Cup Experience News

Issue 28 | Monday 8 August 2016

Warning! "TMI?" The article about Land Rover BAR's test boats gets into a bit of detail. The article after that, about daggerboards, really gets nerdy / geeky. Let me know if this is Too Much Information or if you enjoy the details. Just reply to this email or make a comment in the Cup Experience Facebook group.

In this video Freddie Carr gives us a tour of the team base in Portsmouth. 

At about one minute into the video we see two of BAR's test boats. Click to play.

During the AC World Series last month, I got to take a tour, and saw some things that Freddie doesn't show in the video - see the next two articles...

Originally, the Protocol limited teams to three test boats, but that restriction was removed later. BAR is the only team to have built four test boats.

• T1 - modified AC45 platform, launched in October 2014, useful when training for AC World Series
• T2 - Launched in December 2015, now a museum piece in the "Tech Deck." Capsized soon after launch with serious damage to the wing. Designed when the AC62 Rule was in place, the boat had struts and cables rather than a central "pod".
• T3 - layout very similar to the 49 foot long "AC Class" yachts that will race in 2017, launched in April 2016.
• T4 - very similar (identical?) to T3, launched in late May 2016 with no public announcement.

To my knowledge T3 and T4 have not sailed together.

Ben Ainslie shows Duchess of Cambridge "T2" in the Tech Deck museum.

Daggerboard design and control systems will be key to winning the America's Cup.

Daggerboard with a reverse curve in the vertical part, sailing in "T3" or "T4." The reverse curve allows the underwater board tip to be at the maximum beam when fully lowered. With a straight board or C-shape, the cant control can also provide maximum beam.

Board tip - this part provides most of the lift. Why is it a separate piece? Originally the Protocol allowed teams to test more shapes if they built "two piece daggerboards" instead of "one piece daggerboards." This tip was built with a "mortice and tenon" joint - the two vertical black bits are the tenon. The Protocol was changed when the measurers pointed out that there was no way to define clearly the difference between a one-piece and a two-piece board.

Daggerboard control systems 

BAR's "T1" on display in Portsmouth, daggerboards removed. You can see the daggerboard case and a control panel just forward of the winch.

Closeup of the control panel with buttons to raise and lower the daggerboards on either side of the boat.

"T1" is a modified AC45 platform with tiller steering, winches, no grinding pedestals and no cockpits. It has a center spine rather than a pod. The helmsman has a joystick to control board rake and a control panel for board cant.

Helmsman's control panel with settings for four different modes and targets for heel (roll) and fore-aft pitch.

In just one month the ACWS moves to the south of France. Practice racing including match racing begins at 14:00 local time on Friday 9 September with official racing beginning at 14:30 on Saturday and Sunday, 10-11 September.

Ticket information for individuals, groups and for hospitality here.

Jimmy Spithill, the Oracle Team USA skipper, recently tore a tendon in his left elbow and flew to California for an operation at the end of the Portsmouth regatta.

Last year he underwent surgery on his right elbow that he injured during the 2013 America’s Cup.

“Unfortunately I tore a tendon in my left elbow,” Spithill said. “The initial injury I did was on my right elbow during the 2013 America’s Cup. Like the previous injury we tried physio, cortisone, etc but after six months it had gotten worse and we decided to do it straight after Portsmouth."

Spithill hopes to be ready to race at next month’s World Series regatta in Toulon.

Australian Olympic multi-hull sailor Jason Waterhouse will join SoftBank Team Japan after the 2016 games in Rio. He is currently the number three ranked sailor in the Nacra 17, the mixed multihull Olympic class. Waterhouse has sailed with Team Japan their AC45X test boat in Bermuda. He also has AC45 race experience, having been on the Australian team in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in San Francisco in 2013.

We have plenty of reasons to follow the Olympic sailing this summer - Jason Waterhouse and his crew Lisa Darmanin are obviously favorites to medal in the Nacra 17 catamaran. Fellow Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Artemis Racing will be battling to defend their 2012 gold medal in the 49er skiff against the current world champion Kiwis Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of Emirates Team New Zealand. In the Finn dinghy, Giles Scott of Land Rover BAR is the favorite for gold.

Olympic Sailing Schedule

• Finn: racing begins tomorrow, 9 August. Medal Race 16 August.
• Nacra 17: racing begins Wednesday 10 August. Medal Race 16 August.
• 49er: racing begins Friday, 12 August. Medal Race 18 August.

Full schedule available on the World Sailing site here.

America's Cup Guide