For NYYC American Magic, it was a really interesting day of sail testing with the team trying out two very different profile of mainsails with America setting the C3 (small head radial mainsail) whilst Magic set the C5 (big headed, square topped mainsail) with slightly different areas.
Pairing these to different jibs, ranging from the J2 to J3 on the respective boats, this was a big afternoon of cross-over testing in perfect range conditions varying from 10 to 17 knots over a moderate steep chop and after four and a half hours, it was a big data day with clear winning combinations.
A final beat back to the harbour where the two AC40s, that have been equalised at hull and foil level, traded some 35 tacks over 35 minutes (astonishing sailing), the clear winner was Magic with the horsepower up high.
Speaking afterwards Paul Goodison, helming today on both boats for pure equalisation purposes, commented: “It was a great day to basically look into some of the mainsail area differences, you saw on one boat the sail was quite a bit bigger than on the other boat so playing around with settings. The beginning of the day it was kind of the lighter end of the crossover then we got a building breeze as it went on and that got more into range so it was really interesting just figuring out the crossovers and looking at the sail shapes and the differences, and also you’re changing the jibs around so you’re matching the areas with different jibs to different mains and it’s really interesting…we had the J2 on the smaller main boat and similar area then to the J3 with the bigger main boat and it’s not just the kind of performance but the boat feels quite a bit different and reacts differently both upwind and downwind so it’s good to get a bit of a feel for that and then to feed that back.”
Paul kept his counsel on which set-up the sailors preferred when asked if there was a clear winner today, saying: “Yeah I think so. I think we’re all have in our mind which ones we preferred, and we’ll be going upstairs (to the offices for the capture meeting) and just check that the feeling is the same between the teams. Both teams had a bunch of time on one boat and then a bunch of time on the other and it will be interesting to see if the feelings are the same upstairs.”
On-Water Recon Report – NYYC American Magic: NYYC American Magic began the week with what looked like a solid day of two boat testing using the team’s AC40s in one-design mode other than the sails. Both boats were rigged and launched by 1130 ahead of a dock-out time of 1226.
The two boats were rigged inside the harbour mouth with America set up with a C3 mainsail and J3 headsail and Magic set up with a C5 mainsail and J3 headsail. The boats sailed out of the harbour at 1255 and were quickly up on foils for a thirty minute upwind / downwind lap – sailed in 13 knots of southerly wind and on a moderate / steep chop sea – with four foiling tacks and five foiling gybes.
After a 10 minute stop the boats set off again on a 20-minute upwind / downwind flight with three foiling tacks and just one foiling gybe. During the following break both crews swapped headsails with America hoisting a J2-C4 and Magic a J3-C1.
A 20-minute flight followed with three foiling tacks and two foiling gybes. During the next stop the headsail on Magic was lowered and quickly re-hoisted. Another 20-minute flight followed with three foiling tacks and three foiling gybes before the last break.
With the breeze now in the 1417 knot range with gusts to 19 knots the sea state was up to 0.5 metre and there were minor splashdowns from both boats. In the final break both crews switched to J3 headsails for the final upwind short tacking match race back to the harbour.
This final flight lasted 35 minutes and saw both boats complete 35 foiling tacks. Magic came out on top by a margin of 3-4 boatlengths. The boats reached the harbour at 1645 and the boats were back on the dock at 1704. No sailing is scheduled for today Tuesday February 6.
