JOHN LONGLEY “CHINCK” ON AC 72’S

America’s Cup: What you may not know about the AC72

By John Longley, 1983 America’s Cup winner
After spending a week in San Francisco and having the opportunity to talk to a number of people who have actually sailed the extraordinary AC72s, I have gathered a bit of AC72 trivia to share…

* If you had an engine to power the hydraulics rather than grinders, you could sail the AC72s with 4 people rather than the crew of 11 they now sail with.

* There is really only one trimmer on board and he controls the wing. The helmsman controls the cant and rake of the board with buttons on a control pad in front of him but only has 3 seconds of stored power before he has to “throw bananas” into the grinding pit i.e. ask for more hydraulic power.

* They have seen 47 knots as the top speed so far but expect to see the 50 knot barrier broken in the Cup match.

* The boats go directly downwind 1.8 times faster than the wind. So if you let a balloon go as you went around the top mark you would easily beat it to the bottom mark.

* There is only 4 degrees difference to the apparent wind from going on the wind to running as deep as you can.

* If you lost the hydraulics while the boats were foiling they would be completely uncontrollable and would most likely capsize.

* It is faster to find the strongest adverse current going downwind because the stronger apparent that is then generated translates into more speed than if you were sailing in slack water. (Warning – this takes a bit to get your head around)

* When sailing downwind you look for the puffs in front of you not behind you.

* It is actually quite dry on the boats, unless you make a mistake and come off the foils, as you are flying a couple of metres above the water. Waves have almost no impact on the boat when foiling.

* In strong wind you carry negative camber at the top of the wing to “reef” or de-power the wing.

* All crew carry personal tackle so they can effectively rappel down the netting if the boat capsizes.

* Gennakers are only used below about 8 knots; the jibs only provide about 3% of the lift up wind.

* The foil on the rudder generates about 800 kg of lift with the rest coming from the center board foil to lift the 7 ton yachts clear of the water.

* The centre board foil’s tip comes out of the water so it effectively works like a governor on an engine i.e. as the board generates too much vertical lift it comes out of the water, the area is thus reduced so it goes back down etc until it finds equilibrium.

NEW ZEALAND WINS LOUIS VUITTON FINALS

Team New Zealand wins the Louis Vuitton Finals 7 to 1; and will meet Oracle September 7 for the best of 17 series.

There was never really any doubt of the outcome; with the exception of breakdowns. The New Zealand team was higher and faster upwind and lower and faster downwind; causing them to jibe fewer times.

See you in September.

8 KNOTS VS 40 KNOTS

8 KNOTS DOWNWIND
8 KNOTS DOWNWIND
8 KNOTS UPWIND
8 KNOTS UPWIND
40 KNOTS DOWNWIND
40 KNOTS DOWNWIND
40 KNOTS DOWNWIND 2
40 KNOTS DOWNWIND 2

The giant wing sail boats of today’s America’s Cup were never even imagined when Howard Chapelle wrote his book “The Search for Speed Under Sail” in 1967.  Twelve Meters and their ability to sail close to the wind were considered the apogee of yacht design. Twelve Meters sail 8 knots upwind and 8 knots downwind, no matter the wind strength. In those days the 12’s sailed a modified olympic triangle. Only one race a day because it took 3-4 hours to complete the race, sailed in an area as free of current as was practical; in an effort to make the race as fair as possible.

All of this has changed in today’s world. 40 minute races in an area with strong current, sailing at 40 knots. Regardless of your opinions about which is better; there is no turning back from the thrill of foiling.

GLEN ASHBY EXPLAINS THE NOSEDIVE

A lot has been written and expressed about the performance of the 72’s. When someone like Glen Ashby speaks, we should all listen.

Glenn Ashby explains the Emirates Team New Zealand nosedive.

August 20, 2013

The most heart stopping moment of the 34th America’s Cup action so far was the huge bear away crash which saw the Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 nosedive at the windward mark in race two. (In case you have been living up a mountain with no internet or left the planet temporarily in the last few days the video clip is at the end of this article).

So what exactly went wrong on the Kiwi boat to trigger such a spectacular nose dive that it thew the majority of the crew into a tangled heap and flicked two of them unceremoniously into San Francisco Bay.

To find out from one who would know for sure, we got Emirates Team New Zealand wing trimmer Glenn Ashby to talk us through it.

First we asked Glenn to explain what he is doing to the massive wing sail when the boat goes around the windward mark.

“The goal for me is control the angle of heel as we transition from upwind to downwind. To do that I am basically twisting the wing profile and easing sheet as we initiate the turn. You are getting more and more power as you transition through that 90 degrees until you get to a sort of neutral ground where you are really in the meat of the power zone. At that point you have a low boat speed but a huge amount of thrust.

“So as you are punching through that power zone the guys will be winding the sheet and I will be sort of fanning the sheet to try to keep that angle of heel constant through the turn.

“Once you realise that you are through the power zone I’ll be immediately trying to stand the leech up or bring the head of the wing back, because if you punch through that zone and you don’t get the sheet back on and the power back into the wing the apparent wind is basically on your bow and you will do a big windward hull touchdown.

Then, because you will have board rake on the leeward side the leeward hull will be flying, your windward hull will be stuck in the water and you will have absolutely no power to turn the wing back up to lift that windward hull back out of the water again. That can actually turn itself into a bad bow down situation quite easily.

“By being able to pace the boat up enough, put the board rake on, even pop the boat up on to the foils before you start your turn, you are not having to drag the whole hull through the water, it won’t wash off enough speed and as you pass through the power zone you don’t have to ease as much sheet because the apparent stays forward. That means you can get the sheet on again much faster and that can give you a really good slingshot or whip out of the top mark. You will often see the boatspeed go from 30 knots to 45 knots in the space of a few seconds.”

So what happened during the second race to cause such a huge crash?

“The other day we just got into a really big, right hand heading puff as we went round the mark. It probably went from 15 or 16 knots to low twenties as we went around the mark. What that did was to widen and increase the density of the pressure in that power zone as we were punching through. It got to the stage where we were half way round and I was having to ease a huge amount more wing than I normally would – just with the extra thrust that we had.

“Unfortunately it was one of those bear aways where our leeward elevator pierced the surface at one stage. Once you lose the effect of that elevator which is basically holding the boat down you are effectively into an old school multihull bow down situation. It happened in an absolute blink of an eye. We have never had it happen before but that time the stars had aligned to give us that finger of God just as we got to the top mark.

“When you go back and look at the data on the breeze that we sailed into, it was a huge shift – possibly with a lot of sheer from top to bottom too – combined with a big increase in pressure. When you are sailing through the power zone you only need a half a knot or a knot of increase in pressure to make a massive difference to the power zone. We had a good three or four knots of increase as we went around and that was enough to load everything to a point where for a standard maneuver it would have been no problem; but we recognise that we were a bit foot to the floor with that one.”

Despite having gone though a crash which would have put most of us off going afloat ever again, Ashby said instead that the incident had actually given the Kiwi crew more confidence in their boat and how hard they could push it.

“It was a good one, but it was also a good example of Team New Zealand’s design and engineering capabilities to be able to create something that us as sailors can throw that sort of punishment at it and it will just pop up with nothing but a bit of cosmetic damage to the fairings.

“The boat performed extremely well. We have designed a boat that will allow us to push it really hard and it will be forgiving and look after us. That means we can keep our foot on the throttle. It let us know that we were probably pushing a bit too hard the other day.

Ashby, like the rest of the crew – other than helmsman Dean Barker who was braced behind the wheel – was thrown on the floor of the windward hull as the boat slowed dramatically from 41 knots to 13 in the blink of an eye.

“The biggest thing that stopped us was when the front beam hit the water and that’s when I went for a little bit of a tumble. It happened quick like every down the mine episode – whether it be on a Moth, A-Class, or a 49er, you generally get a split second before hand to say to yourself “Oh bugger!” and then you know you are on your way.”

Ashby maintained that having studied the nose dive in detail and debriefed it amongst the crew, they had no plans to make changes to their bear away technique.

“At the end of the day we are not going to change anything we do. In fact if anything it gives us more inspiration to keep pushing hard and learn the limits. We are still learning about the boats the whole time and we have really good confidence that we can pull off some pretty wild maneuvers in good breeze and shifty conditions and get away with it.

“Having never had that experience with the boat before it’s good to know that the boat is safe as house and that the performance is hopefully good enough as well.”

ROGER VAUGHAN and IAIN MURRAY ON THE AMERICA’S CUP

From Roger Vaughn, Oxford, MD:
I’ve tried hard to get behind the 2013 America’s Cup. I really have. I’ve been covering this event longer than I want to admit. I’ve written three books about it, including one about about Dennis Conner’s precedent-setting multihull defense in 1988, so I understand the nature of the multihull beast. I wrote the book (as yet unpublished) about Oracle’s dramatic, nail-biting victory in 100- foot multihulls in 2010, the match that led to using multis for 2013.

Along the way I wrote scripts for the videos produced about the AC 45 World Series.Those events convinced me there really could be arresting match race competition in high-tech, winged multihulls. And I wrote the introduction to the striking new book about the 2013 Cup, Sailing on the Edge. I wrote in a positive way about it, relating how John Cox Stephens had a catamaran in 1820, and how his businessman’s smile would be broad as a Cheshire cat’s if he could watch the AC72s flying by.

But it’s time to rethink. There have been 3 matches in the Louis Vuitton final and we have yet to see a race. Three matches, three breakdowns, and one frightening bow plunge by New Zealand that was a miracle of survival. Why that boat wasn’t totalled is a mystery. Three matches without one display of tactics by either boat. Three matches with no light sail handling. How can there be light sails when the apparent wind angle on the leeward legs is 25 degrees? Gone is the compelling ballet of billowing spinnakers, the sets, the jibes, the takedowns that are the lyrical melody of sailboat racing. All we’ve got is big, hugely expensive, overpowered, dangerous machines ripping at 40 knots and more, with crews wearing body armor suits and crash helmets with oxygen bottles and commando knives strapped to their bodies just in case….

We are still calling it sailing, calling it the future. The speed and the technology is intriguing, even momentarily arresting. But is it sailboat racing? Here we are well into the Louis Vuitton final — the final! — and I have yet to see any.

Iain Murray, AC’s Cool Head In The Hot Seat

By Michelle Slade
It’s hard to say if Iain Murray, America’s Cup Race Management’s quietly spoken head honcho, will be pleased to see the end of AC34, or whether he almost wishes he could have it over again to make serious amends to a sailing event that has proven to be unpredictable. Here Murray explains how he is dealing with the daily frustrations of AC34.

How are you managing to juggle all the curveballs that must consume you on a daily basis?

IM: [Laughs] It’s just what I have to do. It’s my job to keep this show running. I’ve got a lot of good people helping me and there’s a lot of experience in the race management team. The America’s Cup has always been difficult, I think going forward it’s no less difficult. There’s been a lot of difficult instances in the past, whether it’s been wing-keels, or plastic yachts.

Is this what you expected two years ago?

IM: No, I can’t say it’s turned out quite how I expected. I think with all the action and bits and pieces, responsibility and liability has taken on a whole new level that I don’t think anyone could have anticipated.

Where and how did things start going wrong in your opinion with this event?

IM: It’s easy to sit here now, look back and say, “We should have done this or that.” I think probably the biggest disappointment to people is the fact that we’re so short on challengers, and you can ask yourself why is that so? Clearly the cost of the campaign is an issue, the complexity of the campaign is another issue. I think everyone looking forward is saying, “These boats are really cool, the guys love sailing them, we’re in the first generation of boats foiling and understanding the race formats.”

We came off something that was pretty good at the end with the AC45s and high expectations with 10 boats roaring around, a great event in Naples, great events here in San Francisco, and Newport [R.I.]. In many ways coming back to three boats has been a dip. If you look back, you can say we need more controls, we needed something more like an AC45, something that was maybe not an AC72, but not an AC45. Maybe we should have done it in an AC45—I don’t know. I think a 55- to 60-foot semi one-design boat is probably what you’ll see the teams looking toward.

I believe in November 2011 teams were given a choice to move forward with the 72, or go to another boat. A unanimous decision was required, and two teams – Artemis and ETNZ – chose not to. Can you comment?

IM: I put all the principals of the teams together in San Diego in 2011 and did ask them that question. It was clear by that time in the year what it was we were doing, and because there were challenges in the financial world post 2008 that the money wasn’t flying like it was in 2006-‘07. Getting teams to be able to step up from the ACWS to the America’s Cup was a lot more difficult than people had anticipated. The options were there and discussed. People had made commitments to designs and were well down the path of the 72 and the decision was to continue. Read On

Current LV Cup Finals Schedule

Wednesday, Aug. 21: Final Race 4 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 5 (2:10 pm PT) – ESPN3, live
Friday, Aug. 23: Final Race 6 (TBD) – ESPN3, live
Saturday, Aug. 24: Final Race 7 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 8 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 7pm ET (tape delayed)
Sunday, Aug. 25: Final Race 9 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 10 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 7pm ET (tape delayed)
Wednesday, Aug. 28: Final Race 11 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 12 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 5pm ET (tape delayed)
Friday, Aug. 30: Final Race 13 (1:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 5pm ET (tape delayed)

 

DAY 3 LOUIS VUITTON SERIES

I am going to make some statements.

6 races were scheduled to take place as of this afternoon.

not one race has been completed by both boats.

3 points total have been awarded all because a second boat could not complete the course.

As I stated, a war of attrition.

TODAY’S RACE:

CLEANING THE RACECOURSE
CLEANING THE RACECOURSE
THE START (SMOKE)
THE START (SMOKE)
APPROACHING THE FIRST MARK
APPROACHING THE FIRST MARK
LEEWARD OVERLAP
LEEWARD OVERLAP
PUSHED WIDE
PUSHED WIDE
FOILING BEFORE THE START
FOILING BEFORE THE START
LUNA ROSSA KICKING UP THEIR HEELS BEFORE THE START
LUNA ROSSA KICKING UP THEIR HEELS BEFORE THE START

Today I watched from the Golden Gate Bridge. A perspective I had not seen or used before. I will confess that I still have trouble without a watch and the precise start time seeing the whole picture.

While Chris Draper was credited with winning the start. I wonder. I watched Russell Coutts sailing the AC45’s always start to leeward. the “first leg” is so short if you maintain a leeward overlap you can keep the windward from bearing away downwind. Russell won almost every race this way. It is not always about winning the start, it’s about winning the race.

I thought the above images illustrate very well this maneuver.