RED HOT BULLS

Out on the water there was a modicum of relief but for the Alinghi Red Bull Racing Team their high hopes of a southerly sea-breeze filtering in to cool the city were dashed as the anemometer barely registered above 5 knots all day above a glassy smooth Mediterranean swell.

Try as the team could, with multiple tow-ups in search of zephyrs to try and get the two AC40s up and flying, it just wasn’t happening, and displacement sailing was very much the order of the day. The Chase Boat team had binoculars trained out to sea looking desperately for any sign of a fill-in but it simply didn’t come. A fast tow up to the usually reliable sailing area just off Barcelona airport yielded nothing so a tow back to the America’s Cup in search of the zephyrs that often filter along the coastline was called. Again nothing and with no signs of improvement and a leaden, overcast sky, the call was made to return to base just after lunchtime.

The LEQ12 AC40 docked in at 2.40pm and Maxime Bachelin put a professional spin on the day saying: “It was very, very, warm today and yeah not a lot of wind but the goal was still to go out with light wind and practise take-offs -  and we were managing to do maybe one or two and the rest with the with the RIB… we learned a bit about take-off and how to power the sails and just to compare the two sails (between the LEQ12 and One Design versions), for sure there is difference but we will need to analyse it from pictures at the end of the day.”

Maxime is becoming a very integral part of the Alinghi Red Bull racing programme, forging a productive helming partnership with Arnaud Psarofaghis, especially on the AC75 and his thoughts on the development programme were interesting. Comparing the AC40 and the AC75 in terms of controls, Maxime offered: So on the AC40 the helm is more playing with the cants, the ride heights and the trim, and on BoatZero we are not doing all the stuff like that.”

When pushed about sharing trim roles around the AC75, an area that Alinghi Red Bull Racing are assumed to be testing to the limit, Maxime confirmed it saying: “We are sharing quite a lot of functions to test…because we don't really know what will be the final button we will use.”

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are a happy camp at the moment, surrounded by the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli AC40 team and the NYYC American Magic teams that both decided not to venture out today. For sure, the Swiss will be looking at those teams, eyeing their technique and with so much time spent on the water in recent months, it’s clear that they are right in this America’s Cup, if not ahead. The arrival of the Emirates Team New Zealand team in the coming weeks will no doubt give the Swiss an even more accurate gauge on where they are at, but the body language is positive, the team are confident, trusting in the process and settled into their relentless routine and look more compelling with each passing day – even the light airs ones.

 On-Water Recon Unit Notes: Alinghi Red Bull Racing rolled out their AC40-7 (RED) and AC40-4 (YELLOW) at 08:30 and 09:10 respectively, both boats equipped with One Design foils.

Standard system checks were carried out on both yachts, with a focus on displays and driver systems. Phil Robertson was back at the base today, sailing on the AC40 OD Red boat. With very light winds forecast on the sailing area, the M1-1 LE and J1-1 LE mainsail and jib were prepared on the Yellow boat, whereas M1-2 OD and J1-2 OD were prepared on the Red boat. Windows were added at the foot of M1-2 OD mainsail on the Red boat - a design choice that would enhance the windward driver's view of the leeward conditions.

Both boats docked out at midday. Weather conditions were tough, with 'Xaloc' Southeast winds ranging from 3-6 knots. The day saw overcast skies and the highest temperatures recorded for 2023 (28-33℃).

As sailing commenced at 12:35, the light wind conditions made it impossible for the boats to maintain flight, requiring a short wait for the wind to fill in. The decision was taken to tow both yachts further offshore in an attempt to find a stronger breeze, even going south of the city towards the airport. However, even after several tow starts and brief moments of foiling, the wind conditions didn't allow for sustained flight. The team attempted just one foiling tack, touching down imminently.

With no significant improvement in wind conditions, both boats were towed back towards the usual sailing area in front of Barceloneta in a bid to find more wind, eventually calling an end to the day, as the yachts were towed back to the base and craned out by 15:30. According to Maxime Bachelin in the post sailing interview, the plan for the day was light wind take offs and sailing in the light wind, continuing to compare the performance between the LEQ sails and the AC40 One Design sails.

The team spent just under three hours on the water, covering 31 NM, but only 10-15 minutes of actual sailing on foil for both boats.

Dock-Out: 1200 Dock-In: 1440

Onboard AC40-4 LEQ12 Today

Driving Group: Maxime Bachelin / Arnaud Psarofaghis

Flight Control: Lucien Cujean / Nicolas Rolaz

Onboard AC40-7 One Design

Driving Group: Nicolas Charbonnier / Phil Robertson

Flight Control: Yves Detrey / Bryan Mettraux

Conditions: 'Xaloc' - South East wind - 3-5kn ESE @ 12:35 , 4-6kn SE @ 13:45

Weather AM: 28-30°C, Overcast.

Weather PM: 33°C, Overcast.

Sea State AM: Beaufort 1-2

Sea State PM: Beaufort 2

Sails Used:

Mainsail M1 (M1-LE AC40-4): 2 hours 25 minutes

Mainsail M1 (M1-2-OD): 2 hours 30 minutes

Jib (J1-1LE AC40-4): 2 hours 5 minutes

Jib (J1-2OD AC40-7): 2 hours 25 minutes

AC40-4 LEQ12 Manoeuvres

Total Tacks: 1 – 0 foil-to-foil, 0 touch & go, 1 touchdown.

Total Gybes: 0 – 0 foil-to-foil, 0 touch & go, 0 touchdowns.

Recon Sailing Log:

12:35 - 13:00 Sailing Displacement - Not enough wind to foil

13:00 - 13:30 Towing South towards Airport Sailing Area

13:30- 13:45 Sailing, 2x Tow Starts (1 Tack - Touch Down)

13:45 - 14:25 Towing along coast to find wind, decision made to return to base.