INEOS Britannai AC40-2 Day 7 Summary

A haze descended on Palma Bay this afternoon that almost camouflaged Athena, the silver clad INEOS Britannia AC40, as she blasted around off the Cap Rocat cliffs with only the jet-black 3DL sails giving the game away. But it was far from an incognito performance as the sailors tweaked and moded all afternoon taking in huge learnings whilst throwing the boat around a laid course performing manoeuvres straight from the match-racing handbook. Concentration was on trim and Luke Parkinson hinted at the team perhaps being selective on the auto-pilot and going manual at times. One notable bow-down after lift-off was recorded on the recon video and no doubt some calibration is still being worked into the system, Parkinson described it as: “I guess that's just balancing out the autopilot trim and the direct control between turning it on and off and those sorts of things and again that's really just us starting to learn the boat and the buttons and when to select which mode up front.” – no harm done though, and they were flying with ease almost immediately. 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