The departure was brief, yet it brimmed with activity. Alinghi Red Bull Racing set sail amidst a mid-morning surge on the Red Sea, departing from their idyllic winter training grounds along the Obhur Creek in Jeddah. Even at the dock, the AC40s were tilting with the wind’s force. Undeterred, they ventured forth, fully aware of the challenge ahead. Dean Barker and Maxime Bachelin helmed the ‘Red’ boat, while Arnaud Psarofaghis and Nicolas Charbonnier commanded the ‘Black’ vessel, knowing they were pushing the limits of their craft.
With the sea-state building with the breeze, almost immediately trouble struck with Barker and Bachelin barrelling into a dramatic nosedive that shattered several battens and broke the headboard. Thankfully nobody injured but a stern lesson that the AC40 in a significant chop and period is a hard boat to sail well – even by the very best foiling sailors in the world. Time was called for the ‘Red’ session and they towed back into base.
Meanwhile Psarofaghis and Charbonnier put the hammer down and completed a thrilling short session upwind and downwind, nailing the foiling tacks but understandably hesitant on the gybes with the helms picking their route carefully as they overtook the waves, such is the speed of the AC40 when the breeze is above 20 knots. Sporay everywhere, it was a scintillating sight on the Red Sea, truly one of the emerging world class sailing venues.
Speaking afterwards, Nico Charbonnier summed up the day saying: “Yes we went out, the wind picked up really quickly we had from18-23 knots of breeze – which was not the issue – the issue was the sea state which built really quickly so we had to call it off…the original plan was to do three races today but unfortunately 40-1 (AC40-4) capsized so we couldn’t go through the programme but it would have been marginal, I don’t think we would have been able to achieve the full planning today”
Asked whether it was worth going out, Nico was unequivocal: “Yes of course it was, every team is doing the America’s Cup to find the limit, and we have to push as hard as possible to find the limit. Today’s limit wasn’t the wind, it was the waves. It was definitely worth trying and giving it a go. We could sail a little bit with 40-2 (AC40-7) so we still have a lot of learnings today, so we’re really happy about that.”
Amusingly, Nico was asked whether that was “as close to Formula 1 on the water” and he cleverly responded: “I would say It was more like Paris-Dakar, because Formula 1 are running on really flat surfaces – probably like doing Paris-Dakar in a Formula 1 car!”
Talking about downwind and asked about angles and whether he could see the instrumentation, Nico answered: “The water (spray) was not the issue but you are focussing a lot on avoiding the waves you’re catching up on, you don’t have much time to looks at the instruments you’re just trying to drive the boat around the waves, that’s the only way you keep it immersed.”
Alinghi Red Bull Racing have another couple of days left of this massively useful training block where they have really pushed hard, extracting significant sail data and race-craft skills and where the addition of Dean Barker has been a masterstroke. It’s a very happy Swiss syndicate that will leave Saudi Arabia for more AC75 training next week with mission accomplished in Jeddah. (Magnus Wheatley)
On-Water Recon Report – Alinghi Red Bull Racing: Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s AC40-7 (Black) and AC40-4 (Red) were rolled out at 08:15 and 08:35, respectively. Despite the increased winds posing a challenge for setting the rigs, both boats were craned in by 09:30, and off the dock for FCS checks. The same crew combinations as previous days were maintained for today’s session. The team docked out at 11:05 with full LE sail plans. The Red boat hoisted the M1-4 LE mainsail (a light alteration was noted, with a slightly trimmed leech at the head) and J3-2 LE jib, while the Black boat opted for the M1-1 LE, noted for having less sail area in the head, alongside the J3-1 LE.
Helms:
Red Boat: Dean Barker & Maxime Bachelin
Black Boat: Arnaud Psarofaghis & Nicolas Charbonnier
Stint 1 (11:28 – 11:40, 15-20kn 320° @ 11:30): Sailing commenced from the Obhur Creek entrance, with both boats starting downwind. However, the Red boat experienced a significant nosedive shortly after, resulting in a broken battens in the mainsail and as well as damage to the wind wand.
Stint 2 (11:55 – 12:00): While the Red boat was forced to drop sails due to the damage, the Black boat continued, sailing upwind to regroup with the Red boat.
Stint 3 (12:09 – 12:28, 18-24kn 325° @ 12:05): With the Red boat being towed back to base, the Black boat undertook an upwind/downwind session. Tacks were consistent, though gybes were less so, attributed to the aggressive short chop of 1m height and 4-5s period, which Nico Charbonnier highlighted as particularly challenging for downwind sailing.
The day concluded with the Red boat being craned out at 12:35 and the Black boat at 14:00, marking just under two hours on the water with 35 minutes of active sailing. A total of 13 manoeuvres were observed of the Black boat, achieving an 85% fully foiling rate.
