KIWI YOUTH FIND THE LIMIT OF THE AC40
One of the remarkable factors that courses through the entire Emirates Team New Zealand squad from the very top to the bottom is honesty - and it's a remarkable, refreshing factor in the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup. Today out training on the ‘Back Paddock’ in Auckland, the Youth Team who were one-boat training on their AC40 over-cooked it on the exit of a gybe, lost the rudder and then had what can only be described as an epic pitch-pole and resultant capsize.
Quick as a flash the images were uploaded to the team’s Social Media channels and the ‘honesty’ of owning mistakes was there for all to see. It almost certainly looked way more dramatic from the outside than perhaps it was for the sailors onboard with the mainsail skins parting under the load and once they got the boat upright with the aid of the superb Chase Boat team, the shark-bite out of the jib clew emphasised the huge loads that an AC40 exerts in a pitch-pole at 35 knots+.
Unfortunately for the Youth team there are no on-water spare jibs carried on the Chase Boat, so the day was called after about two-and-a-half hours of race training involving laid marks having docked-out early at 9.40am. Sailing in the flat waters of the area they call the ‘Back Paddock,’ the Youth team looked to be growing in confidence and with the likes of Peter Burling, Ray Davies and Sam Meech providing direction and coaching, the young guns of Emirates Team New Zealand are more than learning from the masters – they’re owning it out there. They’ll be back stronger than ever.
Speaking afterwards, Ray Davies, the Team Coach, gave a superb interview saying: “Pretty awesome conditions, winter here in New Zealand it gets pretty fresh at times, we set out of the harbour in 15 knots, got out to what we call the ‘Back Paddock’ which is an amazing venue for sailing, nice flat water, set up a racecourse and it’s really good to get the Youth and Women up to a level where they're ripping around a racetrack now. We decided not to have a two-boat sailing day just because it was a bit of a rinse and repeat of the conditions we have been seeing, so we gave the day to the Youth and Women but yeah, they found the edge today.”
“So we had a capsize and it’s inevitable that was going to happen at some point but as they’re pushing the limits of the boat up the wind range a little bit as there's only 16 knots at the time and you know they’ll go back through it but there's probably a little bit too fast a turn rate and in the gybe and probably came out a little bit hot and next thing the rudder came out of the water and it all happened pretty quickly from there, but everyone's okay. The crew were fine Ricky, Seb, Oscar and Leo onboard and for the crew is not a problem at all blew out the jib and we didn't have another J3, there's no point continuing, the breeze was only getting windier, so we’ll come back and give the boat a check over, seemed fine so yeah make sure she's okay.”
Speaking about the resilience of the AC40 as a yacht in its own right, Ray added: “It is quite an amazing feature with these boats, when they do capsize and they do capsize, then you just put the boards back down and just check the boat back head to wind with the Chase Boat just to get the bow back in line with the wind and then the wind flow under the sail lifts the boat back up. They’re actually very easy to right and the crew can just stay in their compartments, you just got to get one crew forward to clip a tow-line onto the bow and get the boards down and she comes upright.”
Asked if there were any injuries onboard after the crash, Ray confirmed that everyone was fine, saying: “No not at all, like absolutely for any other boat that capsizes at 35 knots no problem at all and it's the first capsize they’ve done and are saying ‘look we're absolutely fine’ like you're sitting in your booth and you’re just forward and back and no problem for any sort of physical injury and it's more the boat you're worried about at that point but that's fine as well.”
And a final moral booster was offered saying: “They are progressing really well. You do have to respect the boat and as you sail in different conditions on puffy days just adapting to those conditions, it’s exciting.”
Good learnings for the Youth team who will take a lot of today and will be poring over the data in the debriefs sessions this evening. The race-training block continues in wintery Auckland tomorrow. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Report – Emirates Team New Zealand: An early dock-out for the Emirates Team New Zealand Women's and Youth Teams this morning as they made their way onto the harbour for a sailing session. With the LEQ12 not joining today, the Youth and Women’s teams had full support behind them, including coaching from Ray Davies, Sam Meech, and Peter Burling.
Hoisting the M2 and J2 sails off Mechanics Bay in the south-westerly breeze, the team set sail and completed a few short laps of the inner harbour before heading downwind, gybing toward the ‘Back Paddock.’ It seemed that the J2 might have been the wrong choice at times, as the team appeared overpowered. This observation led to a quick sail change to the J3 once they reached the ‘Back Paddock’ sailing area.
With some marks laid out, it was great to see the relatively fresh team starting to sail around a course. The J3 sail seemed to provide better control, and the crew was dialling in their manoeuvres. Sailing around a course with physical marks in the water added complexity, but the team stepped up and demonstrated some impressive skills.
During a downwind leg after completing a lap of the course, the team came out of a gybe with too much heel and turned slightly too fast, resulting in a fast-paced capsize! The boat pitchpoled, tearing the clew out of the J3 sail, and then fell over sideways after bouncing backward. However, the team quickly shifted into recovery mode, and within minutes, they had the boat upright and all crew members safe. It’s remarkable to see how easily the boats can be recovered after a capsize.
Given the damage to the jib and the wind forecast, the team dropped sails and headed for the dock, ending the session there.
Recon had an interview with Ray Davies after sailing, he mentioned that the crew were all completely fine, and the team was satisfied with how they had handled the situation.