VALENTINE’S DAY VELOCITY

For INEOS Britannia, it was a super productive day of two-boat testing that saw a boat swap with Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott jumping onboard the Athena Pathway AC40 ‘Sienna’ whilst Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Ben Cornish steered the ‘works’ AC40 ‘Athena.’ Different boats but similar story to yesterday with Ainslie and Scott really clicking again and putting the moves on through a whole series of pre-starts and races and having just a small speed edge. Great race reporting below from the recon team.

Speaking afterwards, Luke Parkinson, now into his third America’s Cup and one of the most popular sailors in the foiling world, came away with a. lot of positives as he spoke to the recon team saying: “It was a really good day out there for us, sort of 8 to 12/13 knots, bit of a mixture of warm-up laps and straight lining and then straight into some pretty combative races.”

When pushed on what the team were looking at across the sail testing and racing, Luker added: “With the AC40 they’re really quite finnicky boats and when we get going in straight-lining it’s really close and whoever is really dialled into different trims and different sets ups will normally come out in front, it’s a game of centimetres in those line-ups and just practising in the conditions here in Barcelona...always trying different combinations with the cant, the pitch angle of the boat, the sail trims, it’s a never-ending cycle.”

And with Luke today sailing just behind Ben Cornish on Athena with Dylan Fletcher-Scott steering in the starboard pod, Luke summed up their day saying: “Onboard Boat A we had some ups and downs, a bit of a rollercoaster, fell off the foils on the odd occasion before the start which doesn’t normally help but very close, boats are getting closer and manoeuvres are pretty tight.”

And that’s a pretty good assessment – INEOS Britannia’s two-boat campaign is motoring along nicely with plenty of sail data to analyse and a whole heap of playbook action for the coaching team to dissect. Another good session for the British.

Out on the same stretch of water but again on a very different strategy was NYYC American Magic, today bringing both of their AC40’s out for huge windward/leeward long run sail shape testing. Clearly the team are on to something with this relentless drive for sail perfection which perhaps should come as no surprise with Terry Hutchinson, a sail-maker at heart, leading the campaign.

Speaking afterwards, Terry commented: “First day we went out in that really tough offshore breeze, we did a bit of damage to Boat 1’s rig which was why we didn’t get to two boat yesterday...today we got out there and met the breeze and did what we needed to do, cycling through the sail stuff and flight control, all the things that go into racing the boat well.”

“There are so many variables, we’re trying really hard to probably keep as much of the stuff locked-in so each adjustment is a quantifiable one, be that a cant angle, sheet tension or ride height, so every single time that we make an adjustment we can justify it in the performance of the boat – but mother nature is mother nature. The thing that’s awesome about these boat is you sail in half a knot more windspeed and it’s exponentially better, it’s not just half a knot of boatspeed, the boats accelerate, they go faster, it’s fun to see and it’s fun to watch...I think our last week we did over 250 miles in three days in only like three and a half hours of sailing a day, so it’s not like you’re doing a lot hours but you’re doing a lot of miles, so it’s good.”

With light winds expected tomorrow (Thursday) in Barcelona, NYYC American Magic have called it early and will have a maintenance day ashore. Still no word from the team on a possible launch date for their AC75.

Out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, like the finest Swiss timepiece, at 12.30pm Alinghi Red Bull Racing docked-out of their stunning Obhur Creek base to meet the afternoon sea-breeze that filters in to cool the land – albeit with cloud cover keeping the air temperature at a balmy 31° centigrade throughout the session. A series of pre-starts and straight windward/leeward races were planned but the team had to wait for a while the breeze to stabilise before the gloves came off and the sailors were into action.

Once again Dean Barker teamed up with Maxime Bachelin in the ‘Red’ boat whilst Arnaud Psarofaghis and Nicolas Charbonnier took the ‘Black’ boat – both boats with the LEQ sails and as the wind built and ‘Black’ changed down from a J2 to a J3, it was interesting to note that upwind speeds were even but downwind, the smaller sail had the edge and could keep the power-on. Interesting cross-over noted by the recon team as the breeze increased to 10-13 knots.

Another positive session for the Swiss whose winter base is proving to be a remarkable venue for America’s Cup racing and testing. More to come from the team through the rest of the week and into the weekend.

Tomorrow (Thursday) sees the return of Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to action with training planned in both Auckland and Cagliari. (Magnus Wheatley)

On-Water Recon Report – NYYC American Magic: NYYC American Magic returned to two-boat testing today after two days of sailing with just one boat. The day saw lightish winds that started below five knots and peaked at around 10 knots in the afternoon. The two American AC40s – America and Magic were rolled out, rigged, and launched by 1015 ahead of an 1130 dock out. Sails were hoisted outside the harbour entrance by 1205: America MC 5 mainsail and J1.5 C2 headsail / Magic MC 4 mainsail and J1.5 C? headsail.

After a wait for the southerly sea breeze to establish itself the two boats were up and foiling by 1240 and headed off on a long close formation downwind run that saw the two boats each complete 18 foiling gybes, before the crews turned upwind for a long starboard tack session followed by a tack and a long port stint, before the boats turned downwind again for a long run with just one gybe before a stop at 1340. As well as a battery change, with the breeze now at 8-9 knots, the crews also switched headsails: America to the J2 C4 and Magic to the J2 C3.

The boats set off again at 1402 for an hour and 10-minute session that saw them complete several gigantic windward / leeward loops with just one or two tacks upwind and typically just one gybe downwind. On the upwind legs on port tack heading in towards the land it was noticeable that the leeward boat was on several occasions able to claw its way up to the windward boat without any apparent loss of speed. (see 04.48 highlights video and the interview with Terry Hutchinson who explains it away as a local wind effect).

After a stop at 1510 when the sailors were rotated between the boats, the crews were off again at 1530 for another hour-long session of multiple windward / leeward loops. A brief stop at 1630 was followed by a final upwind multiple tack match race back to the harbour where the boats arrived at 1640. With light airs forecast, no sailing is planned for tomorrow – Thursday February 15.

On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing's AC40-4 (Red) and AC40-7 (Black) were rolled out at 08:45 and 09:05, respectively, as both boats were craned into the water by 09:30. Compressed nitrogen was carried onto both boats to top up accumulators. It was noted that this tank was then carried onto Chase Targa, to be kept handy on the water. Following this, the hydraulics tech conducted short traveller tests on Black, as well as linked traveller to mast rotation tests on Red. Red was then taken off the dock for further testing. Safety drills were also carried out, including a man-on-stretcher exercise. Full LE sail plans were prepared, with the same crew combination as the previous day. The team docked out at 12:30, with the M1-4 LE mainsail and J3-2 LE jib joisted on the Red boat, and the M1-3 LE and J3-1 LE on Black.

Stint 1 (12:55 – 13:28, 10-13kn 230° @ 12:55, 9-12kn 220° @ 13:15) The team started with a short upwind of split tacks followed by long side-by-side testing in parallel on starboard, with windward-leeward position switching. A short stop was made to adjust sail settings before continuing on starboard, then tacking to sail another long stretch upwind on port. Further sail adjustments were made as the team stopped far offshore, where the wind was lighter.

Stint 2 (15:35 – 14:00, 5-8kn 210° @ 13:35) Both boats struggling to take off, leading to a tow back towards land. Once reaching sufficient wind, the boats were tow started on starboard downwind, then gybed and sailed a long downwind in parallel on port, before returning to the course start.

Stint 3 (14:10 – 14:50, 9-13kn 240° @ 14:10) Following a short lunch break, the team began pre-start practice. Start 1 & 2 saw Red enter on port, while Starts 3-5 saw Black enter on port. Start 5 continued into a one-lap race on the course set at 225 degree, 1NM in length, which was won by Dean Barker and Max Bachelin on the Red boat.

Stint 4 (15:00 – 15:18, 10-12.5kn 230° @ 14:55) Ahead of this stint, the Red boat exchanged the J3 jib for the J2-4 LE, while Black remained on the J3. Start 6 / Race 2 (1 lap) saw Black entering on port, with Red controlling the upwind from the start and extended the lead throughout the race. There was minimal difference in performance upwind between the two boats, however the J2 proved quicker downwind.

Stint 5 (15:30 – 15:45, 8-10.5kn 230° @ 15:30, 6-8kn 245° @ 15:50) The Black boat dropped the J3 in exchange for the J2-3 LE ahead of the final race. Start 7 / Race 3 (1 upwind leg) began with Black entering on port and starting on time, while Red was late and immediately tacked off to the right. Black led at the windward mark, continuing downwind, while Red came to a stop and subsequently dropped the sails, with wind decreasing and big grey clouds approaching. Black then continued back to Obhur Creek, as the sailing day was brought to an end.

The day concluded with both boats docked in by 16:10 after three and a half hours on the water and 130 minutes of sailing. 85 manoeuvres were observed of the Red boat, with a 95% fully foiling rate.

On-Water Recon Report – INEOS Britannia: The British craned to the water their two AC40s, Sienna(b) and Athena(a) in full one-design configuration, at 10.55 and 11.14, respectively; that had been left with their masts up and out of the shed overnight. The team docked out at 12.35, as planned. One-design mainsails and J2s were hoisted on both boats while heading out of the port at 12:50. A light but very stable south-westerly, combined with flat water conditions prevailed during the entire session.

Once out of the port, for the first hour, both boats speed tested performing two long upwinds and downwinds, sailing on both tacks and switching sides. The differences were minimal, negligible, with a slight extra for AC40(b) Sienna. On average, approximately three boat lengths in six miles.

At 14:20 both boats were back at the racecourse area, and did two upwind-downwind laps combined with some manoeuvres to warm up, sailing independently one from another. At the same time, the coaches set the course.

At 14:50 the first sequence of the day got underway in bottom end J2 conditions.

Sienna had the port entry, while Athena did it on starboard. When 25 seconds were remaining, after a double tack in the middle of the starting line, boat A seemed too close to the line with a lot of time to burn. Taking advantage that B was not close to them, they did a hard bear away towards the left heading under the pin end layline, and then tacked and started on port tack, crossing right behind B, heading towards the right side. Despite the last-second decision and the big risk taken, the movement paid-off and A was just ahead of B on the first cross. They continued to be just ahead on the second cross and rounded the top right mark in the lead with A just behind rounding the same gate. Boat A maintained the lead on the downwind and rounded the left gate (always looking upwind) in the lead, just 3 seconds ahead of A who followed. B did an early tack, A covered, and then the race was abandoned.

Race 2 at 15:15: Same entries, evened start, A right at the pin end, with B to windward but slightly behind. A was ahead on the first cross and covered B the entire upwind. After seven tacks A rounded the top mark in the lead with a nine-second gap. Nevertheless, there was a split at the top mark and B was able to close the gap sailing on the opposite side of the run to A. Just before the leeward gate, B catching up from behind, was able to block A on starboard tack from the leeward side, and push B further away than the port tack layline of the left gate (looking upwind). After gybing past the layline, B came back on reaching course to round the gate in the lead, with A falling-off the foils on the gybe. Then the race was stopped.

Sequence 3 at 15:35: B had the starboard entry while A did it on port. A fell-off the foils when 1:30 was remaining to the start. From there on, B put themselves in controlling position and pushed A to leeward of the pin end layline. At the gun, B started on time on the line, while A was on displacement mode heading into the wind to leeward of the pin. Then the race was abandoned.

Race 4: Same entries as the previous race. Due to a left shift A coming in on port could not cross ahead of B on the initial cross. Consequently, B controlled the pre-start from there on. Both boats started on port tack with B to windward closer to the favored pin end of the line and A to leeward. The race was abandoned immediately after the start. 

Race 5 at 15:53: B had the port entry and A the starboard one. When 30 seconds were remaining, B fell-off the foils. A started on time on the line close to the pin end. Then the race was abandoned.

Immediately after, there was a twenty-minute break in which both boats had their batteries replaced, reason why, it is not certain if B fell off the foils due to lack of energy on the boat, or not.

At 16:20 both boats went speed testing again for 30 minutes, both upwind and downwind on both tacks. As earlier on the day, differences were non-significant.

At 16:55 back at the racecourse a sixth sequence took place. B had the port entry, while A did it on starboard tack. It was an evened start with A to windward of B. A tacked first on a left shift and headed towards the right side of the course. B continued towards the left. Athena crossed ahead and covered from there on. After seven tacks only half-way on the upwind, A remained ahead. Then the race was abandoned.

Sequence 7 at 17:15: B who had the starboard entry, was standing to leeward of A very close when 25 seconds were remaining, in the middle of the line. A tacked and B was able to tack at the same time and maintain the lateral gap in between the two boats so close that there was not enough room for A to perform a new complete tack into starboard. Both boats sailed on port tack towards the starboard end of the line, B tacked first and had a clear-ahead start of A, who also started slower. Quickly on the first third of the upwind there was already a fifteen boat lengths difference, and the race was stopped.

Sequence 8 at 17:20: The most aggressive pre-start of the day saw B entering on starboard and A on port. When one minute was remaining to the start, B on controlling position to windward of A, was pushing them towards the pin end layline. A tried tacking into port to scape, but B had to clearly avoid the collision also tacking to leeward very close, not far from colliding. Both boats ended heading into the wind off the foils. Then the sequence was abandoned.

One last race got started at 17:25 that continued towards the harbor. It turned out to be an evened start with B to windward and A to leeward. A sailed faster on starboard tack towards the left that seemed to have stronger breeze and covered all the way from the first cross till the port, protecting the left side.

At 17:33 both boats entered the port and lowered their sails, docking at 17:58. AC40(B) Sienna was the first of the two to be craned out of the water at 18:15.

A very productive session for Team IB Britannia. Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on INEOS Britannia