No further developments from the late entry French K-Challenge. An announcement was expected in mid-late January according to an earlier announcement by the Late Entry team.
INEOS Britannia - LEQ12 - Mallorca - January 22, 2022 - Day 14
Top sailing journalist, Justin Chisholm was on the water and made various observations:
The British team had a cold but productive day in temperatures of 4-7°C, but had to to be patient at times to make the best of a shifting breeze that regularly shut down in one part of Palma Bay only to spring up in another part from a completely different direction. With virtual flat calm conditions when the boat exited the harbour this morning at 1100 the crew opted for a couple of no-sails towed foiling runs before hoisting the mainsail at midday as the breeze started to fill from the north east.
That breeze built to around 8kts to allow tow foiling runs before shutting down and reappearing as a 12-13 knot wind from the north east. Two more upwind runs followed before the J1 was swapped for the J3. Six more foiling runs followed three upwind and three downwind (where speeds reached 30 knots.
With the breeze dropping to 5-7 knots from the east the crew swapped back to the J1 but did not hoist it immediate as they towed slowly to the middle of the bay where (after a 20 minute wait) the wind eventually filled in at 13 gusting 16 knots from the NE.
An eight minute run was made with the J1 (including a 35 knot downwind section) before the J3 was swapped back on to the boat for the final five runs that included a foiling tack and a scrappy foiling gybe.
The fast downwind runs included at least two spectacular splashdowns but there were no reports of damage or problems with the boat. On those downwinds the helmsmen seemed to be experimenting with sailing angle and heel angle with the boat several times see to heel precariously before a sharp bear away levelled it out.
Session Statistics - Mallorca - January 22, 2023 - INEOS Britannia - LEQ12 - Day 14
- Wind Strength 5kts(AM) 3-13kts (PM)
- Wind Direction: N (AM) Various (PM)
- Roll out: 0844hrs Dock Out: 1048hrs
- Dock In: 1740hrs Crane out: 1815hrs
- Total Tacks: 9 - Fully foiling: 1; Touch & Go: 0; Touch Down: 8
- Total Gybes: 1 - Fully foiling: 0; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 0
Crew: Giles Scott, Leigh McMillan, Luke Parkinson, Bleddyn Mon
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Cagliari - January 22, 2023 - Day 25
From the AC37 Joint Recon Team: After five days of seeking of good sailing conditions between stormy and very windy days, the LR team finally found an acceptable window with steady NW breeze and remaining SW sea state on an unusual very cold 5°C and frosty day in Cagliari.
Starting the day at 8:30 the italian LEQ12 rolled out with some the previously seen GoPro setup on suction and pressure sides of STB wing facing foil arm stock and flaps where some attached strips, in addition to the already seen red marked lines on suction side outboard this time, have been observed.
It remains to be clarified what exactly is to be monitored, perhaps any occurance of ventilation, cavitation or simply the flow stream lines for any separation. The usage of cameras for these investigations has started on Day 24 on which the team declared a new version F of the STB wing as the rules demand.
After docking out at 10:30 the team hoisted main+J2 and this time only four crew members boarded the prototype self-taking off on most of occasions while some swaps of sailors have been observed between the four available helmsmen. During these breaks some checks were made on the jib sheeting systems and inside the cockpit, request which are certainly targeted by the Recon Unit and well hidden by the team.
In the Gulf of Cagliari, the team seemed to alternate between long straight line sailing in more windy and wavy conditions with rest SW swell and decent offshore chop and lots of maneuvers more inshore. It seemed that the crew were flying the LEQ12 lower than usually for endplating and when flying upwind on starboard tack the port side board was piercing the waterline slightly more then usual perhaps due to different cant angle or more windward heel.
Again, considering the ongoing data gathering on starboard wing, foiling on port tack seemed to prevail with observation of several radical sudden bear aways and headings up, maneuvers, both boards down and slowing the LEQ12 down until picking up pace again. A significant bow down splashes has been observed after a tack self taking off second later.
At 1300hrs the team dropped two marks for the last hour of training and Recon Unit was placed on downwind mark for observation.
With a total foiling time of 92 minutes, the LEQ12 covered approximately 54 nm completing approx 55 maneuvers with increasing successful rate as part of the training recipe. As usual, to complete successfully the maneuvers, the Italians were observed heading up slightly and exiting the gybe before bearing away again, and bearing away slightly after the tack before heading back up again.
Session Statistics - Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - LEQ12 - Cagliari - January 22, 2023 - Day 25
- Wind Strength 10kts (AM)
- Wind Direction: NW (AM) 10kts Maestrale (Mistral) breeze
- Sea State:
- Roll out: 0850hrs Dock Out: 1030hrs
- Dock In: 1400hrs Crane out: 1530hrs
- Total Tacks: 32 - Fully foiling: 24; Touch & Go: 4; Touch Down: 4
- Total Gybes: 29 - Fully foiling: 18; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 3
Crew: Francesco Bruni, Ruggerio Tita, Marco Gradoni, Jimmy Spithill, Umberto Molineris/Vittario Bissaro (Sailed in a four crew setup).
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.