Cup Spy Oct 27: Swiss reach the significant milestone
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 28 Oct 2023 12:22 UTC
29 October 2023
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 100 - Barcelona - October 27, 2023 © Paul Todd/America's Cup
The Swiss were the only team to sail their AC75, and completed a foreshortened three and a half hour session, in a flatter seaway of 0.7 - 0.9mtrs. The wind had stayed up throughout the night leaving a residual swell at 1.2metres, which dropped half a metre by 0900hrs.
As with yesterday the Swiss were sailing the AC75 more confidently, turning in a dry foiling percentage of above 90%, despite a significant seaway.
What happened in the Cup - October 27, 2023:
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - sailed their AC75 for a foreshortened three and a half hour session - in a flatter seaway of 0.7 - 0.9mtrs. They sailed in a breeze which began at 5-6kts around 11.00hrs and then quickly increased to 15kts gusting to 20kts according the nowcasting at Port Olimpic to their credit, given the sea state were able to achieve another high dry foiling percentage.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - The America's Cup Defenders have sailed their last session in Barcelona for 2023. The team now heads for Auckland, leaving the AC75, Te Rehutai, behind and exporting an AC40 to Jeddah for next month's second Preliminary Regatta.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team
- INEOS Britannia - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team. Their test boat T6 is still in the shed after the catastrophic destruction of their rudder and rudder assembly during a towing session.
- American Magic - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team. They will start sailing the AC75 on November 6 according to Wednesday's AC37 Joint Recon team report.
- Orient Express Racing Team - No report from the AC37 Joint Recon team
- All teams are shipping AC40s to Jeddah for the second Preliminary Events at the end of November. Organisers will obviously be monitoring the security and war situation in the surrounding territories, before giving the teams a green light to travel to the venue.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Reports:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - October 26, 2023 - Barcelona - from Elia Miquel- ARBR Recon Unit
Alinghi Red Bull Racing team demonstrated their improved technique, sailing around a race course in a puffy and gusty day.
ARBR team rolled out their AC75 at 9:00hrs. The yacht was craned in, and the usual pre-sailing checks were carried out, with engineers onboard testing the hydraulics.
The team docked out at 11:00hrs, hoisting the M2-2 mainsail and the J3-3 headsail inside the port and being towed out by 11:23hrs. The wind conditions outside were 6 kts from 290° and more of a flat sea state with some clouds all over the sky.
Alinghi started sailing in displacement mode by the port entrance, following by the first take-off on their starboard foil and a quick touch down, the gusty and the puffy wind was not making it easy.
At 11:38hrs, they did a long upwind-downwind with blistering 45 kts, and stopped by the mark that the team placed. The wind increased rapidly and also did the sea state with short little waves.
At 12:00hrs, with a tow line, they changed the headsail configuration, dropping the J3-3 and hoisting the J5-1.
At 12:17hrs, the wind shifted and the breeze decreased 7-9 knots while they sailed around the mark.
Following the same pattern as yesterday, they foiled testing different settings and cant angles. Next, they practised pre-start procedures and trained around a 4nm leg course.
At 13:45hrs, they had an unexpected problem onboard and after fifteen minutes the team decided to lower the sails and tow the yacht back into the base, where they docked in by 14:20hrs.
The team covered a total of 45nm over almost three hours on the water, 75 minutes were spend sailing with 35 manoeuvres performed, 91% fully foiling.
Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - October 26, 2023 - Barcelona
- Weather: 19° Partially cloudy
- Wind Strength 6kts at 11:30hrs; 15-16kts at 12:00hrs.
- Wind Direction: 280-290°
- Sea State: 0.3 - 0.8mtrs
- Crane In: 0900hrs Dock Out: 1100hrs
- Dock In: 1420hrs Crane out: 1630hrs
- Total Tacks: 22 - Fully foiling: 20; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 13 - Fully foiling: 13; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Maxime Bachelin, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey, Nicolas Rolaz, Arthur Cevey, Augustin Maillefer, Barnabé Delarze, Thery Schir
Weather Observations - Port Olimpic - 27 October, 2023
When reading the wind charts look at the sailing window between 1100hrs and 1420hrs
The breeze is recorded at Port Olimpic at a point 12 metres above water level, and adjacent to the America's Cup course.
The strength of the breeze today increased during the sailing period peaking at 15kts average gusting 20kts according to the Nowcasting at Port Olimpic. These are higher speeds than the recon team recorded.
Yesterday, according to wave buoy data, the seaway was running at a lower height of 0.7mtres, during the sailing period, but increased to 1.2 metres later in the afternoon/early evening. The breeze stayed up overnight leaving a swell behind of 1.2 metres. This eased to 0.7metres and increased slightly over the course of the day.
The breeze, as the Joint Recon team noted the breeze was light in at the time of dockout, but increased quite markedly around 1200hrs, eased and then came back later in the day.
The data from Olimpic Port needs to be read against the AC37 Joint Recon comments and readings taken much closer to the water surface - and also the team comments.
The last day for racing in the 2024 America's Cup is October 27, 2023 - at the end of this day in 12 months 2024 America's Cup will be over, and the talk will be of who will be the next Challenger of Record.