For America’s Cup watchers and fans that have been following crew members on social media, it will come as no surprise that the cyclors are going to be a significant feature of AC37 Barcelona in 2024. Team members have been clocking up extraordinary mileage on their road bikes and documenting their intense training schedules as they get up to speed on the road ahead of taking their skills to the water.
We last saw cyclors in Bermuda at AC 35 where they were used to devastating effect by the winning Emirates Team New Zealand onboard their AC50 catamaran but yesterday out in Pensacola, Florida we saw American Magic take to the water with cyclors replacing the traditional arm-grinding unit. Patriot’s forward crew-members were spotted in cycling shorts, tucked into that distinctive aero position and it certainly looks right – and fast.
The American’s are pressing ahead with a comprehensive testing programme at the beginning of this AC cycle and Patriot, with its unmissable scalpel-shaped hull form, is proving to be a fantastic test bed for all sorts of innovations that will make it to their one-build AC75 for Barcelona. Gone are the backstays, gone is the boom, and now the traditional ‘coffee-grinders’ are a thing of yesterday. And with re-purposed Quantum Sails from AC36, now fully re-cut and reshaped for the new set up, Patriot is following through a programme of short 1-8 minute foiling blasts before the chase boat comes in to evaluate, re-appraise and check settings.
Notably today the team went through a series of foil-to-foil gybes with relative ease on the flat water but as the wind died off in the early afternoon, tacking was a frustrating experience with only one successful foil to foil manoeuvre. Speaking about the day, Kurt Jordan, a member of the Design Team and a Structural Engineer commented that: “There’s a lot of new things allowed in the rule in terms of software and hardware so it’s a matter of getting them on and going through the teething process and learning about them. As for the cyclors, they’re one of the things we’re experimenting with and we’re at the beginning of that learning curve.”
American Magic is fast proving to be one to watch in this cycle and we wait to see what they unveil tomorrow. This programme is out of the blocks and running fast.
Patriot began sailing at 11:38 and covered approximately 28 miles comprised of 9 combined up/down wind legs. Most of the day was short foiling distances (1-8min) followed by visits from the team in the rib for 10-40 minutes. The most notable change for today was the addition of the cyclists. It was also noticed that Tell Tails had been fitted to the jib and mast.
Team onboard: Paul Goodison/Dan Morris/Riley Gibbs/Terry Hutchinson/Andrew Campbell/Trevor Burd were observed on board in various positions
Wind Strength at dock-out: 10-14 knots
Wind strength at 1300: 5 knots
Mainsail: AM-MN9: 4 hours 6 minutes
Jibs:
J1-6 (1 hour 14 mins)
J2-4 (47 minutes)
J4 (J1-5-2) – 1 hours 20 mins
Total Tacks 3 – 1 foiling
Total Gybes: 2 – 2 foiling