Cup Spy Jan 16: Brits, Kiwis and Italians sail on Med and Hauraki Gulf

INEOS Britannia - AC40 - Day 2 - January 16, 2024 - Barcelona © Paul Todd/America's Cup

Three America's Cup teams trained on the Mediterranean.

What happened in the Cup - January 16, 2024:

• American Magic - Sailed out of Barcelona on Tuesday in their AC75. This is the third day of sailing for the US team in 2024.
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Sailed their AC75 today for the first time in 2024, out of Barcelona. They last sailed their AC75 in mid-December, 2023.
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli - Sailed their LEQ12, for the first time in 2024 today 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.
• 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. It would seem that they will not sail until 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 may switch to a program involving their two AC40's (AC40-2) and AC40-10) and that is what they sailed today. In the interview Ainslie was non-committal as to whether their test boat 'T6' would sail again, or whether they would stay with their double AC40 program until their AC75 raceboat is launched.
• 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 Reports:

INEOS Britannia - AC40-2 and AC40-10 - Day 29 - February 1, 2023 - Barcelona

Session Statistics: INEOS Britannia - AC40-2 and AC40-10 - Day 29 - February 1, 2023 - Barcelona

• Weather: Part cloudy, 17°.
• Wind Strength 8.7-3.3kts
• Wind Direction: 195°- 210°
• Sea State: 0.41mtr Flat
• Crane In: 1020|1045hrs Dock Out: 1230hrs
• Dock In: 1715hrs Crane out: 1740hrs
• Total Tacks: 51 - Fully foiling: 49; Touch & Go: 2; Touch Down: 0
• Total Gybes: 22 - Fully foiling: 20; Touch & Go: 1; Touch Down: 1

Crew: AC-2: Ben Ainslie, Giles Scott, Bleddyn Mon, Leigh McMillan. AC-10: Dylan Fletcher, Ben Cornish, Youth Squad member, Luke Parkinson

Team INEOS Britannia craned to the water their AC40(a) Athena at 09.30 am, that had been left out of the shed overnight. At 10.30 am AC40(b) Sienna got rolled out and half an hour later it was sent to the water after stepping the mast. Both boats on full one-design configuration.

The team docked out at 13:00, half an hour later than planned, possibly due to lack of wind. During the morning, normal routine activities took place on each boat.

One-design mainsails were hoisted at 13:10 while coming out of the harbor. No jibs were hoisted.

Both boats waited for an hour and a half approximately, just outside of the port, for the wind to show up. Unfortunately, there was no success.

At 14:45 the team finally decided to head back to the base. Sails were lowered at 14:48, both boats docked at 15:10 and AC40(b) was the first of the two to be craned out of the water at 15:15 indicating the end of the day.

Sebastian Peri Brusa – Recon on INEOS Britannia

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.