With a big weather system bringing strong winds to the Valencia area, the BMW ORACLE Racing team is taking advantage of the non-sailing days to continue its preparation of its race boat, USA.
The first race of the America's Cup Match is just two weeks from today.
On Saturday morning, the team renewed its confidence in the boat and the wing sail when it was able to set out on its scheduled training session in winds over 20 knots.
The session was shortened slightly when a trickle of water found it’s way into the yacht's electronics system and caused an electrical fault that affected the power systems on board.
Over Sunday and into this week, the shore team is making sure the problem won't re-occur.
"There wasn't a problem with the engine itself," explained navigator Matteo Plazzi (ITA). "Some of the waterproofing elements on board were put to a higher stress test than they had been previously and we found that areas we thought were 100% waterproof, actually weren't in these conditions.
"As navigator, I know that water and electronics are not a good mix and that is what caused the failure. The engine itself was working exactly as it should.
"In a strange way, it's good that it happened. It's important that we identify these problems now and eliminate them. With the boats at the cutting-edge, I think reliability is going to be an issue for both teams, so the more problems we identify and take care of now, the better."
The first race of the America's Cup Match is just two weeks from today.
On Saturday morning, the team renewed its confidence in the boat and the wing sail when it was able to set out on its scheduled training session in winds over 20 knots.
The session was shortened slightly when a trickle of water found it’s way into the yacht's electronics system and caused an electrical fault that affected the power systems on board.
Over Sunday and into this week, the shore team is making sure the problem won't re-occur.
"There wasn't a problem with the engine itself," explained navigator Matteo Plazzi (ITA). "Some of the waterproofing elements on board were put to a higher stress test than they had been previously and we found that areas we thought were 100% waterproof, actually weren't in these conditions.
"As navigator, I know that water and electronics are not a good mix and that is what caused the failure. The engine itself was working exactly as it should.
"In a strange way, it's good that it happened. It's important that we identify these problems now and eliminate them. With the boats at the cutting-edge, I think reliability is going to be an issue for both teams, so the more problems we identify and take care of now, the better."
