Alinghi Red Bull Racing Boat Zero Day 36 Summary

Alinghi Red Bull Racing came out today and showed the America’s Cup world just what they’re made of, with a blistering morning session that had BoatZero flying around the waters of Barcelona at speeds in excess of 35 knots. And with the new self-tacking jib system, the result of so much work from the outstanding shore and design teams, fully operational, the team threw in their first consistent set of foil-to-foil tacks and gybes. Andrea Emone, one of the Performance Team that monitor the telemetry coming off the boats as well as observe the sailing style on the water commented afterwards on today’s performance, saying: “As always we ask the team to squeeze and push to the maximum, but we are taking care of our ‘baby’ and we just came back from holidays…I will check numbers and if they haven't pushed I will ask for them to push more.” No clear answer yet on the new electric self-tailing Harken winch that has been installed towards the aft of the starboard trench, but the recon unit are monitoring its use and the heavy rope marks show that this is under a lot of pressure throughout the session. Some interesting detail was spotted today too by the recon photographer of the dilets on the upper foil arm at approximately ride height whilst flying – clearly an area the designers are paying a lot of attention to. Section 41. Reconnaissance a) As a campaign cost reduction measure, COR/D has mutually agreed to cooperatively implement a centralised reconnaissance programme for all teams for the reconnaissance of all Competitors’ AC75 Yachts, AC40 Yachts and LEQ12 yachts including both on-land and on-water imagery (the “Joint Recon Programme”). b) Each team is assigned a two-person Recon Unit to follow their every on-water move, but it's not that simple. The cameras are supplied and identical for all Recon Units. Drones are not allowed, and they can't get that close, plus following a boat and keeping a camera steady at 45 knots isn't that easy to begin with. c) A three minute interview follows each on water day, and teams must answer the Recon Unit's questions while trying not to give too much away. It's a raw, unedited view of the never before seen behind-the-scenes development of a team and their boat to win the oldest trophy in international sports. #AC37Recon #AmericasCup #Barcelona2024