Alinghi Challenge AC37

[atwinda]

Take aways:

Despite the speculation here, no major mods were done to the boat ("having to sail it essentially the same as they got it").

No major refit in the down time- planned break to allow team members to move their families to Barcelona.

Damage was caused from the rib being alongside the hull/foilarm, so not as a result of the capsize(s) itself.

New pictures, and descriptions show the boat having flipped twice- the initial flip, followed by another on the opposite board. Rookie mistake- every dinghy sailor knows you have to bring the bow into the wind before righting the boat.

The boat took on water. This is curious. Maybe with the sails down and on the tow, they have access hatches open? Seems ETNZ didn't have those issues when they put her in. Either they righted her more quickly, or perhaps were in a more water tight configuration with access hatches closed during sailing operations? Sounds like some work to figure out what all the salt water screwed internally- bet they'll be more careful in the future.

 

[Stingray~]

This line from the MW article, mentioning possible internal damage to the port foil, may suggest it will be a while before they can sail again unless they have a spare.

The recon team on the water recorded damage to the port foil (most probably internally and caused by the RIB attached above) and pressure dents at the hull/deck join at the port aft quarter before the chase boat was released and a tow line set up from the mast base.

 

[Stingray~]

Terrible start to their campaign! Good grief.

But nice how open they are about the events of that very-long day.

 

[Schakel]

What about weather windows?
Those guys of Alinghi were not stupid in the past.

You can see it coming on the weather radar..
Probably a test, or bad omen.
Disturbing, perhaps on purpose.

 

[Stingray~]

What about weather windows?
Those guys of Alinghi were not stupid in the past.

You can see it coming on the weather radar..
Probably a test, or bad omen.
Disturbing, perhaps on purpose.

One of the articles says they saw hail stones the size of oranges! Yikes, that would be scary - have never seen even marble-sized hail.

 

[Schakel]

Still strange. all the ultime teams work with, in french, Fenetre.
(Weather forecast that predict what wind you're in 48 or 36 hours ahead, it's acccurate within margin.)

magins.)
It's a stunt, safety case.

Strangely trying to draw attention.
Good thing is no wing damage thanks to dual sails.
Were all the batteries safe from the new sailing tesla's?

 

[Stingray~]

Were all the batteries safe from the new sailing tesla's?

The electronics could be soaked, yes. Sounds like they took on a lot of water.

 

[Stingray~]

^
The recon team observed that on the tow-in, BoatZero looked like it had taken on water owing to the fact that she was slightly submerged on the port side as she was towed ashore and there will be a thorough estimation now undertaken by the team to ascertain any damage to the electronics and mechatronics systems. The boat was docked in at 20.00 hours and craned out half an hour later - a 'tough day the office' as Alinghi Red Bull Racing later described it.

America's Cup: Alinghi Red Bull Racing caught in a weather bomb - what happened.

America's Cup Media's Magnus Wheatley elaborates on Alinghi Red Bull Racing's startup progress in Barcelona, as they take their first steps into AC75 sailing, and their double capsize in Thursday's weather bomb.

www.sail-world.com

 

[Swanno]

This reeks of rookie stuff or attention seeking.

You can see the cloud building in the background of the sailing shots yet they still persist.

in West Australia, we get the late Summer/ early Autumn thunderstorms that track down the coast and explode when they hit the right bit of land or water. You can see signs of them forming hours beforehand and I am a weather observer. Surely these ‘experts’ would have forecasters or at least someone saying ‘hey guys, weather is getting a bit dodgy on land’

 

[chesirecat]

Rapallo, just up by Geona yesterday.
Tis the season.
Of more interest are the 2m swells encountered before. No doubt other teams will be furiously working on their foil response systems.

 

[Xlot]

The Med being 4 degrees C warmer than the average (5 at BCN) has something to do with this

 

[Stingray~]

A rumor during TE's show yesterday suggested Alinghi is out of commission for 2 or 3 more weeks. They have a bunch of systems to rebuild after all the water they took on, especially the electronics.

 

[ChairborneRanger]

Hopefully capsizing their boat before they actually get sailing is not foreshadowing the state of their whole campaign to come.

 

[shebeen]

A rumor during TE's show yesterday suggested Alinghi is out of commission for 2 or 3 more weeks. They have a bunch of systems to rebuild after all the water they took on, especially the electronics.

waterproofing electronic systems seems like an inconvenience worth doing on these machines

 

[Enzedel92]

Can someone remind how many days of the ”head start” Alinghi has pissed away? Since all teams can hit the water the 17th of September does that mean that basically Alinghi only got to ”sail” one time more that other teams!?

This is shocking. This isn’t your local club regatta - this is the Americas Cup for fucks sake.

 

[Sailing Fan]

While the Penascola and auckland teams fly back and forth to test, trial & ship their vessels to Barcelona.

Alinghi will just keep on sailing & sailing. & sailing...

 

[Forourselves]

Dean Barker is being interviewed exclusively on Sunday on TV One (in NZ) with some kind of personal revelation??

 

[JALhazmat]

Dean Barker is being interviewed exclusively on Sunday on TV One (in NZ) with some kind of personal revelation??

Bet you watch though ;-)

 

[Monkey]

Can someone remind how many days of the ”head start” Alinghi has pissed away? Since all teams can hit the water the 17th of September does that mean that basically Alinghi only got to ”sail” one time more that other teams!?

This is shocking. This isn’t your local club regatta - this is the Americas Cup for fucks sake.

There’s not much you can do if the boat’s broken.

 

[Forourselves]

Bet you watch though ;-)

Yep. I will.