The big new challenge for America’s Cup teams
The race is on to handle the unique foiling conditions Barcelona 2024 will present, writes Duncan Johnstone.
Foiling in waves is the current challenge for America’s Cup defenders Team New Zealand and their rivals as they look to replicate the tricky conditions expected in Barcelona.
The Mediterranean city has a reputation for a demanding sea state and with just one racing zone off the downtown area there will be no escaping the swell and waves in some winds. That’s in contrast to Auckland 2021 where race officials were able to juggle several courses to find the most protected flat water conditions for the foiling 75-foot monohulls that will be used again in Barcelona.
The six teams are having their issues with several capsizes and many near-misses as they try to find the right formula.
Asked if Team New Zealand were making a conscious effort to go out into areas of the Hauraki Gulf they would have avoided last time, coach Ray Davies didn’t hesitate: ‘‘Absolutely. You know, we got a little bit bitten when we went out there one time, we did a bit of a nosedive. But we are actively searching out sea state.
‘‘At the moment, with two boats, we are just starting to do some racing, and we are looking for flat water just to take a couple of variables out of it.
‘‘But ultimately we’ll be racing out in the waves as well.
‘‘As soon as you have a foiling boat, it’s twice as hard in the waves, but we feel that’s a really interesting design criteria for this next America’s Cup, just to showcase that these boats can sail in waves, that they can sail offshore.
‘‘That’s a good challenge to have ... to sail in tricky conditions.’’
Davies said managing the assignment was about mixing conservatism with the need to grow confidence to push the boat.
Lowering the flight height of the boat on its foils was also required with rudder control crucial. Most of the capsizes have come when the rudder has broken free of the water, something that can happen in the troughs between waves. ‘‘You can go into a safer mode and fly more conservatively, even touch the hull down at times or leave the other board in longer for manoeuvres,’’ Davis explained.
‘‘So you can sail a little bit more conservatively, for sure, you have to. But the more conservative you sail, the slower you go, so it’s a really interesting balance of pushing the boat or surviving the waves.’’
Team New Zealand design boss Dan Bernasconi outlined the impact Barcelona would have on the build of the AC75 to defend the Cup.
Maximising take-off in these new conditions, managing the lower flight height to maintain that rudder control, and countering the effect waves had on the foil flaps, were all variables that needed conquering.
‘‘There are a lot of parameters to work with, but it’s a bit of a different challenge to the last cup,’’ he said.
It’s an equation that is also gripping the five challenging syndicates.
America’s Cup veteran Jimmy Spithill, who has been in the Cup finals during all three foiling editions to date, says managing the waves will be the key to winning the Auld Mug off Team NZ.
‘‘I think you have to get used to sailing the boat in the waves. This will be the first America’s Cup to be contested in choppy seas, as past editions had flat water between Auckland and San Francisco,’’ he told the Cup reconnaissance team assigned to Luna Rossa, after a Cagliari session where the Italians were pushing hard in choppy conditions.
American Magic have regularly been going outside the shelter of Florida’s Pensacola Bay into the Gulf of Mexico to test and train in bigger seas.
Skipper Paul Goodison said their most demanding session came in 2m waves in what was their final outing in their AC75 before moving their testing and development into the smaller AC40s.
‘‘It’s full-on when the waves are so big,’’ Goodison said. ‘‘It’s hard to keep the foil in the water and the hull out of the water just with the way the whole thing shapes up. Really tricky conditions but fantastic learning.’’
Returning former champions Alinghi have been the first to set up in Barcelona, facing a double challenge.
They have had to get used to the AC75 which they had never sailed, purchasing Team NZ’s first generation boat.
They have also had to try to do that in conditions none of their opponents have yet encountered and progress has been understandably slow.
With the build of their bigger race boat imminent, they have also now switched to the smaller AC40s for their training and development, hoping that will give them more freedom.
The first hints of who is managing this wave quest best will come when all the teams assemble in Barcelona during the northern summer. As Bernasconi says: ‘‘You can’t beat being there and experiencing it.’’