Cup Spy Jan 10: Alinghi Red Bull Racing trains in the Big Chill
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ 11 Jan 12:55 GMT
12 January 2024
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 109 - Barcelona - January 10, 2024 © Alex Carabi / America's Cup
Alinghi Red Bull Racing was the only team to train on Wednesday in development boat, sailing an early morning session off Barcelona in air temperatures of 5° C - with the wind chill likely to be -2°C, assuming the AC75 was sailing in apparent wind of 40kts or more.
What happened in the Cup - January 10, 2024:
- American Magic - The US team had a previously signalled Wednesday as a no-sailing day
- Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Sailed their AC75 today for the second time in 2024, out of Barcelona. They stopped sailing their AC75 in mid-December, 2023. Today's interview is with Interview - Joseph Ozanne - Simulation and AI Team Lead at Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
- Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Sailed their LEQ12, for the first time in 2024 yesterday, out of Cagliari. They last sailed on December 20 and 21 after having a compression crack in its hull following an incident on December 4, 2023 in Cagliari. According to AC.com the Italians had planned to sail on Wednesday but cancelled due to an adverse weather forecast.
- Emirates Team New Zealand - last sailed their LEQ12 out of Auckland on December 21, completing a pre-Xmas test block. They are sailing in the SailGP Abu Dhabi this weekend. Their shed door was wide open today, but there was no activity in the yard and their chase boat was hauled. They are expected to resume sailing in the LEQ12/AC40 next week.
- INEOS Britannia - Last week INEOS Britannia Skipper, Co-helm and CEO Ben Ainslie announced he was stepping away from sailing duties on the Emirates SailGP team to focus on the America's Cup effort. The team only sailed their AC40 in One Design mode today. Planetsail released an interview today with Ben Ainslie who explained the thinking behind his move off sailing the F50 on the SailGP circuit and why Hannah Mills did not take over the SailGP program as many had hoped/expected.
- Orient Express Racing Team - No report, however they were on the water off Barcelona today. They will be sailing in the SailGP Abu Dhabi, this weekend.
AC37 Joint Recon Team Report:
Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 109 - January 10, 2024 - Barcelona
Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC75 at 08:00hrs, followed by crane-in 30 minutes later. Routine systems checks were conducted, with a particular focus noted on mast rotation linked with mainsail skin clew actuators. The M1-1R mainsail and J1-2R jib were prepared on deck ahead of a 10:00hrs dockout.
The mainsail was hoisted in the port, and the yacht was towed south, 3nm off the airport, where the J2-2L was hoisted. The day's sailing was characterized by long stretches of aero testing on each tack at varying angles, with long and relatively flat residual swell.
Stint 1 (10:55hrs - 11:20hrs, 9-12.5kts 335° @ 10:55hrs)
The team started with long upwind and downwind stretches. Lucien Cujean was notably observed several times at the aft, watching the mainsail.
Stint 2 (11:30hrs - 12:05hrs, 8-10.5kts 340° @ 11:25hrs)
Similar tests were repeated with long stretches both upwind and downwind. A few tack-and-bear-aways, along with JK manoeuvres (270° mark roundings), were performed. More tacks than gybes were performed today, possibly to improve on the previous day's tacking performance.
Stint 3 (12:20hrs - 12:45hrs, 7-10kts 350-000° @ 12:10hrs , 9-11kts 335°-345° @ 12:20hrs)
Further testing was conducted in a similar fashion. However, 10 minutes into the stint, the recon vessel encountered an issue with a snapped propeller blade. The team was observed from a distance, but not all manoeuvres were counted. The team concluded sailing at 12:45hrs, with sails dropped by 13:00hrs.
The team spent three and a half hours on the water, with 85 minutes of sailing time. A total of 18 manoeuvres were observed, 89% of which were fully foiling.
Session Statistics: Alinghi Red Bull Racing - AC75 - Day 109 - January 10, 2024 - Barcelona
- Weather: 5°. Cloudy with light drizzle
- Wind Strength 9-12kts
- Wind Direction: 335° - 350°
- Sea State: 0.3 - 0.6mtr
- Crane In: 0830hrs Dock Out: 1000hrs
- Dock In: 1330hrs Crane out: 1355hrs
- Total Tacks: 11 - Fully foiling: 10; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 1
- Total Gybes: 7 - Fully foiling: 6; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 0
Crew:Sailing: Arnaud Psarofaghis, Maxime Bachelin, Nico Charbonnier, Yves Detrey, Bryan Mettraux, Lucien Cujean. Power: Théry Schir, Nico Stahlberg, Barnabé Delarze, Lucien Cujean
Additional Images:
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.