“We are never happy. If it’s not the lack of wind, it’s the excess,” responds a smiling Matt Grotel, cyclorof Ineos Britannia (United Kingdom), after a windy first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup final in which they face Luna Rossa (Italy). The double duel ended in a draw: the opening regatta was won by the Italians but the British tied in the second and final round. On Saturday they meet again in a best-of-13 eliminatory: the first to achieve seven victories will challenge Team New Zealand (the defending champion) in the matchend.
Grotel saw up close the maneuver that Luna Rossa was about to make historic. It happened in one of the turns of the first duel, when the strong southwest wind catapulted the Italian AC75 up to 52 knots. 96 kilometers per hour. He fell short of the absolute speed record of the America’s Cup, established in 2021 by American Magic (United States). The wind blew so much in the Catalan capital early in the afternoon that it even exceeded the regulatory limits (the maximum is 21 knots) in some sections and forced the organization to delay the start of the second and final regatta of the day.
There is nothing that sailors like more than a competition with wind. The boats reach high speeds and no one suffers from not being able to regain flight if the sailboat lands on the water. The problem, Grotel explains, is that the wind makes the waves dance. “The most important thing for us is the state of the sea. When we have waves, there are many things constantly moving. And that is when it becomes difficult for us, the cyclors,” he adds.
Barcelona welcomed the Italians and the British with waves of 1.3 meters high (from 1.5 meters there is already a risk for the control of the sailboat) during the regatta. This minimizes the stability of the boat because there is a risk that the foil(which supports the elevation of the AC75) is out of the water and the sailboat loses flight. With such an intense wind, the abrupt state of the sea this Thursday most likely prevented a new speed record in the competition.
After several days without wind, Grotel doesn’t know if he prefers days with a lot or a little breeze. The cyclorsThey generate, by pedaling during the race, the necessary power to operate some components of the boat: the rotation of the mast, the main carriage (controls the tension of the sail to steer the boat) or the trimming of the jib (the small triangular bow sail, on the front), among others. And depending on the weather scenario, the physical response of the cyclors can change to respond to the demands of the helmsmen or flight controllers.
“Maneuvers with light winds are specific moments of high demand to meet all the demands of the boat: there is more rotation of the mast, more travel movements and more control of the sail,” he exemplifies. “On the other hand, when you go downhill [con el viento a favor] You have to keep the boat straight and fast, and it requires much more constant power,” he compares. “All scenarios have their good things and bad things,” he adds.
What is more tiring, being a cyclor with a lot of wind or with little? “It’s a similar energetic response,” Grotel responds. The organization expanded the regatta field beyond two nautical miles (last week it barely exceeded a mile and a half) and went from a course with six legs to eight to ensure that the competition lasted the required 22 minutes. “Today there were more laps and the wear and tear accumulated; but I really wouldn’t know what to choose.” Wind or no wind, cyclors suffer. And those who suffer are never happy.
