With an enormous New Zealand Ensign flying high and proud from the crane, Emirates Team New Zealand beat all expectations and launched the AC75 ‘Te Rehutai’ into a favourable weather window, two days ahead of schedule. Remarkable effort from the round-the-clock shore team who deserve huge credit for not just rushing the boat to its first flight in Barcelona but delivering the boat in first-class condition straight out of the box.
Towed out of the harbour just ahead of the NYYC American Magic AC40 two-boat training programme, ‘Te Rehutai’ was quickly down to business with Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling tasting the warm Mediterranean conditions for the first flight of what is going to be a long campaign in the defence of the 37th America’s Cup. In afternoon breezes that saw 15-18 knots registering on the anemometer, Te Rehutai was in its element. 90% foil-to-foil tacks and gybes was a serious marker of intent that will have caught the eye of both the Swiss and the Americans who were all out today revelling in the breeze.
Speaking afterwards, a sprightly Ray Davies summarised the day saying: “It’s fantastic to be here in Barcelona and today we had incredible conditions, 14 to 18 knots, spectacular breeze that built around 10:30am and then through the race period later in the day…so we’re here for four months, our goals are to understand the venue learn a lot about the conditions here, make sure we sail right through October when the Cup is going to be and learn as much as we possibly can.”
And talking about first impressions of the conditions and whether they would affect the ongoing work of the Emirates Team New Zealand Design Office, Ray commented: “We’ll certainly be looking to see what we learn over the next few weeks, obviously we’re running out of time to change too much on the new boat, we’re getting pretty locked in with the design, but certainly there’s plenty to do with sails and foils and rudders and elevators so yeah a lot to still learn about but it’s going to be really, really, interesting to see over the next few months how the conditions change.”
Out to the south, NYYC American Magic were looking back to their best with some real hammer and tongs two-boat racing being conducted. Once again, the LEQ12 looked higher, faster but more prone to falling off the foils than her One Design AC40 sister-ship ‘Magic.’ Riley Gibbs and Paul Goodison had the LEQ12 consistently tracking closer to the wind upwind and when the after-burners were lit downwind, she looked noticeably faster.
The foil development programme is clearly on to something positive but keeping ‘America’ from ventilating fast and splashing down is a job for the Flight Controllers. Tom Slingsby was getting decent AC40 One Design time under his belt ahead of the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú in September and the team’s beautiful windward heel and bow-down technique was much in evidence on both boats who looked more than happy in the top-end conditions.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing were sailing their AC75 down on the Barcelona beachfront and along to the Forum district to the east of the city frontage and running through a whole load of systems upgrades that are concentrating on dynamic mainsail control. The recon unit reported that: “It appears that an active effort is being made to hide the traveller” and that correlates with recent observations from the team’s boat captain being tethered to the aft quarter to watch for effectiveness (it was wrongly reported that Yves Detrey did this function yesterday) The Swiss put in one heck of a session, covering some 54 nautical miles but crucially executing an 89% foil-to-foil ratio over 56 tacks and gybes. Sailing with the small J6 headsail that we don’t see too often on BoatZero and the smaller M2 mainsail, the Swiss looked really on it today with great control and clear improvements in sail handling which translate into more confidence through the manoeuvres. Big strides being made.
Shoreside at the Emirates Team New Zealand base the Recon Team reported a “really positive atmosphere within the sailors and the entire team,” and that’s something that is crucial in an America’s Cup campaign. The new base looks stunning with its decals of the Barcelona skyline and the new crew kit and helmets didn’t go un-noticed. The current holders of the America’s Cup are in town and setting the pace. The race for the 37th America’s Cup is well and truly on.
On-Water Recon Unit Notes – Emirates Team New Zealand: ETNZ rolled out their B2 AC75 from the shed at 10.00 am. Immediately after, the mast was set on the boat and while setting the port shroud, a minor issue was found on the mast that required it to be craned down. The instrumentation and mechanics engineer Mrs. Hartzell had to spend around 30 minutes working on the mast, with the mast down, just under the height of the spreader fixing something. It was not possible to see precisely what it was.
Once fixed, the mast was set and the boat was craned to the water at 11.45. Once on the water, boat preparation checks were performed for approximately an hour and a half, checking the general functionality of all mechanics, electronics, and hydraulics. Nothing in particular was noticed; just usual routine works.
The team docked out at 14:05, with the M2 and J4 sails onboard, that were used during the entire day with no sail changes. Sails where hoisted at 14:20. The training consisted of sailing upwind and downwind, doing some tacks and gybes, and a couple bear-aways and head-ups, for two hours with four stops of not more than five to ten minutes each. No marks were used.
It was a solid first day for ETNZ, with no break downs and a 90% of their manoeuvres were completed on their foils. Only on two tacks and gybes their speed was reduced considerably. There were no forced landings at all.
Conditions: SSW Garbi sea breeze, averaging 15-16 knots from 210 turning to 220 on the afternoon. Choppy conditions, 0,6m swell from 210.
At 16:30 ETNZ returned to the port with no breakdowns and a really positive atmosphere within the sailors and the entire team. Usual maintenance activities were performed on the boat after sailing.
On-Water Recon Unit Notes – American Magic: Clean and successful windy day for AM today with two boat testing and no issues. Roll out was @11:45h for Magic (OD) and 12:20h for America (LEQ12). The lower fence on the starboard foil arm had been removed, the top 3 ones still in the same spot as yesterday, and some starred signage added. Dock out was @13:56 with Goodison, Campbell, Gibbs, Calabrese on (the LEQ12) ‘America’ and Slingsby, Menninger, Gramm, Melges on the AC40 ‘Magic.’
Both boats rigged jib #3, America on main sail MN#3 and Magic on MN#2 as the wind reading was 16-18kt @190º with 0.5m, 2.8” @200º wind waves (sea state 4 Beaufort). Sailing began @14:26h with both boats lining up upwind on starboard tack, ‘America’ lost control and had to stop @14:30. After a short briefing on Chase Boat 4, sailing resumed @14:40h with a short upwind where ‘America’ pointed higher and gained considerably ground on ‘Magic.’ After two tacks they bore away to a long downwind, ‘America’ faster again, with only 3 gybes they stopped @15:09h for a debrief.
Sailing again @15:34h, first downwind under control and then upwind where ‘America’ lost control and crashed twice with no consequences. They finished sailing @15:44h and dock-in was @16:07. It seems American Magic has finally improved the reliability of their LEQ12 to allow proper two boat testing sessions. Lea Sitjà.
On water Recon Unit Notes – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 09:45, with general system checks performed at the dock. Sails were craned on and prepared on deck ahead of the 12:45 dock-out, continuing the testing of sail control systems. It appears that an active effort is being made to hide the traveller.
‘Garbi’ afternoon thermal wind from the South Southwest (200°), blew between 16 to 21 knots changing, turning to South West towards the end of the day (220°). The sea state was challenging, with aggressive chop among a SSW swell ranging from 0.5m to 0.9m in height, with a 3-4s period. There was a noticeable difference in wave height, being larger at the south of the sailing area by the freeport, and flatter outside the Forum.
The team seemed to be in top form today, with substitute cyclors on chase boats, ready to swap in to maintain the high-power demand on such a windy day. The M2-2L mainsail and J6-1L jib were hoisted just outside the port, all controls tightened for a flat sail.
The first stint of sailing included two tacks followed by a pause for jib adjustment, then a downwind run to the Forum, with nine gybes, eight of which were fully foiling, one touch and go. The second stint consisted of a short upwind of three tacks, stopping just a few hundred meters from Emirates Team New Zealand’s Te Rehutai, where the J6 jib was then replaced with the J5-1R.
A jib halyard issue set the team back a short while, with a team member climbing the mast to reconnect it. Following this, the team executed a long downwind, an upwind, and then another downwind. A total of 28 manoeuvres were performed, with a remarkable 25 fully foiling.
The J5 jib was dropped temporarily and cyclors were substituted for the fourth and final sailing stint, comprising another upwind/downwind leg. The sails were dropped just before 17:00 outside the Forum, after which the yacht was towed back to base.
On this sunny day, a total of 54 nautical miles were covered, the team spent four and a half hours on the water, of which 95 minutes were spent sailing. In total, 56 manoeuvres were performed, of which 89% were fully foiling – the team’s best record so far with the AC75.
