Cup Spy Feb 20: American Magic and Kiwis complete three hour on the water sessions
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 21 Feb 17:21 NZDT
21 February 2024
American Magic - AC40 - Day 94 - February 20, 2024 - Barcelona © Ugo Fonolla / America's Cup
Two teams sailed in Auckland and Barcelona. The Swiss have completed their sail-evaluation program in Jeddah and have returned to Barcelona to resume training in their upgraded AC75.
What happened in the Cup - February 20, 2024:
- INEOS Britannia - No report. Several of the sailing team will head for Sydney mid-next week for the SailGP regatta.
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - sailed in Jeddah, and have returned to Barcelona to resume their AC75 program.
- Orient Express Racing Team - No report. The sailing team will head for Sydney mid-next week for the SailGP regatta.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - Sailed on Course E on the outer Waitemata Harbour - the Back Paddock - in their AC40 in flat water.
- American Magic - sailed a single AC40 again in Barcelona.
- Orient Express Racing Team - no report.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - No sailing reported by the AC37 Joint Recon program
Emirates Team New Zealand - LEQ12 - Day 66 - February 20, 2024 - Auckland
Day 66 with ETNZ in the LEQ12 out on the Hauraki Gulf. Docking out at 1100hrs, heading into a nice southwesterly breeze, the team towed down to Mechanics Bay and hoisted the M2 main and the J3 Jib. With a quick pop onto their foils and a bear-away, the team ran down the harbour, gybing out towards Motuihe Island and into the "Back Paddock" [America's Cup Course E] to the south of Waiheke Island.
Chasing flat-water in the back paddock, the team made some long runs, putting in three solid laps and completing some nicely timed boat manoeuvres, including one round-up very high on the foils, working on finding the edge of grip and speed. The team stopped for a drinks break around 1220hrs and got quickly back into it.
After a touchdown tack beating back towards the eastern beach, the team stopped for a jib change, as the wind had dropped to around 6.5 kts. They completed the shift to the J2 and continued sailing laps around the Back Paddock.
After performing some tight manoeuvres, including a well-executed "gybe set", the team stopped for another drinks break and put someone from the chase boat onboard to look downstairs. Showing no signs of concern, the team started sailing back into the harbour in a now building South Westerly. After some higher-end manoeuvres in the upper harbour, the team sailed into Mechanics Bay to finish sailing for the day.
After sailing, Recon caught up with Nathan Outteridge to talk about what they achieved today and the upcoming time off.
[AC Recon team: Sam Thom and Andrew Burgess]
Crew: Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Andy Maloney, Blair Tuke
Session Statistics: Emirates Team New Zealand - LEQ12 - Day 64 - February 15, 2024 - Auckland
- Weather: 23°C Sunny
- Wind Strength: 5-16kts
- Wind Direction: 230°
- Sea State: 0.2mtr
- Total time: 175min
- Distance 50nm (92km)
- Crane In: 1020hrs Dock Out: 1100hrs
- Dock In: 1400hrs Crane out: 1420hrs
- Total Tacks: 23 - Fully foiling: 20; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 16 - Fully foiling: 16; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
American Magic - AC40 - Day 85 - February 20, 2024 - Barcelona
NYYC American Magic clocked up another single-boat race training day aboard the AC40 America.
The boat was rolled out of the shed at 1020hrs for the shore crew to step in and set up its original mast (yesterday, it was fitted with the mast from the team's second AC40 Magic) before launching at 1058hrs.
Once in the water, we could confirm that an object we spotted yesterday mounted in the middle of the foredeck was a LiDar unit trained on the headsail.
Dockout was at 1227hrs, with the team getting custom design sails (MC 4 mainsail and J1 C1 headsail) hoisted by 1245hrs. The boat left the harbour at 1250hrs and was quickly airborne in a solid southerly sea breeze at around 13-14 kts.
After a short, fast downwind run, a stop was made to switch to the J3 C1 headsail. After a quick upwind sail to bed in the new headsail, the crew went straight into the prestart of the first series of practice starts/races.
This first race saw the boat complete two windward/leeward laps before a stop at 1350hrs.
After a 10-minute debrief with the chase boat and coaching team alongside, the boat was off again for a second prestart. The subsequent 'race' was terminated at the bottom of the first downwind run.
After a five-minute stop, the crew rolled into Start #3, followed by a full two-lap race. A 15-minute stop at 1445hrs saw the crew return to the J2 C4.
The breeze at this point was 10-11 kts from 180°. The initial pre-start of the fourth race was aborted after the boat fell off the foil during a tack in the final minute (05m25s in the highlights video).
The rerun went better, although the boat fell off the foil on a tack on the approach to the windward gate in the subsequent race. This race was terminated at the end of the first downwind. A fifth and final start saw the crew race upwind to the harbour entrance, where they arrived at 1546hrs. Sails were dropped shortly afterwards, and the boat docked in at 1603hrs.
Crew: Co-helms: America - Paul Goodison and Lucas Calabrese. Flight Controller/Trimmers: Michael Menninger and Riley Gibbs
Session Statistics: American Magic - AC40 - Day 85 - February 20, 2024 - Barcelona
- Weather: Clear 16° C
- Wind Strength: 10-15kts
- Wind Direction: 180°
- Sea State: Light chop
- Crane In: 1100hrs Dock Out: 1330hrs
- Dock In: 1600hrs Crane out: 1830hrs
- Total Tacks: 34 - Fully foiling: 32; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 2
- Total Gybes: 19 - Fully foiling: 19; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 0
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.