Freddie Carr was the designated point man for the INEOS America’s Team as they come under considerable pressure with the recent breakdown of their second AC75 on the first day of official race practice.
Carr was put up for an interview with Sky Sports about all things INEOS Team UK, but glossed over the latest Ineos boat technical problems
On the subject of the Ineos boat-speed, or lack of, Carr suggested that all the teams were displaying 90% of their potential boat-speed at present.
He was confident that Ineos were where they wanted to be, and they believe that their hardware package (hull shape, foils and sails) will provide the boat-speed for them to be very competitive in the ACWS/Christmas racing and beyond.
And more specifically, looking ahead at where they would be in a months’ time, when it really matters for the Prada Cup, Carr emphasised that with the additional key hardware that they had coming online over the Christmas period . . . he was very confident.
Carr expected that the teams would be sailing at possibly 95% boat-speed in the ACWS/Christmas race event, and then working up to their full potential for the Prada Challenger Series in early January – the series that decides which of the three challengers gets to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the actual 36th America’s Cup.
Since the change to multihulls and foils for recent America’s Cup boats, top speed is always the favourite media topic, and here Carr said he expected 50 knots (57 mph) to be regularly obtained, with 55 knots (63 mph) expected on the bear-away for the downwind race legs.
Not going to worry Lewis Hamilton but pretty scarry in a 70ft monohull yacht.
It is expected that the teams will not reveal their crucial final foil sets until the Prada Challenger Series in January.
Ineos Team UK launched their second AC75 with unusual cranked foils, but since then they have returned to a more standard anhedral foil set-up, while the Kiwi team have moved to an almost flat foil set-up.
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