America's Cup Recon: Twilight sailing at Naples
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 29 Oct 11:39 GMT
La Roche-Posay Racing Team - Day 16 - October 28, 2026 - Naples, Italy © Pierre Bouras / America's Cup
La Roche-Pasay Racing Team had an uneventful day sailing out of Naples in light winds, which shifted almost 180° after a fresh NE breeze faded and shifted south before swinging back to the north.
The light winds were sufficient for the French team to be able to self-start on just one occasion. For the rest they were given a tow start by the chase boat, and once foiling were able to keep sailing using their self-generated apparent wind.
The most encouraging aspect of the session was their ability to remain fully foiling for most of their tacks and gybes.
La Roche-Posay Racing Team - Sailing Day 16, Oct 28, 2026 - Naples, Italy
Weather, Crew and Times
- Weather: Sunny
- Wind: PM gusting 6.5kts
- Shifted from 140° - 200° initially and then 0° - 20°
- Sea State: Small residual swell 0.1m
Crew List:
- Port Helm: Diego Botin (ESP)
- Starboard Helm: Quentin Delapierre (FRA)
- Trimmer/Flight Control: Jason Saunders (NZL)
- Trimmer/Flight Control: Florian Trittel (ESP)
- Position 5: Maelenn Lemaitre (FRA) Position 6: Several guests
- Time Sailed: 1hrs 37mins
- Started sailing: 1308hrs End 1650hrs. 8 runs sailed – 7 tow starts
- Tacks: 27; Fully Foiling - 19; Touch & Go: 5 ; Touch Down: 3
- Gybes: 25; Fully Foiling - 15; Touch & Go: 7; Touch Down: 4
Recon Unit Report:
La Roche-Posay Racing Team sailed B1 from the Bagnoli base on a sunny day under high pressure, with a thin veil of cloud from midday. A fresh north easterly blew at the base in the morning, then died through the early afternoon before a light north north easterly filled again. The mast rolled out at ~09:24 with no apparent change, and B1 rolled out of the shed at 10:20. A bulb shaped camera appeared newly fitted on the leading edge of the starboard foil arm, matching in shape and position the one carried on the port foil arm since D14.
The mast was stepped in the breeze, and an unusually long phase of rig work followed. The camera specialist appeared to check a remote display on the foredeck beside the crew member tensioning the forestay. Although the mast was already stepped and all shrouds fixed, the lower shrouds were then removed after easing off the forestay, and refitted later on. At some point Antoine Carraz, Antoine Rucard and the shore crew repeatedly looked up the aft face of the mast, with hand gestures that appeared to describe the fore and aft rake and the lateral bend. The rake appeared to be measured several times with a digital tool, the digital tool reading 89.2 at first, then 85.4 and 84.9, and finally 85.1, with the forestay tensioned and eased and mast rotation checks run between readings.
The length of the discussion would suggest an unexpected rig set up issue rather than a planned procedure, possibly linked to new camera or sensor equipment given the camera specialist's involvement. Fibre optic cables were also noticed along the upper ends of the lower shrouds, probably present before but seen for the first time today on the recon photographs. Before being lowered into the water at ~11:49, B1 was held ~20 cm above the surface while a technician took phone images, which would be consistent with a ride height sensor calibration.
B1 docked out at 12:30, and MN3-1 and J3-3 were hoisted just outside the marina in a light, dying southerly. Runs 1 to 4 were all bow tow starts south east of Nisida and off Posillipo, the first tow of a quarter of an hour heading east towards the Bay of Naples. Runs 1 to 3 each ended in a straight line touchdown within a couple of minutes, the crew appearing to work hard to keep B1 on the foils, and run 4 touched down straight after release. A wait of around an hour followed in almost no wind, Rucard briefing some of the sailors with a laptop in hand and, at some point, inspecting the mainsheet traveller opening with Diego Botín, while Jason Saunders spent part of the wait on the chase boat.
The north-northeasterly filled from ~14:45 and the session moved off Posillipo, between La Gaiola and Mergellina. Run 5 followed another long bow tow, then runs 6 and 7 mixed upwind and downwind legs with a series of tacks and gybes, run 6 self started, the chase boat repeatedly changing position around B1 with crew photographing the sails. J3-3 stayed up for the whole session in light air, with J4-3 on the chase boat and no J2 apparently taken out, which would be consistent either with the team deliberately exploring the lower end of the J3-3 range, or with the J2 having been left ashore on a forecast for a moderate north easterly that did not materialise in the afternoon. On tack exits the mainsheet traveller appeared to come up to centre earlier than on the previous MN3-1 days, which would fit the mainsail carrying more of the power with a smaller jib at the bottom of its range.
After a battery change and a guest change ~15:50, run 8 was the longest run observed so far, at 51 minutes. On the way back towards Nisida, B1 sailed a series of S shaped bear away and round up drills on starboard, first on one foil then on two, as if working on the holding, entry or hook phases of a pre-start. This was followed by what appeared to be a simulated starboard entry ahead of the chase boat, after which B1 continued downwind to start some windward leeward laps, then a possible port entry and further sharp bear aways and round ups. Without yet resembling full pre-start routines, this would be consistent with early pre-start manoeuvring practice of the kind documented on other AC75 programmes. Total sailing time was 1h37 over eight runs between 13:08 and 16:50. B1 docked in at 17:11 and was back in the shed at 17:59.
Florian Trittel, interviewed at the dock, said the lower afternoon sun tends to disturb the crew a little, and that after waiting for the breeze the team managed to get in some hours of sailing. Asked whether he trims the sails from his starboard pod, he said the crew looks at everything the whole time, sailors and chase boat working together, and that the roles are still being defined.
Being quite new to the position, he said the team is testing many things and dividing responsibilities to understand the best split for the pre-start and for racing, citing the manoeuvres of the New Zealand and Italian teams as a reference. This would be consistent with the forward pod roles not yet being fixed, as also suggested by Leigh McMillan's D16 comment that he does not trim the mainsail from the same seat, and with the early pre-start style work seen in run 8. Trittel described himself as coming from a sail trimming background and the AC75 as more complex to sail in some respects, each team tackling the trimmer role differently. Asked about the new starboard foil arm camera, he joked that it had been fitted because he was jealous of the port one.