Team New Zealand pushes the AC 75 into the strong wind, and the gaff arrives. VIDEO

What America’s Cup teams show in videos is just what they want to show, however, the latest video released by Emirates Team New Zealand is really spectacular and shows us some definitely interesting things. All with the onboard voice of Peter Burling, the Kiwi phenom at the helm of New Zealand’s AC 75.

It first appears clear how the Kiwis are pushing the boat hard to prove it even in harsh conditions. In much of the video you can see the short luff jib and squarehead from high winds, particularly after the second 45 the New Zealand AC 75 appears to be sailing in over 20 knots of wind and probably more.

An initial interesting detail appears in second 10 and following. Kiwis perform a super-sonic acceleration resting; it is noticeable how the mainsail base (the famous double mainsail to which we will soon devote further discussion) is decidedly powerful and deep, slightly off-shore downwind, and when the boat starts accelerating due to the shift toward the bow of the apparent it really looks as if the trimmer is calling the sheet back. From the second 25 you can see a gybe on the foils, perhaps not perfectly successful. The angle of attack of the maneuver seems decidedly wide, the boat heaves sharply out of the gybe, but the speed with which it immediately manages to throw down the bow toward the rest is impressive.

At second 42 et seq. we can get a dimension of the speed of AC 75 with the comparison against the motor support boat. Judging from the latter’s wake, it is likely that Team New Zealand’s speed will be close to 40 knots if not slightly higher.

Another interesting moment from minute 1:15: the boat executes a perfect turn on the foils, and you can see in the next few seconds a transition of men from one edge to the other, aft of the boom. The tack is made with the long luff jib, so this time in lighter wind. Under these conditions, therefore, the hypothesis of the two fixed crew blocks on the two edges with one helmsman on each side seems to be discarded; the one passing by could indeed be the helmsman with the mainsail trimmer.

At minute 1:40 at full speed, the submerged foil “puffs” some vaporized water and a spectacular swamping arrives without consequence, although it is somewhat impressive to note the recoil that the mast takes, which can be seen distinctly flexing in an S-shape.

Mauro Giuffrè

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