INEOS Britannia are keen to reverse 173 years of history at the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup and on Saturday it was time to test the lower end capabilities of their latest AC75.
The British record in the modern Cup era is dire when it comes to getting anywhere near winning the Auld Mug, or even qualifying to challenge in the match race with the defender.
Some pundits are already talking-up this latest iteration, with its F1 high tech background, but after 2021 INEOS Britannia start from a very low baseline, and it will take more than a couple of smooth shake-down sessions to worry the other challengers, let alone the Kiwis.
The early signs have been heartening, and the team less defensive – almost relieved – then we came to expect at a similar stage with RB2.
An example of this sea-change was this latest session where the light weather performance handling appeared to meet expectations and was a welcome step up from before.
All these AC75s are fast, but which is the fastest? Which will cope best with a range of conditions, and which has the potential to respond to the tweaks developed through an extended race series?
No matter how well RB3 meets the design criteria, it still must beat five other unknown quantities, each convinced that they have built the new America’s Cup winner.
The Naming Day for RB3 is Saturday 18 May 2024.
Background . . .
As a summary RB3 sailed for 76 miles and drilled 3 upwinds (1 with very long straight lines), 2 downwind, 27 tacks (15 touch and go, 3 touch down, 9 fully foiling), 17 gybes (2 touch and go, 15 fully foiling) and 2 luffing manoeuvres.
The state of play to date sees the defender and four of the five challengers launched. Orient Express Racing Team is in Barcelona but yet to announce their rollout/launch date.
The Kiwi boat launched in New Zealand is now on its way to Spain, expected in late June.
