In a steady breeze of 16 knots, which are actually ideal conditions, the Italians put their test AC40 on the side off Cagliari on Saturday. However, the wave height was given as 0.6 metres, which is apparently quite a challenge for these foilers. In any case, the crew is struggling in the video. Apparently there had already been a few harder impacts when the test boat fell off the foils. One of these probably caused the boat to capsize. This is because the leeward foil generates less buoyancy at the lower speeds when the hull touches the water again, and therefore less righting momentum downwind. The boats, which are basically catamarans with their foils, just have foils instead of hulls, are then missing part of the lee float. However, the wind pressure remains.
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"It was one of those capsizes where you get caught slowly, it was very similar to what we saw with the New Zealanders in the AC40," said helmsman Jimmy Spithill. "And yes, it was just one of those where you get caught out by the speed and it's nothing to do with the sails. If the sun hadn't gone down, we would have sailed on after the incident."
The boat was righted again with the help of a towline from the escort boat.
Alinghi capsizes without sails
The Swiss team has also had to take a dip alongside the New Zealanders, albeit under completely different circumstances. At the beginning of September, while being towed back to harbour in a rain squall off Barcelona, the boat shot into the wind with its sails unfurled and was thrown onto its side. Some of the crew members were thrown overboard, but were immediately rescued by the support team. All crew members returned safely to the team base.
The "BoatZero" of Alinghi Red Bull Racing is the former boat of Emirates Team New Zealand, which the Swiss team uses for training. It is unclear how the capsize occurred. Either the team had been warned of the approaching gust front and had tried to bring the boat into harbour before it arrived. Alternatively, the team had attempted to take foil data from the towing operation because there was not enough wind to sail and the team was surprised by the gusts. The area off Barcelona is known for its cross seas, so perhaps the team underestimated them.
