all around the course and with few passing lanes, any mistakes are punished harshly. The Swiss know this all too well and it’s impressive to see them straight back out, sailing and racing again immediately after the regatta.
Pietro confirmed that the team will resume their big boat programme on the AC75 this week saying: “The big focus for sure is improving our communication on board which is super important in this kind of boats and we will focus on that, we'll be back next week in Barcelona sailing on the AC75 for the rest of the year so we will train on that.” And asked about whether they will continue to use the warm waters and fair winds of Jeddah over the winter as confirmed by Brad Butterworth in interview during the regatta, Pietro kept it real saying: “We’ll see. Now we think about closing the year and then for the next year we will plan.”
This is a serious tilt at the 37th America’s Cup on behalf of Alinghi Red Bull Racing – the coming year will be fascinating to see how they develop. (Magnus Wheatley)
Sunday 3rd December 2023: On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing commenced their day with the AC40-7 (BLACK) being towed from the Jeddah Yacht Club back to their base at Obhur, arriving at 09:00. The AC40-4 (RED) was rolled out at 10:00 and subsequently craned into the water. Standard pre-sailing checks were carried out, and both One Design (OD) and LE sails were prepared, ahead of 12:30 dock out.
For the day's light wind sail testing, the M1-3 LE mainsail and J1-3 LE jib were hoisted on the Red boat, while the Black boat hoisted the M1-3 OD mainsail (used in the Jeddah Preliminary Regatta) and the J1-4 LE jib. The crew combinations were mixed up for the day compared to the usual crew list.
Stint 1 (13:10 – 13:40): 6-7.5kn 275° @ 13:05, 4-6kn 240° @ 13:40
The yachts were towed to the racing area off the Jeddah Waterfront, with sailing starting at 13:10. In the light wind conditions, both boats required tow-starts. Side by side, the boats sailed north upwind, with the Red boat initially displaying better performance. The Black boat lost flight, while the Red boat continued on, touching down only on a tack. Subsequent tow-starts saw the Red boat falling off the foils after a few minutes, and the Black boat continued until a lull caused it to lose flight. Both boats were then towed downwind back to the starting point.
Stint 2 (13:45 – 14:25): 4-6kn 240° @ 13:40, 4-6kn 280° @ 14:25
Another series of tow-starts saw both boats sailing low angles upwind side by side, often changing windward and leeward positions for better testing references. The Red boat fell first, followed by the Black boat touching down on a tack. A final tow-start lined up both boats for one last stretch, but the wind continued to die, leading to the Red boat dropping off the foils first, and the Black boat not long after.
The session was concluded at 14:30 due to the lack of wind, and both boats were towed back to the base. The team spent two hours on the water, of which 70 minutes were spent sailing (including towing/tow starts). All attempts at foiling manoeuvres were not successful.
Monday 4th December 2023: On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-4 (RED) and AC40-7 (BLACK) at 09:15 and 09:45 respectively. Both boats were craned in, undergoing standard pre-sailing checks. Electronic and hydraulic technicians focused on the Red boat's mainsail control systems from the port cockpit, particularly the mainsheet system. The team docked out at 11:30.
The Red boat hoisted the M1-3 LE mainsail and J3-2 OD jib, while the Black boat remained in One Design mode all day, hoisting the M1-3 OD mainsail (Jeddah Preliminary Regatta branding removed) and J3-3 OD jib. Crew combinations remained the same.
Stint 1 (11:55 – 12:10, 13-15kn 170° @ 12:10):
The yachts sailed a short upwind course with two tacks to the start line, then paused to adjust settings.
Stint 2 (12:15 – 12:40, 13-15kn 170° @ 12:10):
The Red boat set off on a quick upwind downwind warmup, while the Black boat took an additional five minutes working onboard before joining. In sync, both sailed a short downwind, then upwind, with the Red boat initially showing better VMG.
Stint 3 (12:50 – 13:05, 13-15.5kn 190° @ 12:50, 10-14kn 200° @ 13:10):
The two boats sailed parallel on a long downwind, with two gybes performed on each boat. The Black boat showed better control, while the Red boat nearly spun out during a rounding up at the end. The crews swapped boats, and the OD J3 jibs were exchanged with OD J2 jibs due to decreasing wind.
Stint 4 (13:35 – 14:00, 8-10kn 205° @ 13:35):
The session involved long upwind stretches on each tack, then downwind, often changing between high and low mode. Both boats then sailed to the course start line, with the Red boat swapping to the new J2-3 LE jib.
Stint 5 (14:10 – 14:40, 9-12.5kn 205° @ 14:10):
A one lap race was sailed on the 1NM course. The Red boat started a couple seconds early at the pin end, bearing up and down quickly in attempt to slow down. Meanwhile the Black boat started a few seconds late at the committee boat end, with the Red boat tacking and ducking behind Black to clear OCS penalty. The Black boat controlled the upwind tacking battle, and extended its lead downwind as both boats had a bad gybe, perhaps in a lull, touch and go for the Black boat, touch down for the Red boat. The Black boat re-joins the Red boat after crossing the finish line and both sail downwind to the base in sync comparing/commissioning the new jib.
The team docked in at 15:00, completing their second trip to Jeddah. The team spent three and a half hours on the water, of which 110 minutes were spent sailing. 36 manoeuvres were observed of the Red boat, with an 89% fully foiling rate.