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With the summer sailing session in Barcelona drawing to a close, reflecting back on the period when the actual America’s Cup will race – 12th October through potentially to the 24th October 2024 – will be a study in meteorology and a deep dive into the sailor’s mindsets in order to build an AC75 that is capable of winning across a broad range of conditions.
What has surprised many commentators, and indeed the sailors themselves, is the variety of conditions that Barcelona serves up on any given day at this time of the year.
The sea state has also been something that all the teams have been grappling with and as October ended, with some of the Atlantic weather systems pushing in, there were waves up to two metres from a variety of angles plus the famously shifty breeze that occasionally blows in from the north-east.
Indeed, to look at the weather data that was reported by the Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand recon teams during the 11 days that the boats sailed between 11th October and the 27th October, there was a peak average wind speed of 15 knots and an average range of 8-15 knots for the period…
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