American Magic's Patriot back on the water after a 10-day repair job. Photo / Brett Phibbs
American Magic's Patriot back on the water after a 10-day repair job. Photo / Brett Phibbs
OPINION:
When American Magic unveiled Patriot 2.0 yesterday, where once was a gaping hole caused by its capsize had been covered back up. In its place, an image resembling two band-aids with the New Zealand, British and Italian flags overlapping, and the words 'thank you' written alongside it.
It's a touching gesture to thank the other syndicates for their help in not letting the American vessel sink but, in the immortal words of Taylor Swift, band-aids don't fix bullet holes.
Yes, the outside of their boat looks pretty again and they have been working around the clock for the past nine days to get in a position where they can go sailing again, but there is more to these vessels than sits at the surface level.
While the public eye is on the shell, it is the what lies inside that will really count. As anyone who has even remotely followed the lead up to the America's Cup could tell you, there is a whole lot of technology involved in these things, and that technology plays a massive role in the performance of the vessel.
Speaking after the capsize that saw Patriot get a hole in its hull and take on water, American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson confirmed the electronics had taken a hit.
"We were fortunate that we got both batteries out of the boat. We were fortunate that the hydraulic fluid inside the yacht stayed inside the yacht ... there are things that will make getting back out on the racecourse a little bit easier to deal with and we're glad none of that stuff ended up in the Gulf.
"The easiest part of it is rebuilding it; the hardest part is getting the (foil cant system) and the electronics on the inside of the yacht up to speed ... if you have concerns or worries, it's dealing with the gremlins inside the boat."
American Magic's Patriot back on the water after a 10-day repair job. Photo / Brett Phibbs
There has already been a lot of negative press around the foil cant system - a one-design component provided to all teams which is effectively the hydraulics that control the foil arms on the AC75s – and American Magic have had to replace the one in Patriot with that of the first AC75, Defiant.
The foil cant system inside Defiant was serviced the week of the team's capsize, so they could have been in a far worse position in that aspect, however as Hutchinson pointed out there can be niggling issues in getting everything ironed out and the vessel sailing reliably.
When the Prada Cup semifinal starts on Friday between American Magic and Luna Rossa, the Americans will have had just two days to get out on the water and sailing. The first edition of Patriot was showing promise at the end of the opening weekend's racing, with members of both Luna Rossa and Ineos Team UK later commenting on how fast the vessel was.
When it takes to the water on Friday, will we see the same thing? How long will it take for the Americans to smooth out any little (or major) issues onboard?
In the time it has taken for the team to get ready for more sailing, Luna Rossa have made improvements and upgrades to their own vessel and have had the advantage of an extra race.
American Magic have done an extremely good job to get in a position to compete in this weekend's semifinal, but questions remain over just how reliable their reborn vessel will be. That's not exactly the most reassuring thing for fans of the event, who already lost the most part of a weekend's sailing because the lack of challenging syndicates meant, with American Magic sidelined, there was only one race rather than the six scheduled.
With the semifinal being a best-of-seven, here's hoping for a competitive series where the races are won by the sailors the fans can enjoy, and not a one-sided blow out where electronics and boat performance take away from the spectacle.
