Emirates Team New Zealand LEQ12 Day 21 Summary

They had to wait for the breeze but when it came, Emirates Team New Zealand put on another terrific display of boat-to-boat combat between the One Design AC40 and what the recon unit describe as the “fast and twitchy” LEQ12 in full development mode. New tech is being tested on the LEQ12 at a steady pace – gone was the underside winglet today on the port anhedral foil whilst up aloft the sailors were still playing with the batten arrangement, using a grinder on the Chase Boat to lop a bit off before Pete Burling could be seen wrapping tape around the fresh cut end before re-inserting. Micro adjustments but crucial to delivering a very responsive mainsail all the way to the head. In the very close pre-starts, the Kiwis were both using effectively the double-board down move which gives the boats greater stability and enables fast positional changes. Nathan Outteridge, always superb in interview, gave the following explanation: “I think it’s just trying to get the balance between the two boards. The boat’s quite tricky to turn and high turn rates with just one foil in the water so knowing how to be able to really spin the boat hard in the pre-start with both boards down to make a smooth transition to get the thing out the water. It’s quite a tippy little boat when you’re living on the edge…that’s what it comes down to in these pre-starts, knowing how your equipment works and that’s the beauty of two boats racing, you can sail around for the last few months and everything’s sweet and then you’re like ‘gotta turn right now’ and you find the limits of what the boat can do and that’s what’s been really cool to have the two boats in the water.” 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