Cup Experience Monday News | Wing Breakage Almost Lost the Cup | BAR 2-Boat Testing | Fitness Monitoring

By on October 3rd, 2016

Cup Experience Monday News | Wing Breakage Almost Lost the Cup | BAR 2-Boat Testing | Fitness Monitoring

Cup Experience News

Issue 35 | Monday 3 October 2016

In this issue:

  • Wing Breakage Almost Lost the Cup - Video
  • Why Did the Wing Bracket Break?
  • Land Rover BAR Two Boat Testing
  • Testing Daggerboard Shapes
  • Land Rover BAR Base Going Up in Bermuda
  • Athlete Monitoring and Management
  • Ask Jack: Is it a gennaker or a code zero?
  • Wing Breakage Almost Lost the Cup in 2013


Oracle wing technician Jeff Causey with glue gun 40 minutes before Race 19 of the 2013 America's Cup. Click photo to watch video.

Less than an hour before the start of the deciding race, a bracket broke inside Oracle's AC72 wing. Oracle and Team New Zealand were tied 8-8. This race would decide the 2013 America's Cup. The breakage needed to be stabilized or else the control arm for the wing's flap would be jammed and Oracle would be unable to race. This video shows what happened.

  • Why Did the Bracket Break?

Midway through the America's Cup Match, Oracle changed the way they set up and trimmed the wing. They changed the twist profile, opening the wing more at the top while closing the leech at the quarter-span and half-span of the wing. They also opened the slot between the tab on the leading element and the flap segments of the trailing element. This reduced lee helm and allowed them to foil upwind. These changes increased the load on the wing winch by 170%, far above initial limits. This increased load might have added enough stress in the wing to break the bracket.

  • Land Rover BAR Two Boat Testing

I reported back in August that BAR had launched their fourth test boat but until now we didn't have any photos of both their boats together. Leigh McMillan helms one of the test boats. In this video you can see different shape daggerboards being tested. Aside from the daggerboards, the only other visible difference in these photos and videos is that the Anabel's nightclub logo has been painted on the rudders of only one of the boats. Anabel's is one of the team's sponsors.

Notice the outward curve of the daggerboard and the pronounced dihedral (upwards slope) of the daggerboard wing.

The starboard daggerboard has an outward curve and clear anhedral (downward sloping) daggerboard wing.

The boat on the left has an outward curving daggerboard. The boat on the right has a straight board. Both appear to have dihedral daggerboard wings.

  • Land Rover BAR Base in Bermuda

Land Rover BAR has begun building their base at Dockyard. They have said they plan to launch their race boat on the earliest allowed date, 27 December 2016, 150 days before the first race on 26 May 2017.

  • Athlete Monitoring and Measuring

Click image to play video.

Head Athletic Trainer Craig "Oscar" McFarlane explains in this video how he manages individualized training programs for Oracle's grinders. When the athlete goes into his anaerobic zone or when his core temperature rises above a certain level, his power output goes down.

                                                                                            % of
                                                                                            Max Heart Rate
Zone 1     Recovery      Very Low                                    60-70%
Zone 2     Endurance   Moderate                                   71-75%
Zone 3     Intensive      EnduranceModerate Plus        76-80%
Zone 4     Anaerobic    ThresholdRace / Pace               81-90%
Zone 5     Threshold    EnduranceSuper Threshold     91-93%
Zone 5a   Anaerobic    EnduranceSpeed/End Power   94-100%


Oracle uses a system called Zephyr from Medtronic to monitor and track each athlete's performance both in the gym and on the boat.

Join the Conversation on the Cup Experience Facebook Group.

  • Reader Questions to "Ask Jack"
  • from GARETH IN WALES
  • ask jack!
  • Hi Jack. I'm a newbie to watching sailing but have enjoyed watching America's Cup World Series since last year. I love the technology involved.

    One thing that confuses me a little is hearing the commentators on TV mentioning the different sails. I hear "Code Zero", "Gennaker" and "Jib". Is "Code Zero" and "Gennaker" different terms for the same sail?
  • Hi Gareth, The commentators sometimes say "Gennaker" but in fact it is a "Code Zero." This is the larger sail used downwind in lighter wind. It does not attach to a stay - it furls around its own luff (leading edge). The jib attaches to the forestay. On the AC45F, the jib is a "working jib" meaning it does not extend aft of the wing's spar. If the jib extends aft of the mast, overlapping the mainsail, it is called a genoa or genoa jib. On the AC45F, the Code Zero functions like a genoa, since the speed of the boat moves the apparent wind so far forward.

America's Cup Guide