After their dramatic nosedive during training that was captured on the 15th July by the on-water recon team, Luna Rossa’s AC75 has spent the last 14 days in the team’s hangar being inspected and modified. Coming out on Wednesday, it was still what the team call a ‘commissioning phase’ and understandably initially there was caution. However pretty soon, the ‘Silver Bullet’ was up to speed with Peter Burling skippering and Ruggero Tita on the port helm.
With near perfect conditions of flat water and a thermal breeze of 11-13 knots that faded to around 8-10 knots offshore, Luna Rossa began with a tow-to-fly and then got loose on a downwind leg with the recon team recording that “the boat did not appear fully in control.” A big windward heel ensued after a rudder stall, and the coaches came in for a chat.
Further drama occurred in the second session whilst Peter Burling was walking aft to inspect the mainsail traveller control. As the Kiwi ventured precariously to the back of the boat, suddenly the boat heeled aggressively to windward, the bow went down and a slow capsize was very narrowly averted. Peter was fine throughout the incident.
A ten minute break to repair a “minor issue” led to the third session of the day that featured a rudder stall whilst the sailors attempted a full circle – a manoeuvre that is crucial in America’s Cup boat-on-boat match-racing.
For the final session again the technicians were onboard to solve a small issue but the team pushed through and recorded some 126 minutes of foiling with 39 tacks and 36 gybes. Speaking afterwards, Martin Jacobi one of Luna Rossa’s Computational Fluid Dynamicists, spoke about the day saying: After a stop, we did a lot of upgrades in our systems, and it’s typical the first day of commissioning of the boat that we find out some issues. So luckily, the team reacted super-fast, the guys on board also, and it all went pretty well and was solved, and they continued as nothing. So really impressive from the team, their reactions.”
Luna Rossa intend to sail again in Cagliari on Friday 31st July.
ON-WATER RECON REPORT:
After two weeks spent in the shed, the team rolled out their mast at 10:45. The following was noted: new GoPro camera placed on port side mid height, deck has been sanded, perhaps to remove anti-slip paint, and new camera mounting on the centreline below the jib foot. Yet to be confirmed, but some smaller updates are noted on spray rails on arm stock and torpedo. Overall, this was not the most consistent sailing day for the team; some control instabilities and occasional touch-and-go’s were recurrent throughout the day, perhaps due to system modifications.
At dock-out, the starting crew consisted of Ruggero Tita (helm), Umberto Molineri (trim), and Maria Giubilei (5th) on port, and Peter Burling (helm), Vittorio Bissaro (trim), and Martin Jacoby (CFD engineer) (6th) on starboard. Later in the day, Ruggero Tita swapped with Marco Gradoni, Umberto Molineri with Gigi Ugolini, and Martin Jacoby with Nitin Garg. The forecast showed a light to medium sea-breeze, expected to ramp up in the late afternoon with a rather flat sea state. The mainsail, M2-1, was hoisted at 12:30 and paired with the J3-1 while the breeze was measured at 11–13 kts from 180°, closer to shore. J3-1 appeared with the previously seen tack reinforcements in addition to cameras fixed close to leech on both stbd and port.
The first session started at 12:54 with a tow-to-foil by the chase boat. The yacht sailed very long boards upwind and headed offshore into lighter airs of 8–10 kts, occasionally immersing the transom pulling down the elevator. This was even more recurrent on the first downwind board, while the boat did not appear fully in control. When executing the first gybes, the rudder stalled, forcing the boat hull-borne. Once trimmed up, the boat sailed high & slow with significant windward heel before stopping for the usual sailors' and coaches' debrief. On many occasions, main skins seemed open with a gap on main head.
The second session began with a self-take-off on starboard tack at 13:58 and unfolded similarly to the first session. Upwind sailing appeared quite more consistent in terms of straight-line performance and manoeuvring, while downwind some touch-and-go gybes, loss of rudder, and unstable ride heights were observed. On the last downwind of this session, Burling was noted walking on deck checking the main traveller when suddenly the boat heeled significantly to windward, quite high in ride and bow down, lost stability and fell hull-borne, almost resulting in a slow capsize. Fortunately, no one was injured and no major issue.
At 15:00 the breeze was 10–12 kts from 175°. The third session was briefly interrupted just after it began due to another minor issue, causing the boat to decelerate. At 15:10 the yacht finally started sailing again with more consistency. Back-to-back manoeuvres were practised upwind and downwind. Besides another rudder loss while practising a full circle, the yacht seemed more locked in compared to the beginning of the session. High & slow mode was again tested before bearing away on starboard tack for the last downwind before turning up at 15:37.
For the fourth session, another self-take-off occurred at 15:57, again on starboard tack, and the yacht headed into some short pre-start training before sailing straight line in stronger breeze, now 13–15 kts from 175°. Another minor issue forced the yacht to decelerate, requiring technicians onboard. Quickly back foilborne at 16:11, a few additional bear-aways and round-ups were executed before heading into the harbour and lowering sails after approximately 126 minutes of foiling time, completing 39 tacks and 36 gybes.