Cup Experience News | What a Week! Capsize - Man Overboard - Broken Boat - Racing |Kiwis Arrive | Burling & Tuke Interview
Cup Experience News
Issue 51 | Wednesday 12 March 2017 44 days until racing begins
In this issue:
After a close call last Thursday 6 April, Oracle capsized on Saturday. In the team's video the foils are blurred out, but in video from MyislandhomeBDA, you can see the foil shapes. All the videos are posted here.
Click the photo to see the videos.
On Thursday 6 April, Artemis Racing won their pre-start against Oracle Team USA, putting a penalty on Oracle. Artemis led going into the first mark doing close to 40 knots, when an errant chase boat from a Red Bull Youth America's Cup team crossed in front of them. The chase boat did a quick 180. Nathan Outteridge did an emergency bearaway and Artemis planted the bows, damaging the fairing on the forward crossbeam. Regatta Director Iain Murray abandoned the race and cleared the course. Artemis went to their base to inspect the structures and to patch up the damage. They returned for a second race against Oracle. Artemis lost the start and followed Oracle around the first mark but found better pressure later in the race and passed Oracle for the win.
Artemis Racing's test boat, the AC45x "T2" suffered serious damage. The wing came down and both crossbeams broke. No one was injured. The wing, a spare for their America's Cup Class race yacht, was damaged slightly.
In the photo above, the daggerboard lifting pole is sticking through the lower segment of the flap element of the wing. Fortunately none of the wing control system is in that part of the wing, so damage was minor. In the photo below you can see the repair work underway. The Clysar film was torn and a few ribs were broken.
The port hull is lying on its side in the photo below. Both crossbeams have broken. Artemis engineers are studying data from the boat to determine what caused the breakage.
Thanks to the Bermuda Royal Gazette for the photos. You can read their full article here.
Team France lost a man overboard while training on Bermuda’s Great Sound for the 2017 America’s Cup. A video is available here.
In a full foiling turn the G forces may have surprised this French sailor. He crossed the boat during a fast turn and couldn’t slow down on the other side. Maybe he decided to jump because he remembered that skipper Franck Cammas had his right foot nearly cut off by the rudder wing when he went overboard training in France in November 2015. Read about that accident here.
Kyle Langford was washed overboard during a manoeuvre while training recently. Thanks to Oracle coach Philippe Presti for posting the video on Instagram. You can watch the video here or on Philippe's Instagram feed here.
Photo: Hamish Hooper
The air freight arrival of the team’s America’s Cup Class foiling catamaran coincided with the start of a three-day practice racing window for the teams involved in the 35th America’s Cup. The Kiwis hope that their boat will be reassembled before the next practice racing session, that runs from April 24-28.
The team’s base in Dockyard was ready for the precious cargo of… two hulls, the crossbeams, the pod and fairings for their America’s Cup Class yacht. Also on board the 747: daggerboards, two wing sails, a chase boat, electronic and hydraulic systems – all told around 42 tons. Loading and unloading took over three hours at each end of the trip.
More photos and a video here.
Pete Burling and Blair Tuke exude confidence in this TV interview. Click the photo or here to listen.
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- from John in Newport
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