NYYC American Magic AC40-5 Day 14 Summary

It was a big day of foil evaluation for New York Yacht Club American Magic offshore from Pensacola Bay as the team brought more new technology to the party on the beautifully sculpted starboard foil in the form of a covering plate high up on their foil arm, similar to what we are seeing (and have seen) with Emirates Team New Zealand on their AC75 ‘Te Rehutai.’ With a long-span foil to control on ‘America’ thoughts turn towards what’s called the ’actuator’ system which controls the trim of the foil flap as an explanation for the new covering. It’s certainly hiding something. Andrew Campbell, one of the best interviewees in the Cup, gave some great, honest insight into the programme which has another month to run before the team trip over to Barcelona and take charge of their second AC40 on arrival. Talking about the foil development, he commented: “We're just doing a lot of experiments with these foils trying to understand what types of modifications we can be looking at moving forward and it's all part of our appendage exploration here trying to get a feel for what shapes are going to be right long term… these boats are a handful to sail when the sea state is such that the T-sync you know where the foil, the bulb in the water and the bottom of the hull and the waves get bigger than that distance - you can find yourself in trouble pretty quick.” 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