Cup Spy: August 24 - Highs and lows on Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Prelim Regatta

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 25 Aug 12:15 HKT 25 August 2024

Commentary: A familiar pattern develops on Day 3.

The third day of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta fell into the usual pattern for America's Cup racing, with the racing outcome being decided soon after the start, and with the first mark leader going on to win the race. That is an old statistical norm for America's Cup racing, and for all their speed and hyper-technology, the truism is repeating in the AC75s.

The technology failures unfortunately continued, with American Magic pulling up just before the start of Race 10, with what is believed to be an issue with the ram that operates the rake on the rudder. American Magic's misfortune handed a walkover win to Orient Express getting the French team off zero points on the leaderboard.

INEOS Britannia also escaped from being recorded with zero wins, with an improved performance against Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the first race of the day.

As it transpired, that race was the best of the day with a lead change halfway up the first beat. The Brits established a small 4sec margin at the first mark and extended that, with a couple of stumbles, to lead by 33 seconds at the finish.

After two days of racing, half the fleet - three teams - had suffered from some form of technology failure either during the Preliminary Regatta, or just before it started. American Magic joined that group today with only Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia having a clean record.

The most significant aspect of the day was the performance of the AC75 in the wind, which was dropping to 8kts at times.

The teams seem quite lackadaisical about winning points, in the Preliminary Regatta. A common reaction from the crews suffering breakdown, was "better this week, than next" - a reference to the imminent Round Robin phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup, which starts on Thursday. However in past Cups, the round robin phase, particularly the first of two rounds, is notorious for finding Challenger tactical weaknesses, and there is no reason to believe that the failures seen over the past three days are isolated, one-off incidents and issues.

Remarkably - compared to similar conditions in the 2021 America's Cup events - no-one fell off their foils. Going through the race data to check the bottom end speeds in tacks, will be a revealing exercise.

From estimates provided in the AC37 Joint Recon program, the self-launch speed has been put at 16-18kts. From the limited performance information today, speeds were dropping to 22kts in tacks - which is a good outcome. Clearly the AC75s which have had their total weight reduced by around 900kgs, and are allowed broader wingfoil span, are much better boats, than the 2021 edition.

It was not uncommon to see that AC75s sailing downwind at an impressive four times the windspeed of around 8-11kts.

The British team came away in a buoyant mood after beating the highly fancied Alinghi Red Bull Racing in Race 9, the first race of the day. However they crashed back to earth, double-faulting in the opening stanzas of Race 11, to gift a win to the well-performed Italian team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.

INEOS Britannia were masters of their own misfortune in the two minor incidents, first was a small starting error, and even though they might have been only over two metres early. They were pushed behind the Italians and were then caned a second time when their boat's diamond shaped virtual profile was judged to have crossed the left course boundary. Italy moved further ahead to enjoy a gifted 23second margin at the first mark, which was doubled to 46secs at the finish.

The Italians put part of their win down to a late, but accurate jib call by coach and meteorologist, Hamish Willcox, which paid off when the breeze lightened at the top and of the course.

In Race 10, an audible bang accompanied the rudder failure on American Magic, with the US team suddenly going bow up in response to the abruptly altered rudder foil angle. The body language on board the AC75 and in the chase boat, implied that it was a serious failure and race ending. Orient Express crossed the startline, and were then informed that the race was being terminated, and a gift point being given to the French.

In the final race of the day, Emirates Team New Zealand were untroubled to post a 75second win over Alinghi Red Bull Racing. The race started well with some pre-start jousting, but the Kiwis were unable to quite get an overlap established to leeward, and elected to tack over onto port. That move set up the first split tack start in the races sailed to date. The Kiwis headed for the beach side - which for the third day in a row always paid a dividend, and it was race over.

The Preliminary Series ends with a Final to be sailed between the top two placed teams overall.

Without needing to sail their matches on Sunday the final will be between Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa, the two stand-out competitors of the series. They will sail a re-run of their first encounter in Race 2 on Day 1, when the Italians suffered an on-board system meltdown, and retired.

Those fans who have issues with the lack of visibility of crews aboard the AC75s, were dealt a further blow by the Rules Committee who have given the green list to a request from one team for full facial helmets to be worn, with just enough of an opening to accommodate the Top Gun style eye visors used by all sailing crew.

The Rule Enquiry arose from concerns, if it has not already happened, that crews buried deep in their cockpits were at risk of smashing noses and teeth into their cockpit surrounds during a nosedive.

The proposal for a new full protection helmet wouldn't look out of place on Hannibal Lecter. Maybe its necessity signals that enough is enough with technology advances in the AC75, with the class seemingly headed down the same route as various high speed around the world racers, which have their crews completely enclosed and protected from the elements.

Other Rule Enquiries now raise the possibility of having fairing pieces on the AC75 decks to control and keep the boundary layer attached.

There is no final decision on the American Magic honeycomb cyclor fairings/covers. It will be interesting to see if the US team races will the covers/fairings without having the issue finally settled.

Planetsail's perspective on Day 3:

Farevela - From the Mixed Zone - Spithill, Ainslie, Liuzzi and Burling

How the racing unfolded - Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Event

Racing Summary:

Alinghi Red Bull Racing vs INEOS Britannia - Race 9:

Start with INEOS crossing at the leeward end. 5-8m separation they hold on port before heading for the right hand of the course with Alinghi to leeward.

The Brits couldn't live in the hip of the Swiss and tacked away leaving the Swiss to go right and get a 60metre lead before the cross and 30 metres when they came together.

Mark 1: INEOS Britannia 4m 16secs lead the Swiss by 4secs

Mark 2: INEOS Britannia 7m 43secs lead by 9secs. Brits stretch their lead over he Swiss to 150metres extending later in leg to 200metres then back to 160metres.

Mark 3: INEOS Britannia 12m 14 secs lead by 19secs. Boats take opposite marks for Leg 4 Swiss go for right hand gate after the Brits had rounded the left. Midway down leg 4 Brits stretch out to 450 metres lead.

Mark 4: INEOS Britannia extends again rounding at 15m 30 secs after the start and a 28kts lead. Both going for the right hand side of the course. Brits have lead of 300metres coming off the beach

Mark 5: INEOS Britannia lead rounding at 19m 57sec after the start for a 25sec margin and 600metres lead on the final leg

Finish: INEOS Britannia cross 23m 1 sec after starting and win by 33sec margin over Alinghi Red Bull Racing for the Brits first win of the series.

American Magic vs Orient Express - Race 10:

American Magic suffer technology issues, rearing up before the start and USA retires with points awarded to France. Call overhead of "the rudder has gone".

Crew looking first at the head of the rudder gantry at the transom and removing protective covers from the rudder rake ram

Next match being brought forward on the schedule.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli vs INEOS Britannia - Race 11:

Match brought forward on the schedule.

INEOS Britannia penalised in Pre-start for early entry by a small margin of 2.4metres according to the race management system. Brits led off the start on starboard tack, but they then picked up a boundary penalty and by the time they got sailing the Brits had dropped back to 200 metres behind the Italians.

Mark 1: Luna Rossa leads rounding 4m 16secs after start and a 23sec margin or 300 metres on the water

Mark 2: Luna Rossa leads rounding 8m 0secs after the start but with a reduced margin of 16 secs - a gain for INEOS Britannia. Margin on Leg 3 out to 220 metres. Wind 8.9kt from 205°

Mark 3: Luna Rossa rounds at 12m 57 sec after the start and a margin of 23 secs over INEOS Britannia. A good gain for the Italians. Lead of 335 - 375metres on the water - a good gain for Luna Rossa.

Mark 4: Luna Rossa rounds at 16m 41secs and a margin of 28secs - another gain for the Italians. Course is shortened to a 1.5nm leg

Mark 5: Luna Rossa rounds at 20m 57secs after the start and a margin of 30secs - a small increase. Italians are sailing at 4x windspeed on the downwind leg. Both opted to round the lefthand mark. Italian margin 550-600 metres.

Finish: Luna Rossa finishes 23m 56secs after the start and has a big gain on the British finishing 46secs ahead. Winds said to be lighter at the top of the course, by about 2kts which may account for the increase in margin. Italians say a late call by coach Hamish Willcox for the bigger jib paid a big dividend - but that ignores the double penalty imposed on the Brits, sailing in clear air for the whole race. Brits say they had the wrong jib.

Emirates Team NZ vs Alinghi Red Bull Racing - Race 12:

Breeze still light but start proceeding.

Kiwis tried to get underneath the Swiss but could not quite do it. the Kiwis couldn't quite do it and elected to tack and there was an even split tack start with the Kiwis heading off to the beach and the right hand side of the course. Kiwis lead by 120metres on Leg 1 but tacks are getting difficult in light airs, and one boat is likely to come off the foils at some stage.

Mark 1: Emirates Team NZ rounds 4m 13sec after start and leads Alinghi Red Bull Racing by 12 secs. Boats sailing at 4x windspeed which equates at a lead of 300 metres downwind. Lead extends to 400metres downwind.

Mark 2: Big gain for Kiwis with ETNZ rounding at 7min 42 secs and a 29 sec margin. Breeze called at 9-11kts and dropping to 8.5kts at times. Kiwis sailing close to surface and with characteristic slight heel to windward. Course moved and shortened to 1.4nm. Margin on the water is about 330metres on Leg 3 which soon stretched to 420 metres.

Mark 3: Emirates Team NZ round 12m 18secs after the start and a margin of 45secs, with a lead of 700 metres midway down Leg 4. Kiwis don't have their #1 jib on - probably a #2.

Mark 4: Emirates Team NZ round 15m 36sec after the start and extending to 52secs margin. ETNZ sailing at 31kts upwind past Alinghi sailing at 34kts downwind and a margin of 800 metres on the water.

Mark 5: Emirates Team NZ round 19min 31 secs after start for a margin of 75secs over Alinghi Red Bull Racing and a 1.1km lead on the water

Finish: Emirates Team NZ finish 22m 30sec after the start, Alinghi Red Bull Racing hold the margin to 75secs.

Images from Day 3 - Louis Vuitton Preliminary Event - August 22-25, 2024

Weather Forecast:

The Predictwind America's Cup Centre forecast was for another day of excellent conditions for AC75 racing. In hindsight the predicted afternoon breeze never arrived.

This Saturday 24th, in the morning light and variable winds. In the afternoon winds from the South in the range 190-200° will blow 10-15 knots on the race course making it another great racing day. It will be sunny with warm temperatures.

This Sunday 25th will see a change of weather conditions. In the afternoon, the strong winds in the Med will weaken towards Barcelona and winds may be light to moderate from East/South-East on the race course. Cloudy day with temperatures few degrees colder.

Race Program Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Event - Barcelona, August 24, 2024

Crew Lists - Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Event - Barcelona, August 24, 2024