At the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Villanova light winds made for a frustrating day of low-riding rather than foiling for the AC40s, but Day 1 still delivered some surprises. Helen Fretter was watching from the water It was a day of firsts in Villanova, some 30 miles along the coast from Barcelona today: the first races in the 37th America\u2019s Cup cycle, the first \u2018proper\u2019 races in the new AC40 one-design class, and the first chance to see how the new teams \u2013 and new crew combinations \u2013 compare with one year to go until the Cup proper.
\nThis first America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta event has a slightly different feel to the usual Cup events \u2013 something of a matinee performance. The practice races earlier this week were a chance for teams and organisers to iron out a few teething problems, while the event also had a pleasing air of informality \u2013 there are no paid for spectator stands, instead racing is free to view from the beach, and the team bases are equally matched marquees without any glossy hospitality quarters.
\nAlthough today began hot and still, by lunchtime the flags were fluttering well and the 200-plus Pati Catala dinghies (a classic local design that has no tiller or rudder, but is instead steered by trimming the mainsail and shifting bodyweight) were racing off the beach for a special celebration regatta in moderate breezes.<\/p>\n
Coming off the foils can see an AC40\u2019s boat speed halved compared to a boat in flight mode.
\nAt the pre-start for Race 1, all teams were burning around on their AC40s with ease. The on the water view from a team chase RIB was a frankly eye-opening indication of the closing speeds that can occur with six foiling AC40s in confined water. They may be just 40ft, but with some teams reporting hitting over 50 knots in practice sails (see Matt Sheahan\u2019s column in the current issue of Yachting World for more), these are not toothless mini-models, but a genuinely impressive class in their own right.
\nWhen there\u2019s breeze, that is\u2026
\nAmerica\u2019s Cup AC40s first race
\nSadly by the start of Race 1 the wind had dropped, and with around 7-8 knots at the gun few teams were positioned for a clean foiling start. With just 1 minute 40 seconds to go the French Orient Express Racing Team had dropped off their foils and were sluggish in the water, but recovered impressively to cross the line at speed on port, and keep going, maintaining flight and pace to round the top mark in first.
\nClose behind them was Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, who traded places for 1st place as the breeze began to fade and the AC40s came off their foils onto a low-riding displacement mode. The remainder of the race was characterised by the curious sight of crews climbing out of their stream-lined, aero-efficient cockpits to stand on the bow to lift the AC40 transoms out of the water.
\nWith a shortened course the leading French and Italian pair crawled down to the finish line, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with right of way on starboard. But as the boats made their final gybes the Italians picked up a penalty for their foil coming too close to the French. This gave the French Orient Express Racing Team the first ever event win in the AC40s. In a final twist, it turned out that Luna Rossa had started incorrectly and were DNS.
\nThe French team went into this race as the outsiders, having only taken delivery of their AC40 in mid-August. They were, unsurprisingly, delighted with taking the first win.
\nOrient Express Racing Team trimmer Jason Saunders commented after racing: \u201cYeah, we\u2019re surprised. The training hadn\u2019t been going as well as that.
\n\u201cWe\u2019d actually been struggling a lot in those [light] conditions and we\u2019ve spent a lot of time analysing the data, analysing the footage that we\u2019ve got, and we\u2019re just super happy for the whole team, because it\u2019s a massive team effort to be able to help us to progress. And today we were able to put that into place and we showed that we certainly improved. Once we\u2019re up and foiling, we\u2019re able to match with the best. That\u2019s pretty positive for day one.\u201d
\nLow riding mode
\nWith a fading breeze racing the start of Race 2 was delayed, and it looked very likely that racing would be abandoned for the day. However, by 5pm some boats had headed to the top of the course and were foiling unassisted, with other teams using their chase RIBs to tow their AC40s to get them up to speed before casting off in flight mode, and the race committee quickly followed suit by setting off Race 2.
\nThe start area, however, was still in a patch of much lighter wind, and one by one the AC40s fell off the foils in the pre-start. All but one, in fact, with Alinghi holding flight mode to cross the line on foils and pull away in a completely different race. Behind them the French made another good start with INEOS Britannia behind, both firmly stuck in low-rider mode.
\nHalfway up the first beat, however, Emirates Team New Zealand got back up on foils and, racing at twice the boat speed of all the other teams (Alinghi also having dropped back down), essentially sailed rings around them, approaching the top mark for the final time while other had barely rounded it for the first.
\nEmirates Team New Zealand was noticeably able to get their AC40 foiling earlier when other teams were in low-rider displacement mode at the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Villanova.
\nGetting back on the foils
\nOne observation I heard in Villanova, which seemed confirmed by today\u2019s races, is that Emirates Team New Zealand are often seen to foil first, in 5-6 knots of breeze, with other teams needing 1, 2 or more knots extra to get back up onto the foils mid-race.
\nFor teams struggling to foil, the alternative is to sail in VMG displacement mode, sailing the most direct route to the mark. With shortened races, such as today, this also gives the advantage of protecting their position on the course as teams are scored according to their placing on the water if they do not finish the race.
\nThere seemed to have been some confusion over how these points were awarded for those watching the TV commentary, but there was no doubt the teams were racing for rankings on the water no matter how they would be finished (a bit like a Whiskey flag to award tail enders in a dinghy fleet with a result).
\nThe AC40 crews using body weight to get their boats moving when not in foiling mode. Photo: ACEM
\nBen Ainslie, skipper and Principal of INEOS Britannia, explained that it\u2019s a balancing act between knowing when to best sail as fast as you can in displacement mode, and when to try and get back onto foils:
\n\u201cWe were actually not in that bad shape sailing around in displacement mode [in the second race]. We were in second place, saw New Zealand had go back on foils, decided to try and pop up, but we didn\u2019t make it and got overtaken.\u201d
\n\u201cYou got to make sure you\u2019ve got some runway, you\u2019re not too close to the boundary going into it. Then you\u2019re trying to figure out is there enough wind, you\u2019re looking at the wind speed on the boat, also looking at the wind on the water and what the other boats are doing, have they got up or not?
\n\u201cAnd of course, there\u2019s a lot of technique in it. The Kiwis are very good at it \u2013 kind of not surprisingly, they got great sailors and they spend a lot of time in the boat. So, yeah, we\u2019re certainly in catch up mode on that.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of things. It\u2019s to do with the setup of the boat, of course, the aero side of things, but also the foils. And then, like any other boat, really, it\u2019s just very subtle. We all know how difficult sailing any boat in light airs is. It\u2019s a very subtle technique: when to trim on the sails, when to try and accelerate and when to try and lift the boat out of the water, drive, the pitch of the boat. It\u2019s really dynamic and takes a lot of choreography.\u201d
\nDoes that stance look similar to the one above? The local Pati Catala vintage catamaran dinghies are sailed with body weight rather than a rudder. Photos: ACEM
\nToday might not have showcased the AC40s\u2019 real potential on their debut, but it did prove that the Kiwis are not actually invincible, and that no team \u2013 even the least experienced \u2013 can be discounted.
\nTomorrow there\u2019s a more solid breeze forecast, and bigger sea state forecast, which is likely to deliver the teams a whole new set of boat handling challenges.
\nThe post First America\u2019s Cup AC40 races: France and New Zealand share wins appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the America\u2019s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Villanova light winds made for a frustrating day of low-riding rather than foiling for the AC40s, but Day 1 still delivered some surprises. Helen Fretter was watching from the water It was a … <\/p>\n