Four teams sailed on Tuesday, June 18, out of Barcelona. They were tested by confused seaway kicked up by the easterly breeze known locally in the western Mediterranean the Llevant.

There were the inevitable hookups with Luna Rossa again appearing to be quicklier.

There is an interesting piece of video on how the jib traveller fairing works on American Magic with a ‘roller door” type cover moving back and forth with the traveller movement to keep the trench covered and minimising water ingress.

There is a blown up photo of Orient Racings foil arm with the cover removed – to show some of the control mechanisms that are contained in the foil arm for flap control.

[Knowing the AC37 Joint Recon program was coming to an end on June 22, with no replacement, we cut back on coverage of unexceptional sailing days as the AC75s were being commissioned, and will run these over the next couple of weeks, in the absence of any other coverage as the six teams start their build up to the 2024 America’s Cup in just under two months time.

This will be the full Cup Spy format – with Recon team reports, images Sail-World has selected from the 600-800 per day, or more produced, along with the full highlights video, and interview video. Here’s June 18’s report.]

What happened in the Cup – June 18, 2024:

• INEOS Britannia had a good day, getting tested like the others in the awkward seaway. Leigh McMillan who watched the session from the chase boat commented that they had a harder ride than the AC75. He felt that in a race situation they would have changed down to bigger jib to get some more power coming out of tacks and gybes, and their fall off the foils at the end of the session was directly related to the combination of an underpowered boat in the awkward seaway.
• American Magic returned after a four day maintenance and upgrade break. They started late in a session that only lasted just over 90 minutes. But were tested during tacks and gybes in the easing breeze and lumpy sea. Co-helm Tom Slingsby said afterwards that the difference between the new and old Patriot was like night and day in these conditions. The ‘roller door” jib traveller trench cover was an interesting point picked up by the AC Recon team and visible in the video below.
• Orient Express Racing Team had a technical issue in the morning on the water which triggered a pause on the water, before they resumed their commissioning tasks. They hit an underwater object late in the session which caused some some damage to the foil arm – see photo.
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s Andrea Tesei described the conditions as tough – with a steep short chop – particularly closer to the shore. He said the Italian team had a lot to work on in these conditions.
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing did not sail
• Emirates Team New Zealand were yet to arrive in Barcelona.

AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:

American Magic – AC75 – Day 22 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

After a four day maintenance and upgrade break NYYC American Magic squeezed in a two hour afternoon session today in 9-12 knot easterly winds with a nasty 1mtr plus steep chop seastate.

The team rolled out on time at 1250hrs and had the boat rigged and launched by 1330hrs. It was observed that the zippered cover system for the headsail had been refitted (see video below showing the cover in motion.) Dockout time of 1528hrs. Sails (M2-1 mainsail and J2-1 headsail were hoisted inside the harbour by 1550hrs with the boat exiting the harbour at 1600hrs where it popped straight on to the foils in bumpy conditions and 10 to 11 knots of wind from 090 degrees.

A long upwind leg followed during which the sea state made it difficult for both the team chase boats and the recon boat to stay close to the American AC75. Despite the confused and unpredictable sea state the yacht took off cleanly and smoothly and looked stable in flight and through maneuvers.

After a long down wind the crew stopped at 1617 for a five minute break before setting off again on a short free sailing windward leeward lasting less than 10 minutes.

Following a 15 minute break the crew switched to practice racing with a pre-start and two lap windward / leeward around a laid course. Tacks and gybes and roundings looked smooth and accomplished and a fast one board leeward gate rounding was particularly impressive.

After a stop for a rotation and battery change the final session of the day saw the crew perform another practice start but the yacht turned downwind three quarters of the way up the first beat for a long fast downwind run to the harbour entrance.

The boat entered the harbour at 1740hrs where sails were quickly dropped with the boat arriving back at the dock at 1800hrs.

[Justin Busuttil – AC Recon]

Crew:

Sailing: Tom Slingsby, Paul Goodison, Michael Menninger, Andrew Campbell

Power: Austin Regier, James Wright, Colton Hall, Ashton Lambie, Madison Molitor, Ethan S

Session Statistics: American Magic – AC75 – Day 22 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

• Weather: 25 degrees Sunny
• Wind Strength: 10kts – 12kts
• Wind Direction: 090 degrees – 100 degrees
• Sea State: Heavy steep 1.2m chop
• Crane In: 1125hrs Dock Out: 1255hrs
• Dock In: 1815hrs Crane out: 1900hrs
• Takeoff Angle TWA: 70 degrees-80 degrees degrees Boatspeed: 18kts-20kts
• Total Tacks: 17; Fully Foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0;
• Total Gybes: 17; Fully Foiling: 17; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0;

 

INEOS Britannia – AC75 – Day 27 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

INEOS Britannia rolled out their AC75 at 10:00ghrs, with the R01 rudder. The LiDAR hardware remained on the same places, as well as the cameras on top of each foil wing. In addition, many other Go-Pro cameras continued to be operating around the AC75 – a pair under the spreaders; one on the transom looking down at the rudder and elevator; one on each rail and one on top of the rudder stock case looking to the front.

Britannia was launched at 10:35hrs and the team docked-out at 12:00hrs as planned, after usual routine activities. The MN2-1 of smaller sail area was selected for today’s session, combined with the J4-1. Both sails were hoisted just before heading out of the harbour at 12:30hrs and were the only sails used during the day.

A very confused sea state from the ENE remained for the day, combined with ENE winds varying from 9-15kts in strength, dropping easing as the afternoon wore on.

The training started at 12:35hrs just out of the harbour with an upwind warm up, trying to cope with the tough sea state intending to achieve a stable boat. Once at the racecourse area, there was a short ten-minute break. Then INEOS Britannia engaged in a tacking duel with Luna Rossa, performing one long upwind-downwind with both boats sailing almost all the time on opposite tacks. Half-way on the downwind Britannia nose-dived on the second gybe, while failing to maintain stability.

INEOS Britannia – AC75 – Day 27 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona – photo © Paul Todd / America’s Cup

No comparative performance conclusions could be achieved in such conditions, however, in general terms, Luna Rossa seemed more stable and maneuvering more comfortably in the difficult seas.

After a short break, at 13:30hrs Britannia resumed the session sailing on their own, performing two long upwind and downwind legs. It was really hard for all chase boats to be able to keep up with the AC75, and specially for us to achieve good quality content.

At 14:00hrs there was a twenty-minute new break in which there was a four-cyclors rotation, and two technicians got onboard and headed inside the front hatch.

INEOS Britannia – AC75 – Day 27 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona – photo © Paul Todd / America’s Cup

The training continued at 14:20hrs with a short upwind-downwind-upwind, performing a few tacks and gybes.

At the end of it, the technicians got onboard once more for twenty minutes to work inside the AC75. Once finished, at 15:00hrs one downwind was carried out towards the racecourse area, where one of the team’s chase boats had laid marks.

The first race practice sequence got under way at 15:18hrs, with INEOS Brittannia starting right at the leeward end of the line, forced to make the pin. The start was followed by an upwind leg performing three tacks to round the top right mark, two gybes on the downwind before rounding the bottom left gate doing an early tack, followed by three more tacks to round the opposite top mark this time and two more gybes on the second downwind before rounding the opposite leeward gate.

After a short break a second sequence got started at 15:48hrs, practicing once more to start right at the pin end and following up with a two-lap upwind-downwind executing three tacks and two gybes per leg.

Towards the end of the second downwind, Britannia tried to engage with NYYC American Magic who passed-by. However, shortly after starting, after a touchdown tack the comparison was abandoned and the British team headed back to the base.

The British Team entered the harbour at 16:15hrs. Sails were lowered inside the port, and the team docked at 16:45hrs. The boat was craned out of the water thirty minutes after, indicating the end of the day

[Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on INEOS Britannia]

Crew – Sailing: Ben Ainslie, Giles Scott, Luke Parkinson, Bleddyn Mon
Crew – Power: Shift 1: N.Hunter & H.Leask (stb) – M.Gotrel & R.Todhunter (port); Shift 2: B. Cornish & M.Rossiter (stb) – F.Carr & J.Skulczuk (port)

Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia – AC75 – Day 27 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

 

• Weather: 27 degrees Sunny
• Wind Strength: 9-15kts
• Wind Direction: 65 degrees – 80 degrees
• Sea State: 0.9mtrs confused swell/chop
• Crane In: 1035hrs Dock Out: 1200hrs
• Dock In: 1645hrs Crane out: 1715hrs
• Takeoff: Self
• Total Tacks: 37 Fully Foiling: 32; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 4
• Total Gybes: 23 Fully Foiling: 20; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 3

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli – AC75 – Day 29 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli (LRPP) launched the AC75 at 10:00hrs this morning. Standard checks from the onshore team on different systems and controls were done before the dock out, which was done at 10:40hrs.

LRPP paired their M1-7 mainsail with the J3-7 jib at 11:00hrs inside the harbour and started sailing just five minutes after. A wind of about 10 to 13kts from 70º was blowing at that moment over short and steep waves of about 0.9mtr to 1.6mtr from an Easterly direction. [20 degrees off axis with the wind direction]

The sailing session from today was basically divided in three different phases:

• Phase 1 (11:05hrs to 12:55hrs): Four up winds and down winds were sailed where 16 tacks and 13 gybes were sailed with mark roundings done around virtual marks which were taken the 50% of the times in port and the other 50% in starboard side.
• Phase 2 (12:55hrs to 14:50hrs): Six prestarts were done in this phase. The first prestart was followed by a two laps upwind-downwind course and the second prestart was followed by a one lap upwind-downwind course. The other four starts were done with continuous timing and giving starts every five minutes. The goal from the last four starts seemed to be to nail the time on distance to the line and perform a quick tack just after crossing the line. The AC75 entered the box of the prestart 50% of the times in port side and 50% of the times in starboard side.
• Phase 3 (15:00hrs to 15:15hrs): On the way back to the harbour LRPP team set different virtual marks in short distances, in all kind of course directions and the AC75 had to round them in up or down direction. and some times had to do a gybe or a tack to manage to get to the mark and round it. 

Some highlights and comments:

• A tacking duel took place against INEOS Britannia from the beginning of the second lap after the first start they did. INEOS Britannia crossed first on the first two crosses and Luna Rossa crossed in front of INEOS Britannia on the last one.
• When the wind was blowing stronger LRPP was securing tack and gybe maneuvers, delaying lifting the new windward arm until the boat was feeling totally stable in the new course.
• Mark roundings turning upwind were done mainly with both foil arms down.
• Batteries were replaced at 14:30hrs (after 100 min of effective sailing)
• Jib 3 was replaced for Jib 4 at 11:40hrs as wind increased to 14-18 kts from 70 degrees
• Jib 4 was replaced for Jib 3 at 13:40hrs as wind decreased to 11-14 kts from 70 degrees.
• At the moment of the batteries swap we guess that two cyclors and one helm replacements were done. 

Two long stops of 25 minutes were done for jib replacing and batteries replacement. Other few smaller stops were done also of about 10 minutes time each.

Sails were dropped at 15:15hrs and the AC75 was towed back to base and dock in was done at 16:45hrs. Today’s session consisted of 4hrs 15mins (255 mins) on the course and 120mins of active sailing. 64 maneuvers were observed at 90% fully foiling ratio.

[Jose Luis Piñana – LRPP AC Recon]

Crew:

Sailing: Jimmy Spithill, Francesco Bruni, Marco Gradoni, Andrea Tesei, Umberto Molineris

Power: Bruno Rosetti, Enrico Voltolini, Luca Kirwan, Emanuele Liuzzi, Cesare Gabbia, Paolo Simion, Mattia Camboni

Session Statistics: Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli – AC75 – Day 29 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

• Weather: 28 degrees C Sunny
• Wind Strength 10kts-18kts
• Wind Direction: 70 degrees
• Sea State: 0.9mtr – 1.6 mtrs from 180 degrees
• Crane In: 1000hrs Dock Out: 1040hrs
• Dock In: 1545hrs Crane out: 1620hrs
• Takeoff Data: Self Boatspeed 18-20kts Wind TWA: 70-85 degrees
• Total Tacks: 32 – Fully foiling: 28; Touch & Go: 4; Touch Down: 0
• Total Gybes: 32 – Fully foiling: 29; Touch & Go: 3; Touch Down: 0

Orient Express Racing Team – AC75 – Day 12 – June 17, 2024 – Barcelona

Orient Express Racing Team began their preparation for the day at 08:00hrs. With the yacht left out on the forecourt overnight with its rig on, the shore crew cleaned the hull and appendages with soap before craning in at 09:00hrs.

The yacht was then lifted above the water at foiling height, for FCS (Foil Control System) testing to be carried out, as the starboard foil was raised slightly, leaving just the inboard half of the foil submerged and the bulb just above the surface. Once lowered back in the water, hydraulics tests with cyclors in position were carried out, before working on the mainsheet system. Main traveller testing was observed before further aero system hydraulics tests were repeated.

The team docked out at 11:20hrs, hoisting the M2-1 mainsail and J5-1 jib, with a wind range between 14-20kts measured off the breakwater, amid an aggressive sea state of waves measuring up to 1.5metres and a short period of 3-4secs. Sailing commenced just after midday, but electronic issues on board stopped the boat. 45 minutes later, the team were able to take off, sailing a short stint of five minutes before coming to a stop to attend to an issue with the J5. It appeared that the sleeve of the jib disconnected from the forestay, prompting the team to exchange for the J4-1 jib.

Sailing resumed at 13:25hrs, as the team sailed a short upwind, before a short break, then continuing on a long downwind stretch on port (foiling on the new foil).

After another pause, the team set off upwind, completing three tacks, before bearing away downwind. The yacht suddenly came to a stop after hitting a floating object in the water, causing damage to the outboard surface of the port foil arm. Sails were dropped at 15:00hrs about 4nm offshore, and the yacht was towed back to base in displacement mode.

The team docked in at 16:00hrs after four and a half hours on the water, and 41 minutes of active sailing. Five manoeuvres were performed, of which only two tacks were fully foiling. Quentin Delapierre confirmed the damage to the foil was not major, and the team is expected to sail again tomorrow.

[Justin Busuttil – AC Recon]

Crew:

Sailing: Quentin Delapierre, Kevin Peponnet, Mathieu Vandame, Jason Saunders,

Power: Olivier Herledant, Remi Verhoeven, Maxime Guyon, Timothe Lapauw

Session Statistics: Orient Express Racing Team – AC75 – Day 12 – June 18, 2024 – Barcelona

 

• Weather: 26 degrees Sunny
• Wind Strength: 12-17kts
• Wind Direction: 80 degrees – 90 degrees
• Sea State: 0.9 – 1.5mtr 090 degrees
• Crane In: 0900hrs Dock Out: 1120hrs
• Dock In: 1600hrs Crane out: 1645hrs
• Takeoff: Self; Est TWA: 60 degrees-80 degrees Boatspeed: 18-20kts
• Total Tacks: 4; Fully Foiling: 2; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 0;
• Total Gybes: 1; Fully Foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 1;

The Official Video of the Day:

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, and 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.

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ