LUNA ROSSA LAUNCHED IN BARCELONA

With now symmetric foils, having fitted a new port foil in Cagliari before shipping to Barcelona, life should have been easier for Jimmy Spithill who steers from the starboard pod but the recon team noted some instability, particularly downwind, so for sure there’s still some bedding in to do. Francesco Bruni, steering in the port pod commented on the foils saying: “I mean it's easier, the asymmetry that we had was a little bit hard to manage in some manoeuvres, so now that we have everything symmetric it's easier in a certain way.”

The Italians also introduced a new windshield for the flight controller/trimmer on the starboard side in the forward pod position that gives a much clearer view than the arrangement they had before with the trimmer able to see the sails and foils. With this very much a commissioning day, the team executed some long upwind and downwind legs, stopping in between to let the tech teams onboard to check everything was running as it should. Finally with the use of Chase Boats and virtual marks, they went into a race format before calling it a day having recorded some 68 minutes of flight time over the two-and-a-half-hour session. A great first day at the venue for the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team.

Speaking about the first sail here in Barcelona, Francesco Bruni, port helm on Luna Rossa commented: “Well first of all we are very happy to be in Barcelona and to train in the official venue. It's a different piece of water for sure, the waves we knew it and today it was proved that they are different from what we trained in Cagliari so it's very important that we do as much sailing as possible in these conditions. We know that it can be also worse than this and today was possibly an average day for the waves so yeah we're super happy to be here in Barcelona.”

And talking about the stability issues that his co-helm Jimmy Spithill appeared to be having when steering on starboard gybe downwind, Francesco commented: “I felt unstable on port as well! I think the waves were definitely something new and it was the first time for Jimmy on that foil so it's a little bit different, also the waves were a little bit asymmetric at times so I think that overall we saw everything today, I don't think they were more stable than us let's put it that way and a lot of the time stability doesn't mean speed so sometimes you are stable and you're faster so we don't know that but we felt pretty good, the boat felt good, Jimmy was happy to steer for the first time on that new foil and yeah it was a very good day for the team.”

NYYC American Magic were the first to dock-out today at 10am keen to trial their new M1 mainsail in the lighter morning conditions. Garnished with a million tell tales, this new, slightly bigger mainsail appeared to give the trimmers a lot of confidence and over the next five hours, as the wind steadily increased, they more than put it through its paces as they completed three races with virtual marks and some 141 minutes of active foiling time. A total of 70 manoeuvres were completed at an 87% foiling rate – impressive by any standards. Please also note the calculations in the report below of VMG speeds attained over the racecourse.

Speaking afterwards, sail designer Juan Mesegeur commented on the session, saying: “It was a great day, we started very early, the earliest team today on the water, we wanted to get some of the lighter wind in the morning because it was a new main and when you start loading it, we just wanted to take it easy with the loads and how you sail with the sail and it was great because the wind came up is slowly not brutally so quite slowly so was great for us to verify all the new design of the new M1...The only thing I can tell you is that it’s slightly bigger and we’re testing, obviously like other teams, different sizes of mainsails and this one is just a touch bigger.”

And commenting on the barrage of tell tales that American Magic runs all over the sails and key deck areas, Juan said: “I think everyone is in the same place, everyone is keen to know what's happening on the surface of the aero side - it could be the sail, it could be the mast, the interaction with the jib, with the back of the mainsail so those tell tales tell us few things that we are interested also you know, some on the deck, just to see all interaction of how everything works together...I think everybody is trying to push the aero for the best performance and then also learn how to get more forgiveness on the trim and go through the waves when it's bumpy so it's nothing new it's just push the limits and then back off a little bit.”

For Alinghi Red Bull Racing, a terrific overnight effort from the shore team to repair the damaged rudder from yesterday, saw the boat emerge from the shed in pristine A1 condition for another day at the office at pace. Today onboard, the Swiss mixed things up with the talented Nicolas Rolaz taking up a trimming position and from the outset, after an initial upwind and downwind sighter, it was all-on for the youngster as Maxime Bachelin and Arnaud Psarofaghis performed their usual “S” and “zero” training manoeuvres that require huge co-ordination and accuracy. Nicolas more than passed the test.

Going into fast laps and pre-starts, this was a solid afternoon of nearly five hours of training with the team getting more confident in the platform and executing their pre-start manoeuvres aggressively. Often the preferred option was to run in the pre-start areas with both boards down before the time-on-distance leg into the line at the gun. Also observable was how much lower they ran the ride height today and moded the boat with a bit of leeward heel and deep cant to effectively ‘stand’ on the immersed foil.

Speaking afterwards, Arnaud Psarofaghis complimented the build team for getting the boat back on the water so fast, saying: “The shore team did a really good job to fix it overnight and today we were sailing with the same rudder as yesterday and we couldn't feel any different, really great work from the team, and it was really a minor issue I think that we probably hit something in the water that made the damage.”

And talking about having Nicolas Rolaz on the boat, Arnaud added: “It was first time for Nicolas Rolaz) to be on the trimmer post on BoatOne and I think you just need to get used to it but it was a really good day we did a lot of tricky manoeuvres in a challenging condition as well, but really good condition...co-ordination is going pretty well (between helm and trimmers), we started it yesterday I think or the day before and we did some fine tuning on what we wanted to improve and today was a perfect day to do that. We can still get better at it and if we can get to the level where we were with the AC40 in the AC75, we will be in a really good position.”

Asked if there were still positions on the boat up for grabs, Arnaud left the door wide open saying: “The racing team is still open for every position, even the helmsman, trimmer, flight controller and the cyclors - of course we’re never going to jump on the bike but between them they will rotate.”

Down in Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand went hard into two-boat race practice with the LEQ12 being half equalised by running a one-design foil on port which made the lead backs into the starting line on starboard tack far more even in terms of speed differential. Once again Josh Junior and Sam Meech were making life tough for Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge and with wind gusts of up to 20 knots, this was all-out racing at the very highest level.

The big game in town was staying on the foils in the final circling manoeuvres and on more than one occasion a turn just too tight would result in a rapid splashdown and effectively end the race and give the other boat a big advantage. On the racecourse itself over short-course laps, it was tight and almost synchronised covering had a huge effect on the trailing yacht such were vortexes coming off the sails.

On the way back home, Nathan Outteridge swapped helming roles with Josh Junior and there was a bit of drama as the clew-board ripped from the sailcloth of the starboard skin on the one-design AC40 which was running LEQ12 sails. The sailors stopped and de-rigged to tow back to the base.

Earlier in the day with the winds around 12 knots, the Women & Youth teams docked-out early to continue getting their valuable on-water time up and the recon team spoke to Olympic Nacra 17 representative, Erica Dawson, who is due to travel to Marseille next week to work up for the Games. Speaking about the training and the day, Erica said: “It was awesome a bit more breeze today, we just wanted to get some manoeuvres down and get some pre-start work in so just trying to up the hours on the boat and throw a few manoeuvres in...it’s so cool learning so much every day and I guess every hour on the water counts so yeah it's been really cool.”

A truly great day of sailing both in Barcelona and Auckland and all eyes this weekend will be on the Orient Express Racing Team base with word reaching us that they will be stepping the mast on Saturday afternoon. NYYC American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli will continue training over the weekend too. It’s all happening as the race for the Louis Vuitton 37^th America’s Cup ramps up. (Magnus Wheatley)

On-Water Recon Report – Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli: For their first sailing day in Barcelona, LRPP team rolled out their B3 at 11:20 with the new port wing, modified starboard wing and with a see-through windscreen on starboard flight controller. It is yet unclear whether there are changes between starboard and port wings, while slender cameras cases were fitted on both wings on lower and upper sides.

The team ran through the usual dock checks before leaving the dock at 13:15. The main M1-7 was hoisted at 13:30 and paired to the J2-7 as the breeze was measured 9.5-11 knots from 80-85° with 0.75m chop from 95°. For the first stint of 15 minutes, B3 self-took-off at 14-15 knots on starboard tack and sailed upwind and completed two fully foiling tacks. A short break followed with technicians diving below deck before the next stint commenced at 14:15.

Up foilborne by self-take-off on port tack, B3 headed for a short upwind before bearing away for a long straight-line downwind on starboard tack. Sailing downwind, the yacht seemed to struggle slightly more on starboard tack compared to port tack. Chase boats and virtual marks were then used to setup a course and an unofficial starting practice was observed followed by an upwind and downwind leg. As the yacht decelerated at 14:40, several shots were taken by the team on both lower parts of each appendage.

The breeze increased to 12-13 knots and the J2-7 was lowered to hoist the J3-7. The third stint started at 15:00 via self-take-off on port tack, developing in additional straight-lining on port tack before a second pre-start drill was observed. No cyclor rotation or battery swaps were observed during the day. The yacht decelerated at 15:25 right after the starting drill and the team began to lower sails. Quite hard to keep up with B3 in the chop.

Overall, the team seemed to have a confident first day of sailing in Barcelona with approximately 65 minutes foilborne, 12 tacks and 9 gybes, out of which 80% fully foiling. Michele Melis AC Recon

On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 10:00. The boat was craned to the water at 10:25 and the team docked out at 12:00, after usual routine activities.

The M2-1 was selected for the session, combined with the legacy J3-3L. Both sails were hoisted just before heading out of the port at 12:35, with Arnaud Psarofaghis (stb helm), Maxime Bachelin (port helm), Bryan Mettraux (stb flight controller), and Nicolas Rolaz in replacement of Nicolas Charbonnier on the port side trimmer position.

Easterly medium winds prevailed during the session, increasing in intensity towards the afternoon and slightly shifting right during the day, combined with a considerable disorganised sea state.

The training started with an upwind-downwind. In the middle of the first leg a small piece of plastic got stuck on the port side foil wing, that forced a short stop to get it removed.

At 12:58 there was a first ten-minute break in which the technicians got onboard to execute their respective routine checks.

In a day clearly focused on boat handling and pre-start movements, the training continued with some “S” manoeuvres on starboard tack, followed by some “zeros”, trying to achieve a stable boat with a good coordination in between flight controlling, sails trimming and course changes, in complicated seas.

By 13:45 Alinghi Red Bull Racing was back at the race-course area, where marks had been laid and the pre-start sequences got underway just after a short break. A total of three sequences were accomplished, with the J3-3L altering port and starboard tack entries and different movements inside be box. The first two sequences were abandoned right after the start, while the third one continued with a one-lap upwind-downwind executing five tacks and four gybes, before rounding the bottom left gate.

At 14:33 there was a twenty-minute break in which the legacy J3-3L got replaced by the J4-1, and two new cyclors came onboard to stand in for their colleagues on the starboard side.

At 14:50 a short upwind-downwind was carried out, combined with some “zeros” with the J4-1. Then at 15:24 the fourth pre-start sequence was accomplished, stopping right after the start for a five-minute debrief.

At 15:46 the fifth and last sequence of the day happened, continuing with a three-lap upwind-downwind altering the top mark rounding to port and starboard and executing four tacks and gybes per leg on average. After rounding the leeward gates, Alinghi Red Bull Racing continued to sail towards the port.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing entered the harbour sailing at 16:15, then sails got lowered and the team docked at 16:45. Half an hour later it was craned out of the water, indicating the end of the day. Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on Alinghi Red Bull Racing 

On-Water Recon Report – NYYC American Magic: American Magic rolled out Patriot at 08:30, delayed from 07:50 due to ongoing works on foils, followed by crane in at 08:50. The spray rail arrangement on the port foil arm stock has been adjusted with two more rails added back and the top rail shortened and moved down, while on the starboard foil; the upper spray rail from leading to trailing edge was removed (small spray rail at leading edge half way down remains). A change in the rudder was also declared, but the difference was not noticed today. The port forward cyclor pod cover was back in place, covering half the pod, with tell tales on the surface. All tell tales have been replaced in green, and two sticks with tell tales along the length were positioned in the pods for aero testing.

The team docked out at 10:00, with the new MN1-1 mainsail (bigger than the MN2-1) and the J2-1 jib hoisted under the breakwater. Sailing commenced at 10:57, with an average 12 knot TWS recorded at 60 degrees in the morning and up to 15 knots at 105 deg in the afternoon, amidst an easterly sea state up to 1.2m in height and 3-4s in period. The team started with testing five short upwind/downwind stints, effectively adjusting settings in between as the boat grew visibly more stable.

The team began racecourse practice just after midday, entering the box on starboard and demonstrating a more technical pre-start than previous days, completing two turns before the final approach to the line. The course was set at 76 deg. The course length, 1.86NM, was measured by sitting on and marking the pin end of the leeward and windward gates via the onboard Garmin GPS. Leg 1 (upwind) was timed at 5 minutes 21 seconds, giving an average VMG of 20.9kn, while Leg 2 (downwind) was timed at 4:11, giving an average VMG of 26.7kn. The team continued on a second lap, rounding a virtual windward buoy to the right of the set gate. The number of manoeuvres per leg were not recorded for this race. Following the two-lap stint, the cyclor team rotated and the J2 jib was exchanged for the J3-1.

A second start saw the team enter on port, slightly late, but clear at the go, then stopped after a few hundred meters as tech crew jumped on board to focus on the jib clew area. Patriot entered on port for the third and final start, clear at the gun, and sailed a lap of the unchanged set course. Four tacks were performed in Leg 1, timed at 5:08, avg 21.7kn VMG, and three gybes were performed in Leg 2, timed at 3:42, avg 30.2kn VMG. Patriot came to a stop following a touch and go leeward rounding, before resuming upwind to a virtual buoy. The leeward rounding was followed by a series of bear-aways and round-ups in quick succession on starboard, then repeated on port.

The team took a 15-minute debriefing and lunch break, before a long upwind, initially sailing long stretches before transitioning into manoeuvres in quicker succession. This was repeated downwind, with a short pause halfway down, as the team aimed for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and lined up downwind for a very brief period, before continuing downwind to base and dropping sails under the breakwater at 14:45.

The team docked in at 14:55 after five hours on the water and 141 minutes of active sailing. 70 manoeuvres were observed, at 87% fully foiling rate. Patriot was craned out at 15:35, with further works on board carried out for another 40 minutes before the rig was craned off and the yacht rolled back into the shed. Justin Busuttil - AC Recon 

On-Water Recon Report – Emirates Team New Zealand: Day 80 of sailing LEQ12 on the Hauraki Gulf for Emirates Team New Zealand. The day kicked off with the Women's team heading out onto the harbour to get some training laps in the AC40 OD before being joined later in the afternoon by LEQ 12 for some two-boat testing.

They headed to the 'Back Paddock' south of Motuihe Island to set up the course and get into some practice starts. Onboard the AC40 OD were Josh Junior, Sam Meech, Marcus Hansen, and Gemma Jones. After a short warm-up, they got straight into racing.

With the highest wind we have seen during this two-boat testing phase, the teams were sailing hard during the pre-starts. They took noticeably more risks to fit manoeuvres in, even if that meant touching down. This was high-risk, high-reward starting practice because if the team managed to complete the manoeuvre and remain foiling and in control, they would win the start. However, when they didn't, they would end up stopped in the water with the opposition sailing off with no competition.

The LEQ12 was using a one-design foil on the port side today in an attempt to even up the speed difference between the boats. There was a noticeable change; however, more often than not, the LEQ12 team would come out on top off the start line. It was impressive to see how quickly the boats could tack and gybe when needed to gain an advantage in position.

Pulling up the marks and getting ready to sail back up the harbour, the crews did a quick swap around. Josh Junior stepped onboard the LEQ12 into the driving spot, and Nathan Outteridge joined the Women's team onboard AC40 OD.

While sailing back up the harbour, AC40 OD, using LEQ12 sails, experienced a breakage. Sailing close-hauled in approximately 16-18 knots, the leeward main skin clew board failed, causing the boat to stop rapidly. Ending the session, both boats dropped sails and headed for the dock.