Cup Spy August

Emirates Team New Zealand were the only team to get foiling off Barcelona on Tuesday.

What happened in the Cup – August 1, 2023:

Emirates Team New Zealand sailed their AC75, in a light but useful foiling breeze, and were the only team to get foiling on Tuesday.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing moved both AC40s to their new permanent base at Maremagnum. Despite a successful sail yesterday with their latest test foil on the port arm, they had issues early in the session with the test foil, which seemed to emanate from the in-foil control systems.
Luna Rossa – there was no report from the AC37 Joint Recon. The team is sailing from Cagliari and Barcelona, but only Cagliari is being reported as that is where their test boat is located.
American Magic – were not reported as sailing.
INEOS Britannia – rolled out their test boat T6 and spent seven hours on the setup and calibration of the boat. They are expected to sail on Wednesday.
No further news from the Orient Express Team (formerly K-Challenge).

Emirates Team New Zealand – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona © Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

August 1, 2023 – 0000hrs (July 31) – 000hrs (August 2) Predictwind realtime wind readings – Port Olimpic, Barcelona – photo © Predictwind

Weather conditions at Barcelona August 1, 2023:

On the water the AC37 Recon teams reported a breeze of only 6-9kts from 170 degrees-177 degrees.

At the real-time observation station at Port Olimpic, the real-time recordings (see image above) over a 48 hour period the period between 1300hrs to 1530hrs showed the breeze at around 10-12kts later dropping to 7.5kts an gusting a little above those wind strengths. The direction at Port Olimpic remained steady at 180 degrees.

The confused cross sea reported on July 31, had dropped away – with the ETNZ recon team reporting flat seas of less than 0.5metres.

Emirates Team New Zealand – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:

Emirates Team NZ – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona

From the AC37 Joint Recon Team:

ETNZ rolled out their B2 AC75 Te Rehutai, the current America’s Cup champion, from the shed at 10.35hrs. The boat was craned to the water at 11:05hrs and the team docked out at 13.00hrs, after a one-hour postponement due to lack of wind. The M2 and the J3 were hoisted inside the port at 13:08hrs and 13:12hrs, respectively.

The team started the day doing some maneuvers.

They did in total 28 tacks and 21 gybes, standing on their foils on absolutely all of them, consolidating another day of strong boat handling performance.

Emirates Team New Zealand – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

Today’s training was mainly focused on practicing pre-starts, at the beginning using two marks and later using their two chase boats in replacement of those marks. Most of the starting sequences were followed by a short two-lap upwind-downwind virtual course.

The team alternated the entrances. On some of them coming into the box from the starboard end of the line and on some others from the port end. Similarly, they practiced some starts at the RC boat and some others at the Pin end.

During the pre-starting sequence they also alternated their practice. Sometimes they went deep into the pre-start box, close to where the boundaries would be, and on some other starts they stayed closer, practicing burning time close to the starting line in different ways, applying different techniques.

The focus was mainly on the accelerations, decelerations, course changes, maneuvers at low speeds and time-distance estimations.

Please, refer to the videos for further details and techniques on how they burn time when being close to the starting line.

At 14:40 ETNZ did a break and the J3 was replaced by the J2, that seemed more appropriate for the wind conditions that prevailed from that time of the day onwards.

The pre-starting and short course practice continued until the end of the day, with the J2.

Sailing conditions: Wind direction pretty consistent all day, prevailing from 176 degrees and intensity constantly decreasing. There were almost ten knots at sea level at the beginning of the day and it ended up close to six at the end of the training.

Sails were lowered at 16:05hrs once inside the port, the boat was back in the dock at 16:15hrs, craned out at 16:47hrs and back in the shed at 17:08, with no breakdowns.

ETNZ plans to resume their training next Thursday.

Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on ETNZ

Session Statistics – Emirates Team NZ – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona

Weather: 32 degreesC Sunny
Wind Strength: 6-9kts
Wind Direction: 170 degrees – 177 degrees (S)
Sea State: 0.5metres, nearly flat
Crane In: 1615hrs Dock Out: 1300hrs
Dock In: 1525hrs Crane out: 1647hrs
Total Tacks: 28 – Fully foiling: 28; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Total Gybes: 21 – Fully foiling: 21; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0

Crew: Nathan Outteridge, Peter Burling, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke

Emirates Team New Zealand – AC75 – Day 29 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Job Vermeulen / America’s Cup

Sail transfer – Alinghi Red Bull Racing – LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Alex Carabi / America’s Cup

Alinghi Red Bull Racing LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona

From the AC37 Joint Recon Team:

Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-4 (Yellow) and AC40-7 (Red) at 08:30 and 09:05 respectively. Rigs were set on both boats prior to the crane-in at the old base.

Subsequently, both were towed to the new base at Maremagnum.

A somewhat extended period was necessary for system checks on both boats at the dock. A “Mator” portable air conditioner was brought onto the dock, its hoses being directed into the AC40-7 (red boat AC40 OD). Given the particularly hot and humid conditions of the day, the “Mator” was likely used to maintain manageable temperatures for work below deck and perhaps to expedite the drying of the interior.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing – LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Alex Carabi / America’s Cup

Despite both boats being prepared, the decision was made to sail with only one boat, the AC40-4. It docked out at 13:00hrs with one design sails. The ‘Garbi’ afternoon thermal wind was blowing at a moderate 9-11 knots from 190 degrees by the start of sailing at 13:20hrs. Sea conditions from the South East were fairly flat compared to yesterday.

Stint 1 was cut short when, after less than 5 minutes of sailing, an issue with the port foil arm forced an end to sailing. The port foil arm was lifted as the yacht was slowly towed back to base. Michel Kermarec and Adolfo Carrau were on the water, then joined by more foil designers who arrived at the base imminently when the boat docked in, to inspect the damage to the foil. After crane out, it was noted that the interior surface access hatch of the foil arm dislodged, revealing the inner workings of the foil.

Forward port co-helm cockpit – Alinghi Red Bull Racing – LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Alex Carabi / America’s Cup

Meanwhile, the red boat remained at the base. The reason for its non-use remains unknown, but work on the boat continued while the yellow boat went out for sailing.

Given the limited time on the water, there were no significant observations regarding the team’s performance. The session was marked more by equipment and environmental challenges rather than racing or testing.

Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona

Weather: Sunny 32 degreesC
Wind Strength 9-11kts
Wind Direction: 190 degrees
Sea State: 0.7m at 4sec period
Crane In: 0855hrs Dock Out: 1300hrs
Dock In: 1400hrs Crane out: 1420hrs
Total Tacks: 0 – Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Total Gybes: 0 – Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0

Crew: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nico Charbonnier, Lucien Crujean, Nico Rolaz

This was about as close to sailing as Alinghi Red Bull Racing got – LEQ12 – Day 46 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Alex Carabi / America’s Cup

Main sheet track – INEOS Britannia’s T6 – LEQ12 – August 1July, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Ugo Fonolla / America’s Cup

INEOS Britannia – LEQ12 – Day 62 – August 1, 2023 – Barcelona

From the AC37 Joint Recon Team:

A non sailing day for Ineos Britannia today as the British team’s technicians and shore crew configured and calibrated the mast on their silver T6 LEQ12 test boat.

It’s a procedure that the team has undertaken on numerous occasions previously, and – other than an hour-long delay due to onboard connectivity issues – the day went smoothly.

As on previous occasions the team began the day by levelling the boat and its cradle using a theodolite and four steel tape measures hanging fore and aft on the boat.

Rudder box and controls – INEOS Britannia’s T6 – LEQ12 – August 1July, 2023 – Barcelona – photo © Ugo Fonolla / America’s Cup

That done, while the mast was being stepped, plumb lines were hung from the bow and stern and using a laser site and a thin feeder cord the midline of the boat was extended aft by about a little over a boat length.

Following this a prolonged period of calibration was carried out by the team on deck before the first of two theodolite sightings up the mast were made. A minor correction to the setup after the first sighting saw thumbs from the theodolite operators.

Beginning at 1030 this morning and finishing at 1730 with the mast back in its cradle, the seven hour day saw the boat wheeled back into the shed at 1740.

Test wing foil - INEOS Britannia's T6 - LEQ12 - August 1July, 2023 - Barcelona - photo © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup

No major changes to the boat itself were observed – with the starboard foil being the anhedral and the port foil the original spitfire wing shape.

Both foils had large pitot tubes protruding forwards. The starboard foil had upper and lower cameras, while the port foil just had a lower camera. On the mast a grey enclosure (previously fitted but not operational) was spotted with multiple cables protruding from the bottom. The enclosure was comprised of two separate boxes labelled “Shrouds” and “Mast Zeroes” respectively.

A sailing day has been scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday August 2) – the first time T6 will have been launched and sailed in Barcelona.

Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia – LEQ12 – Day 62 – August 1, 2023 – Mallorca

Weather: Hot, clear skies 30 degrees C
Wind Strength
Wind Direction:

This commentary was written and compiled from video, still images and statistical content extracted from the AC37 Joint Recon program and other material available to Sail-World NZ including photo files, and other on the water coverage from the 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2021 America’s Cups. Its format is intended to give Sail-World readers a snapshot of all teams’ progress on a given day or period.

Additional Images: