PALMA PERFECTION

It was a super impressive day for the Brits who recorded a 100% record across 19 foil-to-foil gybes and arguably did the same on the tacks when it mattered. Long gone are the splash down early days on the W-Foil, all day flight was low and measured with the sailors able to throw ‘T6’ around at will whilst hitting jaw-dropping speeds of 31 knots upwind and well into the 40-knot region offwind. Bear-aways, particularly on the W-Foil on the starboard side looked rapid – they didn’t look bad on the T-Foil on port either – and the levels of comfort that are building into this campaign now make INEOS Britannia a team to really watch in this 37^th America’s Cup for sure.

On camera the recon team caught some superb mark roundings, available to see in the ‘Highlights’ video and a very slick ‘JK’ move around a leeward mark coming in fast on the T-Foil, dropping the W-Foil in and then tacking through the mark rounding and exiting at real pace with perfect flight control. Also noticeable is the now signature low flight that the British seem very keen on as they skim the bustle on the surface with a wide cant angle and remarkable accuracy presumably gauged via onboard cameras and the red markers right on the bow. The stability that the team have found upwind in flight is surely a huge gain and Ainslie and Scott look at ease with whatever roll angle they choose – windward heel, flat or even slightly leant over - all the modes seem highly attainable now on ‘T6’. Great sailing from some of the world’s finest sailors.

Afterwards, the ‘Flight Controller’s Flight Controller’ Luke Parkinson gave a superb interview to Justin Chisholm of the recon team saying: “So today we had a bit of a traditional sea-breeze sort of feeling. We went out there reasonably early, so we saw everything from 5 knots and then building up to even 18 knots and then settling back down as the day concluded. It was pretty nice, so we went out there and started off with just a few little take-offs and practising a few little techniques and just seeing what is the bottom end we can sort of take-off and playing around.”

The team started the day on the big J1 jib before switching down to their go-to J4 which they flew for the majority of the session and as Luke said: “It's always good to have up the big gear and to see what the bottom end is…and the big question: how big you need the sails to be able to get up on the foils and then the drag that you hit as soon as you're up, so changing through, as you've seen, is pretty quick but also trying to get efficiency out of our days and not stopping and changing all the time otherwise you could chase your tail for the whole session.”

Very much ‘not’ chasing their tail, INEOS Britannia were on the water for a solid four hours and were joined by members of the Athena Pathway programme through the afternoon to give the team a real taste of life at the sharp end of the America’s Cup game. INEOS Britannia are a tantalising prospect right now and with each passing day just look better and better. Perfect conditions this week will see them out tomorrow and possibly Friday ahead of a three-day declared break over the weekend.

On-Water Recon Notes: The British team chalked up a valuable 4-hour training and testing session on Palma Bay today in more classic southerly thermal breezes that ramped from 6 knots to 15 knots over the afternoon.

The team's J1-2 headsail was tried for an hour of take-off practice in 6-7 knot breeze, before the crew – helmsmen Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott with flight controllers and trimmers Leigh McMillan and Luke Parkinson – changed to the J4-1 headsail to take advantage of the rapidly increasing breeze.

An hour-long session saw the silver T6 LEQ12 test boat sailing fast windward/leeward laps of the Bay at boat speeds upwind as high as 31 knots and downwind over 40 knots. Noticeable upwind was some particularly pronounced mainsail twist.

There was a stop for a battery change at 1445 before the crew switched to race training mode around a course made up of a leeward gate and a windward mark. The sailors made three practice starts and sailed multiple laps of the course during which they pulled off multiple tacks and gybes and some slick mark roundings.

With the breeze starting to drop around 1630 sails were dropped by 1650 before a foiling tow in which saw the yacht dock in at 1715. During the day, the four-man crew were joined on board separately by British sailors Hannah Mills and Hattie Rogers.

Dock-out: 1205 Dock-in: 1716

Conditions: 1230: 180 6-7 knots; 1310: 180 5.5-6.5 knots; 1340: 180 10-11 knots; 1450: 180 13-15 knots; 1545: 180 13 knots; 1615 180 10 knots

Weather AM: Sunny and Hot 19-24°C.

Weather PM: Sunny and Hot 24° C.

Sea state AM-PM: Light to moderate chop 0.3-0.5 metres

Onboard Today:

Helms: Giles Scott / Ben Ainslie

Crew: Luke Parkinson / Leigh McMillan

Sails Used:

Mainsail M1-2: 4 hours 20 minutes

Jib (J1-2): 1 hour

Jib (J4-1): 3 hours

Total Tacks: 22 – 19 foil-to-foil, 3 touchdowns.

Total Gybes: 19 – 19 foil-to-foil.

Take off Speed: 19-22 knots at 50-65° TWA (True Wind Angle).