The pre-event practice racing that has been held in Barcelona ahead of the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova i La Geltrú from the 14-17 September 2023, has given us an early look into the form and revealed much about the sailor’s approach to pure one-design AC40 fleet racing. The racing has been remarkably competitive with a huge premium on boat positioning with very few passing lanes. Downwind work has arguably seen the biggest gains amongst the front runners and the premium on constant flight is a given. The world’s best foiling sailors, the golden generation of foilers, are certainly not disappointing and we can expect fireworks when all six AC40s line up for eight fleet races that will decide the top two boats to proceed to the match-race final–winner-takes-all. The first Preliminary Regatta on the road to the 37th America’s Cup, begins in Vilanova i La Geltrú with practice racing on Thursday 14th September 2023 with the racing starting on Friday 15th and running through to the deciding match-race final on Sunday 17th September 2023. The America’s Cup media provide their insight into who is expected to do well in Vilanova i La Geltrú.

America’s Cup AC40 Lineup for Vilanova i la Geltrú

Emirates Team New Zealand The Kiwis have performed consistently in the Practice Racing in Barcelona with a tight-knit team that trust in their process. Seemingly preferring mid-line starts and then applying pressure on boats to windward with their high mode and low riding, Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge have proven to be excellent front-runners once ahead whilst being determined chasers when behind. As defenders of the America’s Cup and with a lot of time on the water, they are the team who always have a target on their back and there’s a sense that several teams are rapidly closing the gap. Will be interesting to see how they go in Vilanova.

INEOS Britannia Luke Parkinson told it straight when he said that the team hadn’t done enough racing and sailing in the AC40 and for the Challenger of Record it has been a tough few days of racing in the practice regattas. At times brilliant, Ben Ainslie’s starting has been world-class but poor execution of manuevers, particularly downwind, has cost them dearly. However, this is a team with superb coaches, who learn fast and there is no more dangerous a sight in world sailing than Ben Ainslie with his back to the wall. Giles Scott is a super-rapid sailor with a lot of experience at the top level of foiling whilst the team has plenty of experience to call up for Vilanova in terms of trimmers. Could be dark horses to show well.

NYYC American Magic The Americans chose to sit out the first few days of the recent practice regatta, preferring to complete their aero and foil testing schedule, but when they came to the racecourse, they were sensational. This is, no doubt, the team to beat with Tom Slingsby, Olympic Gold medalist and Paul Goodison, a three-time International Moth World Champion, looking for all the world like the best pairing in this America’s Cup cycle. Able to sail high upwind with a super low-ride, their brilliance is mirrored downwind with relentless pace and superb trim. American Magic very much look the real deal with so many hours of practice under their belt two-boat tuning in the AC40, and their technique in all conditions is impressive. Many people’s pick to win in Vilanova, the Americans are looking tasty.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are the one team that everyone is watching closely and carefully. Unafraid to ride very different modes to the others, the Italians have a playbook for every scenario and at times have shown unbelievable boatspeed. Their starting has been hit or miss and when they make a mistake, they are quick to bail and try another tactic. Francesco Bruni is a perfect foil for the mercurial genius and downright competitiveness of Jimmy Spithill whilst their Flight Control team of Vittorio Bissaro and Andrea Tesei are arguably the best in the business. If the Italians can string together some consistent results early on, they could easily make the match-race final.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing The bull is charging. Arnaud Psarofaghis and Maxime Bachelin have formed a dynamic partnership, rooted in steady progression, and Alinghi Red Bull Racing have surprised to the upside in the practice regattas. The Swiss are getting more and more comfortable with front-running when ahead whilst their tenacity to fight back when behind is impressive. Boathandling is still a work in progress, but the team have made big gains downwind to compete with and beat the established teams. Starting has been generally on the money and they are a team that everyone is watching on the racecourse. Can the Swiss make it to the final? That’s the big question and early results in Vilanova will be crucial to their overall regatta chances.

Orient Express Racing Team Having taken delivery of their AC40 just last month, the French are methodically approaching the Preliminary Regatta with ‘humility’ according to their coach Thierry Douillard, but they have shown early signs of being more than capable of taking race wins and collecting scalps. The French are brilliant sailors, of which there is no doubt, and Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Pepponet are forming a formidable afterguard. Whether they can challenge for the title in Vilanova is a tall ask with so little time in the AC40 compared to the more established teams, but they will acquit themselves well and could easily score memorable and morale-boosting race wins. The team to watch and cheer on.

Coverage Specifics can be found here.

The post America’s Cup Teams Look to First AC40 Regatta appeared first on Sailing World.

Perched on the shores of the deepwater Pensacola Bay, in the farthest northwest corner of the Florida Panhandle, the city of Pensacola had for years eluded the sailing spotlight. So-named for the long-haired indigenous inhabitants encountered by the Spanish explorers of the 1500s, Pensacola’s identity has ebbed and flowed with the tides. This City of Five Flags was abandoned for nearly a century after a hurricane wiped out its original Spanish inhabitants, to later be governed by France, Great Britain, the US and the Confederate States of America. 

A significant economic contributor to Florida for timber and fishing in the 1930s and 1940s, Pensacola’s sailing culture flourished in the decades that followed but fell dormant in the aftermath of the 1970s and 1980s hurricanes, which once again drove an entire generation elsewhere. 

With a history as turbulent as the hurricanes that defined it, the city on the bay is rising again, this time capitalizing on its distinguishing geographic features. 

Immediate past commodore of the Pensacola Yacht Club Tom Pace knows the city—and its bay—quite well. The once-professional windsurfer grew up in Pensacola, moved away during the aforementioned dormant years, but returned to care for his ailing parents. His love for Pensacola inspired a Quixote-esque quest to showcase the bay’s ideal location and sailing conditions. 

Spanning roughly 5-by-11 miles in depths of 22 to 32 feet, Pensacola Bay’s sail-racing area takes advantage of the optimal sailing conditions. Here, wind conditions vary from season to season, but serve up a perfect 8.1 mph average punctuated by 15 to 25 mph frontal surges between October and May. The warmer months see light winds in the morning building into a southwesterly sea breeze later in the day.

The bay has been home to several notable youth sailing events in recent years, including the 2018 Optimist National Championship and the US Sailing Youth National Championship, as well as a host of national and international regattas. 

“It had been a dream for years,” Pace says. “We are trying to rebuild a sailing culture.” 

Pace’s vision coincided with the brewing of the perfect storm—one propelled by the New York Yacht Club’s decision to challenge the 36th America’s Cup. Led by three-time Maxi72-class champion and yachtsman John “Hap” Fauth, businessman Roger Penske and Quantum Racing head Doug DeVos, the AC Cup Challenger team American Magic was looking for a training base. Key West offered the infrastructure but temperamental conditions. Pensacola’s protected bay, on the other hand, offered conditions similar to Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

“We kept bugging American Magic to relocate from Key West to Pensacola,” Pace says. “The bay offers winds from every direction and, unlike San Francisco or New York, it’s not as seasonal. The cost of living factors in as well.” Team representative Dr. Jim Andrews visited during a particularly stellar 40-knot day. “We got a call a month later from Tyson Lamont (WHO). They would need a dock, containers, and stakes for tent structures for the AC36 Challenger team who would use Pensacola Bay as its winter training base, named Warehouse 10.

“In the 1984 Olympics, the US took gold or silver in each of 12 sailing medal divisions,” said Pace. “Since then we’ve fallen off; during the past three Olympic cycles, the US has had one medal. Hap and Doug saw this stagnation of American sailing and went back to the cradle. They needed a performance sailing center.”

In 2020, the biggest names in American sailing turned their attention not only to US sailing, but to Pensacola as well. Names such as Paul Cayard, Dawn Riley, Ray Palmer, Terry Hutchinson, and Mike Cazer were each influential in the fledgling opti, foils, and Moth events now surging on the bay.

This year, Pace’s vision for Pensacola came one step closer to reality when the board of Triumph Gulf Coast voted unanimously to approve an $8.5 million grant for design, renovation, and completion of the American Magic training facility. The new Center for Maritime Excellence will serve as the permanent headquarters for the American Magic team. On top of this, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $3.9 million grant from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to strengthen Pensacola’s infrastructure and “promote economic opportunities in the sailing industry for the Florida Panhandle.”

“There is a lot of excitement here now that real hard dollars are going into our vision,” says Pace. “None of this would have been possible without Merrill Land Company President/Owner Collier Merrill at the state level and Ellis Bullock, President/Creative Director of marketing and communications firm EW Bullock on the local level. Without them we would not have begun the sponsorship of American Magic. In fact, Pensacola, Florida will now be displayed on the sails through the Cup Finals. They have been critical to the relationship with local leaders as well as with the Governor, Florida Senators and Congressmen, and remain the bedrock of all of this.

“Our task now is to build out the infrastructure,” says Pace. “The marina space may be a challenge but the water is not. There is a load of potential in revitalizing the waterfront as well as downtown Pensacola.”

Now that the momentum is going, Pace can already taste an American Magic win in Barcelona. “If American Magic wins, how do we shape up the defense in Pensacola? There is a lot of excitement. We need tourist development and the county engaged, if it’s all going to work. What we have is an incredibly cohesive core group that we hope will influence the ancillaries. Everything has been set, we have legitimate money, everybody is in. If you build a little bit of infrastructure, you will attract a lot.”

Godspeed, Pensacola. We’ll see you on the bay.

To learn more about Pensacola sailing visit www.visitpensacola.com/feature/sailing/.

The post Winds of Change appeared first on Sailing World.

While some might question how much trickle-down there is from the current breed of foiling America’s Cup boats to the average sailor, there’s one area certain to benefit all of us—technical sailing clothing. In their second campaign with American Magic, Helly Hansen has been in constant consultation with the team to develop what, for us, represents the next generation of innovations in technical gear. Some are specific to AC boats, such as where knives and rescue air will be stored or strategically placed armor. But other aspects, such as the continued development of highly resilient materials that allow sailors to perform at the highest levels, are something we’re already seeing in Helly Hansen’s commercially available products. And while you can’t purchase the exact gear the American Magic team wears on the water yet (select pieces will be available next year), you can get a version of it, right now, through Helly Hansen’s In-Line Sailing Collection that feature some of the favorite pieces the team uses day in and day out. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Helly Hansen’s partnership with American Magic has also resulted in something sailors will love: the AC 37 NYYC American Magic Supporter Collection. We got a sneak peek at a few samples of the product line, which will have limited availability on the Helly Hansen website, with more gear being introduced throughout the campaign. A new red, white and blue American Magic logo adorns the back of each piece of gear, as well as a smaller version of the logo on the front.

First was the waterproof crew jacket, which is perfect for those cool spring sailing days when you’re on deck and just need a small buffer to keep the elements away, or maybe for a cool, foggy morning beach walk. It’s just a great, all-around grab-and-go jacket. You’ll appreciate the fleece-lined collar, behind which is an envelope for the hood, and fleece-lined front pockets. Speaking of pockets, there’s all you’ll need, including a front breast pocket for stashing a cellphone, the aforementioned hand-warmer pockets, and an inside security pocket.  But what’s really cool is the mesh liner in both the jacket body and the hood—the perfect moisture barrier. 

Then Helly offers the American Magic hoodie and racing tee.. The hoodie is made from cotton and includes a beefy drawstring and usual kangaroo-style pocket, for a classic comfy feel. The Racing Tee feels and acts like cotton but is actually made from recycled polyester that has been infused with recycled coffee grounds during the fiber creation process to provide everlasting UPF protection and natural anti-odor properties – yes, from recycled coffee grounds. It comes in what Helly Hansen calls a gray “fog,” in other words, a light gray. It’s a great all-around color that will keep you from overheating on hot days but not show dirt as easily as a white tee. It’s perfect for working on and around boats—or just showing support for the American Magic team. The Supporter Collection has a coolness factor that takes them well beyond your typical hoodie or tee.

The collection includes a wide variety of practical items, including tech T-shirts, jackets, pullovers, polo shirts, fleece, backpacks, belts and hats—something for every taste, interest and budget. And while much of it is unisex, there are a number of products designed specifically for women and kids, including a polo shirt, vest and fleece pullover for women, and tees and hats for kids. For more information on the complete collection, go to: hellyhansen.com/mens/shop-by/american-magic.

The post Rallying Behind American Magic With Helly Hansen appeared first on Sailing World.

Orient Express Racing Team — the French Challenger for the 37th America’s Cup — reached another significant milestone en route to next year’s showdown in Barcelona with the unveiling of the sailing squad. The announcement precedes the imminent arrival of the team’s AC40 foiling monohull at the Spanish venue, a vital component in their training trajectory ahead of the delivery of the AC75 America’s Cup race boat next year.

Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Peponnet will be the helmsmen for both the AC40 Orient Express and AC75, with François Morvan, Matthieu Vandame and Jason Saunders the trimmers. Between them the quintet bring vast experience at an Olympic and international level, with their skills forged more recently in the intense heat of the SailGP racing circuit.

At the same time, the squad of ‘cyclors’ — the literal powerhouse who provide the energy needed to operate the AC75’s controls — were named as Germain Chardin, Maxime Guyon, Olivier Herlédant, Tim Lapauw, Antoine Nougarede, and brothers Rémi and Thibaut Verhoeven. The group comes from backgrounds in sailing, rowing, cycling and CrossFit, all also with international and Olympic credentials.

“There is no doubt that importing the mutual experience and teamwork honed on the SailGP circuit of Quentin, François, Matthieu and myself to the Orient Express Racing Team is a logical move,” said Peponnet.

“Add to that the experienced technical and shore teams, and the depth of talent we have to call on throughout the build-up to the America’s Cup, and we are quietly confident that we will be in a position to climb the mountain ahead of us and be fully in contention in September next year.

“We have had great and ongoing high-value training on the simulator thanks to the excellent work by our chief designer Benjamin Muyl and his team, and now we are eager to add real-time experience on the AC40 on the Barcelona race course from mid-August.”

The new developments follow-on from the May announcement of the Women and Youth squads following a selection process entrusted to Team France Association in collaboration with the French Sailing Federation, with the third Official Challenger element now taking its place in what Orient Express regards as a single team.

At the same time, construction of the AC75 at Multiplast, Vannes in the Morbihan region of France is ongoing, with French technical expertise front and center with the development of the sailing simulators, electronics, mechatronics and IT, with the large foiling monohull set for delivery next May. Also in-build is the team’s base in Barcelona under the watchful eye of Louis Viat, which will accommodate first the AC40 along with part of the team, and then the AC75.

“To be competitive, you need a well-designed boat and a crew who know how to use it and understand how it works. To achieve this, there needs to be good communication between the departments, so that we can refine and adjust the way we use the boat, going beyond the models and taking into account how the sailors feel about it.”

Franck Cammas

Stephan Kandler, co-director of Orient Express Racing Team alongside Bruno Dubois, said: “The collaboration we have evolved already with French service providers, who bring world class levels of skill and know-how to the project, has been great. The technological challenge at the heart of the America’s Cup will enhance knowledge and generate economic spin-offs for the French maritime industry, and that is very important to us.”

The America’s Cup has always been at the cutting edge of technological development, and never more so than in the current campaign. The imperative to create a seamless integration between the state-of-the-art technology and the crew has led to the involvement of the highly experienced Franck Cammas as Head of Performance within the team.

“My role with Orient Express Racing Team is to act as a link between the sailors and the design and technical teams, in the interests of performance,” said Cammas.

“To be competitive, you need a well-designed boat and a crew who know how to use it and understand how it works. To achieve this, there needs to be good communication between the departments, so that we can refine and adjust the way we use the boat, going beyond the models and taking into account how the sailors feel about it.”

With so much achieved in the short time since the Orient Express Racing Team announced its Cup challenge back in February, the project has also received the support of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, France’s Minister of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“We are proud to have come so far in such a short space of time,” said Bruno Dubois.

“We started with a group of sailors who already knew each other from the top level of international competition, like team coach Thierry Douillard, sports coach Killian Philippe, and performance coach Thomas Sammut, and the whole team has grown together.

“There is still a long way to go to the America’s Cup and we are not closing any doors on the possibility of adding other talented sailors to the group.”

The Orient Express Racing Team will be in Barcelona in August when the team settles into their base in the Catalan capital, and they start sailing aboard the AC40 Orient Express.

The post Sailing Roster Announced for French America’s Cup Challenger appeared first on Sailing World.

The American Magic’s summer sailing squad includes Olympic Gold Medalists Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison, Olympic Bronze Lucas Calabrese, U.S. Olympians Andrew Campbell and Riley Gibbs, and Etchell World Champion Michael Menninger.

Under the leadership of Terry Hutchinson, Skipper and President of Sailing Operations, and Coach Tom Burnham, NYYC American Magic has assembled a group comprising a mix of youthful talent and experienced sailors. Eleven athletes will embark on their first America’s Cup cycle, including Harry Melges, who was named US Sailing’s 2021 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

Hutchinson and Burnham have selected seven afterguard members and ten cyclors, showcasing the squad’s flexibility, as many sailors can fulfill multiple positions.

“We are fortunate to have assembled a strong sailing team. The squad represents a good balance of experience on the water and athletically with the cyclors. The process put forward by training coaches Baden Cashmore and Ben Day to develop the power plant of the team has produced significant results.” said Terry Hutchinson.

“Our training will continue on the coastal waters off of Barcelona.  We look forward to learning the venue and focusing on developing our platforms.”

The team will train in Barcelona ahead of the first Preliminary Regatta of the 37th America’s Cup in Vilanova i la Geltrú. The racing is scheduled to take place over four days between September 14th and 17th, 2023, in the new foiling class – the AC40.

Having recently relocated from Pensacola, American Magic is now based in Barcelona for the final phase of the 37th America’s Cup campaign in 2024. The 37th America’s Cup will be held in Barcelona, Spain, in September and October 2024.

The Squad:

Afterguard: 
Lucas Calabrese, Andrew Campbell, Riley Gibbs, Paul Goodison, Harry Melges, Michael Menninger, Tom Slingsby.

Cyclors:
Trevor Burd, John Croom, Cooper Dressler, Colton Hall, Tim Hornsby, Ashton Lambie, Madison Molitor, Ethan Seder, Chris Shirley, James Wright.

The post American Magic Gets to Work in Barcelona appeared first on Sailing World.

At the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Annapolis in early May, American Magic’s skipper Terry Hutchinson held court at the Annapolis YC for the Sailing World Speaker Series to share an update on the team, their next AC75 and what it’ll take to get and win the big race in Barcelona.

Give us the lowdown of winding down operations in Pensacola ahead of the move to Barcelona.

In February we transitioned out of Patriot and into the AC40, which has been a reasonably good platform. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough. We purchased two of them so that we can do in-house racing, but also use the platform for our foil development. We get four foils to develop, so the guys are designing what they think are the best AC75 foils and then they scale them down for the 40. We lose a little bit in the scalability, but as much as anything, we’re working on the process of developing the boat, we’re working on the communications between the entire team and we’re working on the idiosyncrasies of a new sailing team that’s very experienced, but new together. We had to navigate through that and a massive move to Spain. Our first sailing day is June 22, with two boats on the water in Barcelona, so there’s a lot to do before then. The team is 126 people, and we’re about 350 with our families, so it’s not something that just happens—it’s a pretty big machine. But on the positive side, we’re getting there early enough to set ourselves into life in Barcelona and be as streamlined as naturally as possible. 

You’ve said the design “sign-off” for your AC75 was May. Where are you at with the build?

By this time next year [late April], Boat 3 is going to be close. Its nickname is “Raven.” We’re building the boat inside of our own facility at the Safe Harbor New England Boatworks facility and when we get to max capacity there, there’ll be more than 50 builders and designers operating in that space and, hopefully, working on the boat that’s going to win the next America’s Cup. It’s unbelievably cool to see the evolution. Our team transformed a bit under the leadership of Scott Ferguson, who’s the design coordinator. We’ve got Britt Ward, who’s one of our principal hull designers, which is awesome. Britt’s a certifiable super genius. I think what makes our design team unique is there’s a combination of guys that have won the regatta, and then there’s guys that have not won the regatta—like Britt, who has been very close and is very successful in his own right but hasn’t gotten over the hump like a few of us—so we do see a unique motivation there. We brought in some of the guys that were within INEOS but that Scott had already worked with in the Oracle program, as well as some of the guys that were with Prada, and we’re sprinkling in from Pete Melvin’s office out on the West Coast. They’ve brought a unique skill set with their simulator and some of the scientific side there that they’ve helped develop. And so, it’s a different look—the process the guys have gotten through to execute on the hull is very thoughtful and thorough in how they approach the design of the boat. 

What are the primary design considerations, given what you know of the weather in Barcelona during the Cup’s long duration?

The average wind speed over the course of September and October has the ability to be anywhere from six to 11 knots. But the unique statistic inside that is that almost 50 percent of the days we don’t race. The bottom side of the wind range is 6.5 knots. The boat has to foil at 6.5 knots, measured at 5 meters. And then the top side of it is 21 knots at 5 meters. Everything we do to make the boat good in 8, 9, 10 or 11 knots, we take away from the light-air performance of the boat. And so, while 8 knots may sound like light air, at 8 knots the boat’s going 33 knots upwind. If October [in Barcelona] is 6 to 11, September is like 8 to 12. In actuality, your chances of 8 to 12 are much higher, because you’re missing a lot of days of racing in October. So that tells you it’s either really light, or it’s windy, because the average is still light. So, we have to contemplate how we design for that side of it.

The other side of the rules that are unique now is we only have one set of foils, and a spare, and the rule says the foil has to be from the same family. It has to look a certain part…it has to have 80 percent of the initial foil shape. If you muck around at all, it has to look the part and so when we make that first foil decision, that’s our only foil decision and we’re shooting a pretty big bullet. The hull is one thing, but as we learned in AC36, the hull is a very small component to the actual success. But what we do know is that we’re never going to make a slow foil fast. 

In AC36, Team New Zealand had the smallest foils in the fleet and they had the highest percentage of VMG through all the maneuvering. It’s a perpetuating circle where, if for example, you’re going into a maneuver, if you have to, your bottom speed can only be 27 knots in the maneuver, or you fall off the foil. Then when you go into the maneuver you speed build to 35 knots, you tack, you land at 30 and then you keep going. But what that shows in a performance world is the boat being that much more maneuverable. And then downwind, it’s the same thing—in 12 knots of breeze the boat is sailing at 150 true downwind and just like a symmetric boat you jibe through 60 degrees or so. In that way, the sailing is very similar. Upwind, you’re sailing at 45 true—anywhere from 40 to 45—and your tacking angle is 90 degrees.

How have you integrated cyclors into the platform now that they’re allowed?

The difference in the rule from AC36 to AC37 is we’ve gone from 11 sailors down to eight. And we’ve maintained the same amount of hydraulic power to actuate the sails, and all the systems inside the boat. One of the things that’s different between AC36 and AC37, outside of the reduction of sailors, is the system has a 2-second delay, whereas in AC36, you could have no logic running the boat. You turn the boat on, programmers program the boat, you go out and you go sailing and you have presets, but you can’t, in essence, develop an autopilot. So, it’s not completely an autopilot, and the waves really change the dynamic of how the boat sails. In flat water, a 2-second delay is actually not very much, but when you put the boat into a sea state, a 2-second delay is a big impact to the performance of the boat. 

We’ve been developing cyclors, and what you’re basically looking for is the athlete to produce 5 watts per kilo over 25 minutes. If you think about a Tour de France cyclist, they’re 60 kilos and they’re consistently producing about 315 watts over a stage in a Tour race. We’re looking for these athletes to produce just over 500 watts with their legs for 25 minutes, which is a big ask. We have one professional cyclist, and then we have rowers and swimmers who are proving to be the best athletes. They’re very much like sailors. They’re very twisted. One guy showed up and said, “I wasn’t sure if this was my friends punking me or if this was actually real?” And I said, “And you still showed up? I mean, you actually thought it was a good idea? He was like, “Yeah, I just didn’t know if I was going to be leaving without a kidney or what was going to happen.”

So, not only do we have that quality of an athlete, they’re also very smart. A couple of the guys are engineers, a couple of them work for Apple and have just come out of school. And so, on top of being incredible specimens, they’re integrating into developing the systems in the boat. One of our athletes has broken a world record on the stationary bike—Colton Hall from Massachusetts—for fun last year, he did a ride around New England where he rode 501 miles in just over 25 hours without stopping, for fun, just because, but he did a 3-hour ride on the stationary bike where he averaged 402 watts for 3 hours. And he broke a world record at the 2-hour mark at 428. When he gets on the bike, he doesn’t produce lactic acid, up to about 300 watts. If we just fed him and hydrated him, he’d just keep rolling.

What are you learning from all the shared recon available to you?

When we look over the fences at some of the test boats, Luna Rossa is doing a really nice job. That boat is a direct result of their debrief. If you look at the hull form and you look at team New Zealand’s hull form from AC36, that boat is a knock on, but with some very good systems and a sail program that’s very good. Team New Zealand is on the pathway; they’ve launched their AC75 and they have a couple of features that we picked up in the recon; the mainsheet and the jib and everything are all linked together, so when one moves, everything moves. We can see them working on the proportions there. INEOS—their little test boat is not going to win a beauty contest, but we see a lot of clever thinking in the boat. They have a Mercedes-style foil, which science says is the right thing to do. It has anhedral and then it goes flat to a straight wing, and what that gives is the benefit of less drag but also the idea that a straight foil across is you’re not carrying as much in the water and you still get the benefits of the T foil. 

So, we see that, and we can see the bustle they’ve put on their boat. One of the features of these boats is you really want to seal the boat to the water. All the boats will have some type of bustle, but that bustle is bad for hitting waves and changes the apparent wind angles around. These are all the things that when we go out into the Gulf of Mexico or we sail in Pensacola Bay, we learn the differences and all the tradeoffs that we have to have in our minds. One thing we know for certain is if we come up against a perfect flat-water boat in flat water, they’re going to be faster because the averages are telling us all to design to be more forgiving…so we might actually see a wider scale of performance in the boats. If you land in your sweet spot of conditions, then you’re going to be pretty slippery. 

So many people ask me: “Who’s your biggest competition?” Well, our biggest competition is us. We have everything we need to win the regatta, but I’m a bit tainted and jaded because we had everything we needed to win the regatta in AC36 and we floundered. The people that we are racing against are very good and they have everything they need too, but we have a couple of X factors. We have very good sailors and a very good team camaraderie. We maintained over 50 percent of our team from AC36. We all know the improvement in performance that comes out of consistency with a team. And so, through that lens, I look at it and think we’re the team to beat, but if you asked Team New Zealand or INEOS you’re probably going to get the same answer. We’re fortunate to have Andrew Campbell and Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison and Riley Gibbs, Lucas Calabrese and Michael Menninger. These guys are all great sailors and there’s enough experience there—from Olympic gold medalists, to somebody who, on paper, doesn’t look to be the most qualified, but is an awesome team member and does really good work at integrating into the team. So, that side of it is probably the most exciting because I think we, as a team, have the most to gain from it. We have three guys that actually raced Lasers against each other, two of them have swapped gold medals. Goodison, to his credit, has three Moth world championships and is doing a phenomenal job of leading the team day in and day out.

Can you give us a hint of what the final race boat will look like?

What is she going to look like? She’s going to be long. She’s going to look a lot different than Patriot. In January of 2021, when we had the forecast that we had, we had a full team meeting saying, we’re not going to win any races on these two days, because we know the boat’s vulnerable. And to win the regatta, you inherently have to put yourself into a corner to be fast. We learned through that, and so I would say Boat 3 is going to look a lot different than Patriot did.

What do you think will be the breakthrough development in this Cup cycle? What is out there that you’ve seen that you think would make a big difference?

 That’s a really hard question to answer because if we reflect back to AC36, Team New Zealand made the biggest jump over the course of basically 10 weeks in their sail program. And they had a logical pathway of development to that. They started with an articulating boom, they built a little boomless mule and then they launched Boat 2, boomless. But the system in the boat really wasn’t all that good. And they had small foils. They were handicapped by that, and yet, they figured it all out. So, what’s going to win the regatta is a boat that’s fast enough that when you’re in your weak spot, you’re able to manage that, and to me, the weak spot isn’t downrange. The weak spots are going to be up range, because everybody’s got the same weather forecast. We all look at the same numbers statistically, so we’re gonna have to have a boat that’s very reliable, and is fast enough in 12 knots, or 13 or 14 knots when we come up against somebody who’s in their sweet spot that we can take races off of them.

Simulators and artificial intelligence were a big part of AC36; is it even more so today? Would it be accurate to say you’ve essentially already sailed the races?

Have we sailed all the races already? No. But I would say the simulation side of it—one of the things that Pete [Melvin] and his office brought to us was they have very good experience with that and running the program that’s actually developed by Dan Bernasconi, who is the design coordinator for Team New Zealand. In parallel, we’ve been developing our own simulation, and all those design tools. But when you talk about artificial intelligence, or machine-based learning, you have to remember it’s learning from the past, it’s not learning from the future. So, it’s trying to predict the future and trying to put you into a spot. But it’s learned from things that have already happened. When you throw it into sailing, there are a lot of variables that can skew data, based on the learnings from the past.

Our simulator is at a spot that Anderson [Reggio] and the team that’s evolved that we’ve been incredibly fortunate over the last three months that we received a grant from the Schoonmaker Foundation, specific to the simulation. That’s allowed us to accelerate the amount of hires, and so the data that comes off the boat gets put into the code, and into the physics model that goes into the simulation. And then the sailors get to a place where they can sit down in the simulator and it feels exactly like the boat. The cockpit feels just like the boat and what you look at with the VR feels like the boat. We chose not to do a motion platform because it’s expensive, and it’s lethargic. And you have to move all this stuff around the world. Ergonomically, it feels the same. All the buttons are in the same spot. The goggles—everywhere you look—you see the Westin Hotel in Barcelona, I mean, you see the whole thing, but each day we go sailing, the next day you go in the simulator, the simulator is better because of that sailing session.

We have a great artificial intelligence partner with Altair out of Detroit, Michigan, and they’re helping us develop this stuff. But again, it’s not something that just kind of pops out of thin air and you go well, here you go.

Between Slingsby and Goodison you’ve got two of the best at the helms, and Andrew Campbell has so much experience flying the AC75, but what do you do for backups should someone be unable to sail for any reason?

We have to have backups in case somebody gets smacked by a bus. We need to have flight controller backup, and we need to have trimmer backup. The nice thing about having Lucas and Riley [Gibbs] steering a lot is they’re both really good trimmers, so they develop a feel for the helm, and what the boat needs by sailing the boat. When you swap over and you start trimming, you should have a better feel for the boat. We were horrifically exposed in AC36, but we’ve changed our approach, partly because we’ve integrated the team with younger Americans. Harry Melges [IV], who’s over sailing the Quantum Racing [52] right now is coming in as one of our helmsmen, so he’ll be joining the team in July, which will be awesome. I mean, everybody knows how talented he is, and he’s younger than my oldest son. Michael Menninger has done an incredible job evolving into his role trimming on the boat, and of all the guys, he had the least amount of foiling experience, but he’s turning into an incredibly gifted trimmer on the boat. What makes all of these guys good is their abilities to think, and do things correctly at pace.

Match racing in AC75s in Barcelona; will there be much of it?

It’s going to be different. The sea state is going to be the big driver to the whole thing, especially if it’s light. The flat water we saw in Auckland, and in the racing that took place there…I mean, what we saw in the final in the match was Luna Rossa had come through and was really well prepared. Every day they came off the water even with Team New Zealand, it was a win for Team New Zealand because it was just getting them more time at racing. And their boat was getting faster and faster and faster. So, Luna Rossa did as good a job as they possibly could have done to get the match as far into it as they did. But again, they came up against a faster boat. And once the faster boat gets a sniff of bow out…It’s unlike the traditional IACC matches where everything was happening at 10.1 or 10.2 and the separation that we got between the boats. It was very tactical and very strategic. It was also about having a fast boat, but by the time we got to the match in AC32, the differences were minuscule. But still, the average delta, I think, was 19 seconds over seven races. And in the last race it was a minute.

Team New Zealand has always been hard to beat. And as Defender, this is their show. How beatable are they?

Well, they’re very good. They’ve got a great design team. They’ve got great sailors, they’ve got the whole thing right there in front of them. But they’ve made a couple interesting decisions. They started out right after the Cup with the hydrogen support vessel project, they designed that, and their design team was working on that, then they developed the AC40 and the system that goes inside the AC40. Even though they pawned that off to McConaghy to build, it’s still requiring oversight. And then Glenn [Ashby] broke the land speed record. All of that, to me, kind of takes your eye off of the America’s Cup ball. But, then they sold the venue to Barcelona. That’s a side of it that can’t be underestimated. For me, that’s probably the biggest equalizer. What makes the event winnable is that they’ve taken it out of their home town and they’ve put it in the middle of Europe, which is great for us because it’s easier to get to.

The post American Magic Inbound to Barcelona appeared first on Sailing World.

Born on January 26, 1930, in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, Buddy dedicated his life to the pursuit of excellence on the water. Growing up on Delavan Lake, he honed his skills sailing the boats crafted by his father, Harry Melges Sr., at Melges Boat Works. From its humble origins as a wooden rowboat builder, the family business evolved into a trailblazer in sailing innovation, providing top-quality performance hulls and sails while fostering a passionate sailing community over the last 78 years.

Over his eight-decade career, Buddy advanced the sport and etched his name into the annals of sailing history, showcasing unmatched skill, strategic brilliance, and an unwavering passion for the sport. While being a fierce competitor, Buddy made lifelong friendships both on and off the water. His triumphs in international competitions solidified his status as a sailing icon. 

Buddy soared to Olympic glory, earning a gold medal in the Soling class in 1972 and a bronze medal in the Flying Dutchman class in 1964. His expertise extended beyond the Olympics, as he claimed a gold medal in the Flying Dutchman Class at the Pan American Games in 1967, the title of two-time Star world champion in 1978 and 1979, and a remarkable three-time 5.5 Meter world champion in 1967, 1973, and 1983.

On the national stage, Buddy captured the E-Scow national championship five times, triumphing in 1965, 1969, 1978, 1979, and 1983. He achieved the seemingly impossible when he won the North American Men’s Sailing Championships and the Clifford D. Mallory Trophy in 1959, 1960, and 1961. His talent on the ice was also unrivaled, as evidenced by his seven-time skeeter ice boat world champion titles in 1955, 1957, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1980, and 1981.

Buddy also made his mark on the America’s Cup. As a challenger in 1987 with Heart of America, he competed against Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes and earned high praise from Conner, himself. In 1992, Buddy achieved the ultimate success, helming America3 to victory alongside Bill Koch, securing the America’s Cup and marking one of his greatest accomplishments during his storied career.

His list of sailing accolades goes on, including three-time US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman of the Year (1961, 1972, and 1983) and two-time One Design Sailor of the Year (1978 and 1979). In 1972, the national authority for the sport, now called US Sailing, presented Buddy with its most esteemed award, the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy for Outstanding Contributions to the Sport. In 1986, he was the first recipient of the W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Trophy, the National Sportsmanship Award. 

In 2001, Buddy was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, recognizing his significant contributions to the prestigious event. Additionally, in 2002, he was inducted into the Inland Lake Yachting Association Hall of Fame, a testament to his impact on inland lake sailing.

Beyond his own accomplishments, Buddy generously shared his knowledge and served as a mentor to aspiring sailors, leaving an indelible mark on the sport. His captivating lectures and teaching abilities inspired countless individuals across the world. As a member of numerous clubs, including the ILYA Bilge Pullers (Oldest surviving member), Lake Geneva Yacht Club (Member #1), Chicago Yacht Club, Columbia Yacht Club, Milwaukee Yacht Club, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, and Little Traverse Bay Yacht Club, Buddy exemplified his commitment to the sailing community and his dedication to fostering camaraderie among fellow sailors. 

Often referred to as the “Grand Master” of competitive yachting and affectionately known as “The Wizard of Zenda,” Buddy was a beacon of inspiration and a true legend in the sailing world. He was the recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award for Distinction in Sports from the Wisconsin Historical Society History Makers in 2009. His induction into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011, the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, and the World Sailing Hall of Fame in 2007 solidified his enduring legacy and celebrated his remarkable contributions to the sport.

In addition to Buddy’s sailing career, it is worth noting his distinguished military service and his love for duck hunting. 

During his younger years, Buddy served his country with honor and valor as a member of the United States Army. His exceptional service during the Korean War earned him the prestigious Bronze Star.

Beyond the waters, Buddy found even more joy in the great outdoors with his passion for duck hunting. A devoted outdoorsman, environmentalist, and conservationist, he served as Chairman of the Delta Marsh Rehabilitation Committee for the Delta Waterfowl Foundation. His longtime favorite place to hunt ringneck ducks and mallards was at his cabin on Lake of the Woods in Nestor Falls, Ontario.

For all of his remarkable achievements, Buddy remained humble and approachable. Known for his colorful personality and infectious love for the sport, Buddy was always willing to lend a helping hand and offer words of encouragement to fellow sailors, inspiring them to always start first and increase their lead.

Buddy leaves an enduring impact on the sailing community, a legacy that will resonate for generations to come. His contributions will continue to shape the future of sailing, inspiring sailors of all ages to pursue their dreams with unwavering determination.

Survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Gloria, and their children, Laura Melges, Hans Melges, and Harry C. Melges III (Suzanne), Buddy is also remembered by his grandchildren, Olivia Arbaugh, Hunter Arbaugh, Harry C. Melges IV, Monroe Melges, Hans Melges, Maxx Melges, and Maverik Melges. He is preceded in death by his sister, Marilyn Snudden, and by his parents, Louise and Harry C. Melges Sr. 

If you would like to honor Buddy’s memory, donations can be made to the Geneva Lake Sailing School in the name of the Buddy Melges Sailing Center.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

The post Buddy Melges, Sailing Icon, Passes Away at 93 appeared first on Sailing World.

For many people, being named a crewmember aboard an America’s Cup boat is considered the pinnacle of sailboat racing. These sailors are among the world’s best of the best, having earned their spots on board after years—sometimes, after decades—of honing their skills and knowledge in fierce competition out on the water.

Then, once they have reached that pinnacle of the sport, they have to learn all kinds of things anew. In 2012, foiling sailboats became part of the America’s Cup for the first time, requiring the athletes to learn how to fly. In 2018, the creation of the AC72 required lessons involving yet more new sailing techniques. For the 37th America’s Cup, which is scheduled to be raced in 2024 off the coast of Barcelona, Spain, sailors are out on the water right now, learning everything they need to know about the AC72’s smaller sistership, the AC40. 

As the boats are evolving, so are each of the systems on board. Think about the technology you carried around in your pocket a decade ago compared with what you have available at your fingertips today. Now, extrapolate that exponential increase of power and features into the highest of high-tech equipment on board America’s Cup boats. Imagine being tasked with fully understanding every last bit of it, with a depth of knowledge that allows you to make smart, split-second decisions.

Even the most experienced, celebrated sailors in the world are always learning something new. That’s how life works—not just for them but for us all. All day, every day, we are growing, learning and changing. 

We all need help to manage and simplify life’s ever-changing complexities. Sometimes, we need more, or different, help than others.      

As the Whittier Trust team knows firsthand, it takes a full crew working in practiced unison to make sure all the moving parts continue to move in the right directions. 

In fact, Whittier Trust built its whole business on being able to give clients anything they need as their own needs and desires change, and as the world’s complexities shift all around them. The company’s focus is on helping generation after generation of a family achieve their goals, simply and efficiently, regardless of what those goals might be.

From their roots as a single-family office in 1935 for the Whittier Family, and now as a multifamily office for a broader client base, Whittier Trust has a singular, refined focus on the business of wealth management. The company’s breadth of services includes everything from investment advice to managing family office needs, family trusts, philanthropy, real estate and more. Whittier organizes the right team of advisers from the start, matching their skills with the client’s needs and dreams to simplify day-to-day decisions. 

And those advisers are always learning and growing their skill sets. No matter what areas of expertise a client requires and no matter how those needs change over time, Whittier maintains a ratio of just 25 clients for every adviser on the team—a level of personalized service that is unmatched anywhere else. 

The result for the client is a lot less stress about life’s complexities. Just as with an America’s Cup team, where each crewmember is personally responsible for a daily check of, say, the boat’s electronics or wing controls, the Whittier Trust team members are each accountable for managing their corner of a client’s life balance sheet.   

If you listen to interviews with sailors who have won the America’s Cup (especially those who have won the Auld Mug a few times in their lives), they often talk about how, throughout all the races, their team improved. Maybe their boatspeed got faster each day,      their turns got tighter with each run or their grinders pushed that much harder with each crank. Whatever they realized they needed to do differently to win, they learned and grew and did it. That’s what makes champions.

It’s also what the Whittier Trust team aims to do for each of its clients: help them simplify life’s complexities so they can succeed at whatever new thing they choose to try next. It’s a winning strategy that’s served Whittier Trust clients well for over 85 years.

For more information about Whittier Trust, visit whittiertrust.com.

The post Simplifying Life’s Complexities appeared first on Sailing World.

American Magic’s AC75 Patriot glides through the water near Pensacola, Florida, and as it picks up speed with the day’s favorable winds, the imposing dark hull rises from the water and begins to plane on its hydrofoils. Crouched near the bow, pedaling furiously, John Croom is lashed by spray. His earpiece crackles with chatter from the rest of the crew. He has watched videos of America’s Cup boats. He’s logged hundreds of hours of training on land. But this is his first time—his first time on any sailboat.

“Still to this day, that’s one of the most euphoric moments I’ve ever had in my career,” Croom says. “Getting the opportunity to sail, and then just feeling that actual takeoff and being on the foils was something super special. That was the day I fell in love with it.”

While some of sailing’s traditionalists bristle at the inclusion of cyclors in lieu of grinders on America’s Cup boats, there’s no turning back now. The technology will be found on every boat in the 2024 America’s Cup.

This novel power-delivery method has opened the door for newcomers like Croom to hop aboard, like throwing a ­drivers-ed student into a Formula 1. It has also led to a revolution in the way America’s Cup teams recruit talent, hone their physiological training, and use cycling know-how to power the AC75’s hydraulic controls.

“We’re finding that cyclors bring much more power to the table,” says Ben Day, American Magic’s performance lead. “Cycling uses much bigger muscle groups; therefore, they can produce more power than arm grinders. And with the new AC75 regulations of reducing crew numbers (eight sailors total), we need to find that power in other ways. So, most teams are looking at cyclors at this stage. Glutes, quads and hamstrings can produce more explosive power and more power for a longer sustained period.”

Day is another example of someone outside the sailing establishment who quickly entered American Magic’s inner circle. Day had a 12-year career as a professional cyclist, racing primarily in North America. Once he retired from racing, the Australian started Day by Day Coaching out of his adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado.

Not surprisingly, Day and American Magic looked to the cycling world to find athletes to fill their “power teams.” The team had preliminary conversations with Kiel Reijnen, a professional rider who spent six years in cycling’s WorldTour, racing the sport’s premier events, such as the Tour of Spain, Tour of Flanders, and multiple UCI World Championships.

“We focused on leg-­dominant power sports, with similar activities that would fit the needs for racing on the boat,” says Day of the recruitment process. “We have taken time to examine a whole list of athletes that might fit the bill, and then have reached out to consider interest.”

It wasn’t as simple as assembling a bench of top cyclists. The rule book states the combined weight of the eight-person crew must be between 680 and 700 kilograms. Split evenly, that means each person should be between 85 and 87.5 kilograms. Reijnen weighs 65 kilograms. It’s rare to find a pro cyclist that weighs more than 80 kilograms because power-to-weight ratio in cycling rules all. Cyclists can control both variables in the power-to-weight equation. Training can boost power output, measured in watts. They can also lose weight to improve their power-to-weight ratio. Naturally, any given rider has limits for both variables. The best professionals are extremely efficient in their power production and astonishingly lean. It would be a tall order for someone like Reijnen to gain 20 kilograms without compromising their power output.

Croom is uniquely suited to the challenge, having found cycling late in life after playing football in his younger years and at times weighing close to 136 kilograms. Though he slimmed down to about 90, he’d never be suited for road cycling. Track cycling, on the other hand, was a good fit. Since track events are held on a flat, 250-meter track, weight can be sacrificed at the expense of raw power.

Ashton Lambie is another hopeful on American Magic’s power team who never quite fit cycling’s mold. This mustachioed Nebraskan holds the record for the fastest ride across the state of Kansas. He’s also the only human to ever ride the 4 km track pursuit event in under four minutes.

The riders you might see on television at the Tour de France are not going to be aboard an AC75 in Barcelona. Similarly, the athletes who have been recruited to pedal the cyclors aren’t ready to ride on day one, despite their extensive backgrounds in cycling. Intense training is underway to prepare them for the demands of an America’s Cup race.

“There are periods where we spend time focusing more on endurance or strength development,” Day says. “At other times, we’re working more around the high-intensity phases.”

While American Magic has been mum about the specifics of the training and the AC75’s power demands, Croom has posted many of his recent workouts and training rides on Strava, an online activity tracker.

Croom has done extensive endurance work, already logging weekly rides longer than 80 miles in January. He’s also been completing viciously intense interval workouts to build his body’s tolerance for maximum efforts. For example, he was able to hold 371 watts for 20 minutes in one such workout. Simply a statistic, right? I’ve been racing bikes for the last 25 years, and at my best, I can hold 302 watts for 20 minutes. Someone without training or experience would do well to maintain just half of Croom’s wattage.

While the training and performance of these new crewmembers are opaque, the technical details of the AC75 are practically impenetrable. American Magic’s spokespeople and crew did not answer specific questions about how the hydraulic power system works, but what we do know is that the boat has a hydraulic accumulator tank, which stores pressure generated by the cyclors. The crew uses a hydraulic actuator to convert the tank’s pressure into force, which in turn powers the boat’s controls. Any time the boat needs to tack, jibe or simply trim a sail, power is needed.

Sources indicate that the hydraulic accumulator results in a very unusual feel at the pedals for the power team. It’s also believed that as the tank gets full, the effort to add more pressure to the accumulator becomes harder.

“We can change the different inputs to the system,” James Wright, of the American Magic power team, told the America’s Cup Recon Unit, which monitors and reports on the team’s developments. “The different power demands necessitate different inputs from us on our side. The system kind of auto-adjusts depending on the demands from the sails and, of course, what we can give it.”

It’s easy to imagine how the team might strategize its efforts, given the intensity of a 20- to 30-minute America’s Cup race and the essentially limitless power demands of the boat. They might attempt to keep the tank as low as possible with steady, moderate pedaling, and then fill it as fast as possible with maximum effort ahead of a demanding maneuver like a tack. Perhaps some of the four riders would be specifically reserved for all-out efforts to fill the tank on demand, while others would ride steadily to feed power to minor adjustments.

Whatever the strategy, it is clear that the entire crew needs to be in lock-step during a race. “When we talk about the sailing team, we consider the power team part of a sailing team; they have to work in cohesion,” Day says. “The afterguard will request efforts from the guys as they trim the boat, and they’ll learn what they can deliver in terms of power. And the guys will give it their all to deliver what’s asked of them. So, there must be solid cohesion between the two groups; ultimately, we are one team.”

Clearly, the sailors, engineers and coaches are working furiously to optimize the use of the cyclors. There is another area of the sport that has some catching up to do, and that is World Cycling’s anti-doping controls. Even the casual cycling fan is aware that performance-­enhancing drugs have long tarnished the sport’s reputation. Given the massive physiological demands placed on the AC75’s power team, the sport’s governing body, World Sailing, would be wise to heed the lessons of cycling’s past.

In the wake of a major doping scandal about 10 years ago, cycling began rigorously testing athletes out of competition because it was found riders could achieve huge performance gains by doping for training and then cleaning up in time for in-competition controls at races. It stands to reason that this is a major liability for the America’s Cup, given the amount of run-up that the teams have to train for the 2024 event.

Although World Sailing conducted 186 in-competition tests between 2020 and 2022, including anti-doping ­controls at the last America’s Cup, it did not conduct any out-of-­competition controls during those three years. To ramp up efforts for the 2024 Cup, World Sailing brought on Vasi Naidoo as its director of legal and governance. Naidoo has experience with anti-doping efforts at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, and she served on the Ethics Commission at the UCI, cycling’s international governing body. World Sailing confirmed that there will be out-of-­competition anti-doping tests in 2023, and the testing will include America’s Cup athletes.

Fortunately, on the whole, the interplay between cycling and sailing—two unlikely ­bedfellows—has resulted in a fascinating exchange of technology and science. “The transition to cyclors allows a tech-forward, applied-­sciences sport to pull in a completely separate sport and borrow technology from it,” says Reijnen, who himself is an accomplished sailor, having finished the WA360 event sailed out of Port Townsend, Washington, in 2021. “What does sailing borrow from cycling, but what does cycling then borrow from sailing?”

Even at the person-to-person level, this exchange of information and experiences has been rapid and, in fact, quite cordial.

“The coolest part about being part of this team is that I came into this group of sailors so new and so green,” Croom says. “And they were super-­welcoming, understanding, and trying to get me to learn as quickly as possible. Like, any questions I had, there was no such thing as a dumb question, and that was something special.”

The post The Cyclors of American Magic appeared first on Sailing World.

American Magic’s Flight Controller Andrew Campbell was excused from a day of training in Pensacola, Florida, to travel to his hometown of San Diego and brief Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series competitors and friends on the progress of the New York YC’s America’s Cup Challenge. As the second engagement of the Sailing World Speaker Series with American Magic, Campbell shared details with Sailing World’s editor, Dave Reed, who served as the evening’s host and interrogator. Here’s what we learned. 

Some challengers chose to launch prototypes, but American Magic went straight into using Patriot, the AC75 of the last Cup cycle as a development tool. Was yours the better approach?

I don’t know…that would be a question for Terry [Hutchinson]. It felt good for us to watch other teams put out little boats and know they were having little-boat problems. We go out with the big boat—heavily modified. We took the backstays off, took the bowsprit off and took off a lot of weight. We modified it straightaway, to take a different type of human power. We have cyclists onboard now—there are only four people producing power now rather than eight, so we modified it heavily to mimic how the next boat will come online next spring.   

We learned a lot of lessons right away that will be hard days for the other teams to go and get. You don’t have the luxury of time late in these campaigns, so to learn those lessons early helps us plan how to set up the big boat…how we’re going to design the deck layout and the systems before we even get to design them. It’s a good thing to have in our pocket.

How much faster is Patriot today than it was in Auckland.

A significant amount. It’s hard to know if it’s just us learning to sail the boat better. For sure there have been improvements above deck. For instance, taking the backstays off is a huge aerodynamic gain and that’s what Luna Rossa was chasing last time; we had to protest to make sure they had backstays on. Those sorts of details make it significantly better around the racetrack.

It’s been said that the team’s next AC75 design will be signed off in May, so you’re pretty far along and now finally sailing the AC40 as a development boat. What more can you learn from the 40 that could find its way to the 75?

With Patriot, we know the shortcomings of that boat; we saw that boat not take off well in light air for instance. We know Barcelona will be a light-air venue so we know there will be some big changes to the hull side of the design that need to be able to bridge that gap. Sailing the 40 has been a cool iteration of hull design in a way. The 40-footer is almost a replica of TNZ’s last platform—the lines and the canoe shape bustle, so there are some interesting dynamics that it promotes in terms of takeoffs and touchdowns that Patriot was frankly very bad at. We designed Patriot as an aerodynamic platform with very little concern for what it would be like in the water and we paid the price for it. So, learning how to get out of that with a boat that still has the aerodynamic gains…Patriot is still a strong boat out of the water, but we never really got to showcase it.

Side by side, in the simulator, against the winning Team New Zealand package, would Patriot beat it around the track today?

It’s always been competitive in terms of the amount of aero drag, but the Kiwis made a big step forward by lowering their deck…their mast ball, for example, was a few hundred millimeters higher off the deck than ours. Our mast ball was right at the deck. With their lower deck, they got to extend their sail plan down to that level and gained thrust from that. They also reduced the frontal area of their boat, which you can see when you look at the boat from bow on. But their biggest gains last time were on their takeoffs and touchdowns and stuff like that.

Explain thrust, that’s not a term sailors are familiar with.

When you think of a sail plan on any boat, if you have the foot of the jib right down to the deck and seal that gap between the sail and the deck, you’re guaranteed to have more thrust because there isn’t a transfer between the low-pressure and high-pressure sides. That’s why we’re always trying to find ways to end-plate our sails to the deck; we’re trying to endplate the boat to the water too. If you’re just skimming the hull, that maximizes the aerodynamic thrust that’s coming off the sail plan.

Is that what the skeg, or the bustle, or whatever it’s called, on the bottom of the hull is all about?

Some people call it the interceptor, but there’s a big argument in our design community because I think an inceptor is what goes across on a powerboat design, but a skeg is what you’d have across the bottom of a Sabot. Most are calling a bustle. When we first put our boat on the water it was designed with defined skeg and quite a flat bottom. If you didn’t have that piece hanging off the bottom it would be a big scow. Some teams built a hull shape there; INEOS, for example, had like a big square box. When they saw our design, all the teams extended their skeg again to get the aerodynamic gain that we’re talking about. That air hits the windward part of the hull and essentially drives a vortex underneath the skeg to prevent that transfer between the high- and low-pressure sides. It’s something that, as sailors, we are learning as new. There are some cool tricks to figuring out how to get that aerodynamic effect without giving away too much drag by putting all that extra boat in the water when you touch down. Barcelona is another can of worms, however, because the boat was designed to sail in Auckland, with super flat water, no waves to speak of, and now it will be the bumpy Mediterranean.

What’s it like transitioning between the AC75 and the AC40, which I can imagine behave very differently.

The AC40 is much more of a sports car feel. The F50 catamaran was much the same way, but this boat is even smaller and lighter. The actions that you take immediately make an impact on the platform. The AC75 is more like a bus. There’s a lot of inertia. The mistakes you make take a longer time to play out and have a bigger impact in the end. It’s not an easier platform to sail, but it is more…it just takes longer for things to play out. You can feel when it’s loaded…it just loads up and hammers around the racetrack.

The sentiment coming out of Pensacola before you put Patriot away in late February was that the team was making great strides and gains. What was working so well?

A lot of focus was putting new sailors on board. The current [AC75] rule has us sailing with eight and limits the number of power producers to four. Previously, we had eight providing power through hands. I can guarantee that all teams will have leg-powered hydraulic producers. That process has been about trialing new guys and figuring out which sailors from our last go around were ready to make the transition into cycling. Some have, which is exciting because we need those veteran athletes to be able to tell the guys not to burn out. There are some young guys that are coming in; a few had some sailing experience and a few had none at all, but it’s been fun to teach them about sailing and learn from them. They are absolute athletes and weapons and it’s great to be around them. Sailing the big boat at the level we are is a testament to how good those athletes are, and how the designers did a great job to ensure the boat was—systems wise—ready to meet that challenge. It’s a science project every day to learn how to make the boat work, to make it more efficient for the guys producing the power, because at the end of the day, we will use every ounce of power they give. Finding a way to get more from what they are giving will improve our performance.

Are you, as the flight controller, demanding some of that power?

No. Flight control is all done with a power pack. It is the trimmers that have to rely on the cyclors. If they over-trim on the traveler and have to sheet back out or overtrim the cunningham and blow the relief out, those guys are spinning for no reason and there are some hairy eyeballs when mistakes like that happen. It’s a great give and take; how to produce power better and how to use power better. The cant system I control is a powered unit and the battery that I use to move the flaps has always been and will continue to be a battery.

Give us a tour of your cockpit. There is a screen and a lot of buttons as far as we can tell.

My display is a visually-oriented thing. I have a 3D-like image of the platform and it has live data about how the settings are working; how the flaps are in position; how the rudder is in position, what the trim of the yacht is, what the heel angle is, what the cant is. Come race time, it will be delayed by a second or two to ensure you can’t follow the dot and fly the boat just using the data.

As a flight controller, I can manipulate trim through the rudder control. I can manipulate the flap that moves negative to positive and I can control the cant, which is how much the foil is under the boat. Imagine we sail into a lull and we know the boat will slow down; we can either add flap and give it a little angle of attack by helping it with the rudder, or we can give it a little more cant to get lift from underneath. It’s a big puzzle that we’re trying to play in a feedback loop with the guys on the thrust side. I’m purely on the drag side of things. I only slow the boat down when I make mistakes in my world. The guys in the sail world can make my life easier by improving their thrust or make my life harder by slowing the boat down or making it unstable. When they make the boat unstable, it makes my job more difficult. When I make the boat unstable it makes everybody’s job difficult.

In Part 2 of our talk with Andrew Campbell, we’ll cover his role in the dock-out and pre-flight systems checks, what it’s like doing 50-plus knots on an AC75, the new sail-plan controls, foil developments, simulator training, artificial intelligence, and what to expect in Barcelona.

The post The Flight Controller’s Perspective appeared first on Sailing World.