Recon: Subdued first sail for La Roche-Posay Racing Team

There are few clearer signs that an America’s Cup campaign has got serious than the moment the new boat finally gets flying under its own steam. For La Roche-Posay Racing Team, that moment came on Tuesday, when the French challenger’s next-generation AC75 – known as B1 – went sailing off Lorient for the first time this cycle. By the modest yardstick the team had set itself, it was always going to be a low-key debut. It turned out lower-key still.

A gentle six or seven knots in the morning filled into a proper 14-16 knot sea breeze by the afternoon, the water flat towards the north of the bay and choppier to the south. Quentin Delapierre and Diego Botín shared helming duties, with Jason Saunders and Timothé Lapauw completing the group aboard.

The plan, according to the recon report, was deliberately conservative: validate the sail-control systems with one upwind and one downwind at around 75 per cent of maximum load. Nobody was reaching for the throttle on day one.

After a short tow to clear the harbour, the AC75 took off under sail shortly after 1pm and bore away onto starboard at a true wind angle of around 150 degrees. Speeds sat comfortably in the low thirties, and the recon unit reckoned it nudged close to 40 knots at times – not bad going for the next-gen boat’s first flight.

Ride height held reasonably steady until a single gybe produced a heavy touchdown, after which the boat wallowed, low in the water and heeled to windward, before clawing its way back up onto the foils. A further wobble followed, and that was that: roughly 15 minutes of sailing, one downwind, no upwind, no tacks.

For a while it looked as though the upwind leg might still happen. The technical team boarded, the crew knocked off a few photographs, and a bow tow was being prepared – until something plainly got in the way. The techies climbed aboard again, a lengthy wait on the water followed, and eventually the boat was towed home with its sails down after some work around the mainsail tack. The recon unit's tentative read was a sail or mast control issue, though it was careful to file the cause as unconfirmed and undisclosed.

Back at base, the checks began in earnest. The inspection hatches on both inboard foil-arm fairings were opened and a coating or lubricant applied in a few places, and at one point a foil had to be pushed down by hand rather than through the cant system, the team apparently unable to raise the board. Photographs of one foil arm, meanwhile, showed possible grease or lubricant runs.

None of this is unusual for a brand-new AC75’s first real outing – every Cup team has a day like it. Even so, the recon report noted that “the atmosphere appeared slightly subdued” ashore afterwards, a hint that the interruption hadn’t been entirely routine.

Delapierre, at least, sounded content enough. “All the checks are done and we're ready for the rest of the week,” he said after. “First time sailing with sails on the AC75 in France, on water – it was pretty special.”

At the dock briefing he’d told the group that the sailors were there for the shore team, rather than the other way round. “The shore crew and the team worked pretty hard in the last weeks” he explained. “Today was to follow the checklist and see if all the systems are in and in good shape. The performance and sailing, the regatta will come after. It was not a super high-pressure day.”

For now, the important box is ticked. B1 has flown, and here’s hoping we see more of it, for rather longer, very soon.