BLISTERING LUNA ROSSA CARVE UP CAGLIARI

Marco Gradoni, the young Italian sailing sensation was at the wheel after leading the Youth team training last week and rotated in with Ruggero Tita and Francesco Bruni for a day that had it all. Some blistering straight-lines were executed to get their eye-in and then the LEQ12 was set up against the onboard software for some electric pre-start action – quite how good those onboard programs have become is something that the sailing world waits to see - the evidence before us looks compelling however. Once the Chase Boat had dropped in a leeward gate and set the pre-start box we were treated to every move of the playbook with seemingly easy one-board round-ups, JK’s and two-board speed killers pre-start. Great session from the Italians...again.

Speaking afterwards, Marco Gradoni, summed up the day eloquently saying: “It was nice because today we went back into some waves and it is nice because it's January but it feels like summer, sun, wind from the south, so it was good day like in waves and we were happy about our day and I think 100% foiling - that's our goal.”

Asked about the relentless JK’s at the leeward marks, Marco simply responded: “There was some bias and we got some shifts so we were playing our best geometries...to be fair we were only one boat in the water so we just played the software but it would be nice to play against another boat but probably the next day we will do it.”

And when asked how excited he was to be a part of the Luna Rossa Youth team (if not the Cup boat itself), he classily responded: “Yeah the guys we sailed together last week it’s nice, they’re all super-good, it’s a pleasure to sail with them and it's ‘funny’ so let’s hope we can do some racing against also Cecco, Jimmy and Rugi in the next few months.”

Meanwhile over in Barcelona, for INEOS Britannia it was a lower-end test again as the relentless high pressure sits over the western Mediterranean with wide isobars yielding a soft northerly airflow that struggled to get above 7 knots all morning. The team docked-out early at 8.30am and headed for the airport down south but a residual easterly swell meant any meaningful racing was a stretch. To make the best of the day, the team went for the biggest J1 jibs, mixed up the Flight Controllers and went for various speed tests right at the lower end of foiling. Interestingly today, the recon team noted very little in terms of speed differential between the two AC40’s and having had a good weekend to go through the data and the design analysis, it’s likely that INEOS Britannia with their technical excellence all round will, perhaps, have ironed out those differences.

Speaking afterwards, helmsman Dylan Fletcher-Scott summed up the day saying: “It was quite a tricky forecast today, with the cloud cover and we were sort of expecting some drainage this morning but stayed a bit cloudy and didn’t clear enough so the wind didn’t quite materialise at the airport disappointing, but we made the best of the day and at the end of the day there was there's nothing on the Barcelona race area.”

Ever positive, Dylan also saw the day through a productive light saying: “Days like today are really good for us in terms of the difficulty with the sea state in light winds something that we’re obviously expecting during the Cup here in October and so although maybe not like all about some small detail it's good for us to work on our techniques and see what will transfer over for the big boat.”

Alinghi Red Bull Racing stayed in the Port Vell today having launched their AC75 ‘BoatZero’ with the old legacy NYYC American Magic rudder and the Shore Team conducted a thorough day of Foil Cant System analysis spending almost seven hours in the water going through systems checks all over. The Swiss will be eyeing an improving forecast later in the week to get back to AC75 sailing in Barcelona. (Magnus Wheatley)

On-Water Recon Report – Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: After a week spent in the shed, the Luna Rossa rolled out their LEQ12 prototype at 8:30, stepped mast and craned the yacht in by 8:45. The usual checks were executed at the dock before locking in the M1-2 mainsail ready for dock-out scheduled at 10:30. The prototype was boarded by four sailors, who rotated with an additional two during the session. Just when exiting the harbour, the main was hoisted and paired to the J2-2 as the pressure was measured 9-11kn from 115TWA with a barely offset but significant chop of 0.4-0.6m from 120-125°.

The first foiling stint began with a light initial tow to accelerate the yacht which self-took-off on port tack. After some straight-line sailing, the team conducted some tacks before bearing away on port tack and executed some gybes. This routine was then repeated twice before a leeward gate was laid out and, perhaps, combined to a virtual windward gate. Then, two pre-starts were practiced while the team always sailed only short distances upwind before bearing away again to resume. Around the marks and inside the virtual pre-start box, all kinds of successful manoeuvres were observed, from one-board round ups, two-boards time, JKs (which occasionally turned into tack-bear-aways to kill time).

After 45 minutes of foiling, the yacht decelerated, sailors debriefed and swapped with those on Chase1. For the second foiling stint, lasting 20 minutes, the LEQ12 was towed up on port and bore away quickly to practice two additional pre-starts and sailing occasionally one upwind and one downwind leg. As the third foiling stint began, the team seemed to practice over and over normal round-ups on one board and round-up tacks on each mark but more often on the right hand one, perhaps slightly more favourable for sea-state direction and shifted pressure.

Between these drills, the LEQ12 sailed some upwind and downwind legs and finally practiced a pre-start entering on starboard. After almost 55 minutes foilborne, the yacht decelerated and came to a stop for another swap between sailors and checks by the shore crew.

For the fourth and last foiling stint, the yacht self-took-off after an initial pull by the Chase Boat, started sailing upwind for some tacks before bearing away on the virtual windward mark. Three additional starts were then practiced before the marks were removed. The LEQ12 then sailed towards the harbour alternating between hard bear aways and trim ups, finally coming off foil after approx. 40 minutes.

Overall, the LEQ12 looked very composed sailing through the sea-state and consistent executing successfully each manoeuvre. The day was called at 13:45 with 169 minutes foiling time, approximately 52 tacks and 41 gybes [Michele Melis AC Recon].

On-Water Recon Report – INEOS Britannia: The British rolled out their two AC40s, Athena(a) and Sienna(b) in full one-design configuration, at 06.01 and 06.54, respectively; and then were craned to the water at 06:40 and 07:33. The team docked out at 08:30, as planned.

Both boats got on the tow and headed to the airport area with no sails. Once there, at 09:10 one-design mainsails and J2s were hoisted on both boats. Immediately after, it was clear that the wind conditions were lighter than expected and the J2s had to be dropped and replaced for one-design J1s. In the meantime, one of the chase boats set marks for an upwind-downwind course. However, finally those marks were never used.

Today´s session was featured by an unstable and shifty north-westerly – north-easterly, 5 to 7 knots breeze, combined with a disorganized easterly swell. Very patchy and with some low clouds coming into play at times to add even more disturbance to the equation.

In those conditions, the team was forced to speed-test all day long, as the wind was not strong enough for a productive racing session, doing manoeuvres at starts and around the course. At 09:40 the training started, struggling at times to be able to set both boats in proper speed-testing position, as one or the other fell-off from the foils. One downwind and one upwind on both tacks were carried out. Nothing conclusive could be achieved in terms of speed and angles in between boats.

At 10:40, once back at the airport area, the two AC40s struggled to stand on the foils, sailing far away one from another. At that time, the team decided to tow Athena and Sienna further to the South, where better conditions were finally found.

The best quality speed tests happened further away from the coast. Two long downwinds and upwinds were carried out with both boats switching sides. More parity could be seen in between the boats when comparing to the past week. Nevertheless, the conditions were not reliable at all with too much variability on the wind strength, wind direction and swell.

At 12:05 there was a break in which the sailors on each boat could be seen talking and possibly exchanging opinions, while a batteries replacement took place.

At 12:30 the training continued with both boats trying to take-off and sail in marginal conditions without much success. Twenty minutes after, both boats started to sail back towards the harbour.

At 13:10 both boats lowered their sails and then headed back to the base on the tow, entering the port at 13.40. By 13:50 Athena and Sienna were already on the dock. Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on INEOS Britannia

On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing's AC75, Boat Zero, was rolled out at their Barcelona base at 09:00, with the aim to carry out Flight Control System (FCS) testing at the dock. A notable change in the boat's setup was the reintroduction of the AC75_R1 (American Magic Legacy rudder). GoPros were placed at the mast head on extensions, as well as on the mast tang of the D1 shroud under the spreader.

After the yacht was craned in at 09:30, the team commenced standard systems checks, before proceeding to extensive FCS testing. This involved lots of lifting of the foils, with the port foil lifted significantly more especially towards the end of the day. Andrea Pisano, IT/Systems engineer, was responsible for this testing, spending most of the day in the port cockpit, with occasional visits from the yacht captain, Jack Taylor, and helmsman Nico Charbonnier.

In addition to the FCS, the crew also conducted a few aero systems tests, involving movement of the traveller, mast rotation, mainsail clew actuator and the jib sheet, with all cyclor pods occupied to provide the necessary power.

Although the boat did not sail, the day was marked by continuous and meticulous testing. The crew wrapped up the day's work with preparations for crane-out at 15:40, concluding 6 hours and 40 minutes of the boat in the water.