The La Roche-Posay Racing Team unveiled a striking new livery as their upgraded AC75 was lowered into the water at Lorient for a tow test, capping an intensive period of stress testing and systems checks that kept the team busy through the final days of last week. A first full sail is targeted for Tuesday 30th June.
With this launch, the squad becomes the third team in the current AC75 cycle to put a boat on the water, joining Emirates Team New Zealand's Taihoro and Luna Rossa, both of which are already well advanced in their work-up programmes.
Recon teams on the ground paid close attention to the boat's technology, with the foils and rudders drawing particular scrutiny. Their assessment was detailed. The starboard foil wing and flap appeared consistent with the Barcelona 2024 configuration, retaining winglet tips with the flap running to the tip end. The port foil differed: the tip carried no winglet, but instead a flat grey piece that appeared separate or modular from the rest of the wing, with the flap terminating at the junction with this piece rather than continuing to the tip. That arrangement suggested the tip piece may be interchangeable to trial different tip geometries, with the port and starboard asymmetry potentially allowing a new tip geometry to be evaluated on starboard tack against the Barcelona 2024 geometry on port tack. The remainder of the foil wing, flap, wing to bulb junction, and foil arm fairings showed no apparent change. The rudder elevator appeared broadly similar to Barcelona 2024. The shaft, however, showed a different profile near the top, with both the leading and trailing edges appearing incurved compared with Barcelona 2024.
Quentin Delapierre and Diego Botin occupied the helm positions during the tow test, with Florian Trittel and Jason Saunders in the trim and flight control seats. The session ran for approximately 90 minutes across three separate runs, as broken down below.
Antoine Carraz, Technical Director of the La Roche-Posay Racing Team, spoke after the session: "A launch is always a special moment. For months we've been working on plans, simulations, parts and systems. On the day the boat returns to the water, all these elements must work together. It is both the culmination of an initial phase and the start of the real validation work."
He was equally clear that the familiar silhouette should not be mistaken for a modest update. "Externally, the public will recognise the 2024 boat. But technically, this is not simply a refurbishment. We've had to rethink its internal architecture and the way the crew interacts with the vessel. The challenge was to radically transform the boat whilst retaining its original platform."
All attention now turns to Tuesday and what could be a first sail. France is back in the America's Cup, and the team is looking sensational.
On-Water Recon Report:
The day's programme centred on a tow test, marking the AC75's first launch at the Keroman site in Lorient for AC38. Dock-out had been scheduled for around 11:30, but as this was the first time the boat had been craned at this location, much of the morning was taken up working through crane and trailer positioning.
The boat rolled out of the shed at 10:30, the guardrail stanchions lowered and then reset once clear of the door. Both foils and the rudder were fitted, the rudder sitting at full forward rake and in contact with the hull at roll-out. The anti-ventilation fences on the lower foil arm fairing, which had been taped over on D2, were now uncovered. A white mark was visible at the bottom of the lower fairing, possibly serving as a visual reference such as a ride-height indicator. The rudder shaft appeared consistent with the Barcelona 2024 configuration, its leading and trailing edges curving outboard and then back inboard at roughly a quarter of the span from the root, suggesting the rudder fitted for this session differed from the one observed on D1 and was instead closer to the AC37 rudder.
The boat was craned in on four slings and reached the water at 11:22 when the slings were released. Four crew members remained in the pods throughout the lift, and the foils were cycled through their full range during the crane operation, apparently to manage clearance during handling.
Once alongside the dock, the deck remained largely covered and the jib track was not visible, though the main traveller and the double mainsheet system were in view, with sheets rigged. The former aft pod positions were still evident on the deck. Technicians worked from laptops both on deck and below, running through a sequence of systems and instrument checks. The foil cant system was exercised repeatedly, with the boards raised and lowered, the boat heeling noticeably each time a foil was lifted fully clear of the water on either side.
A briefing at the dock preceded the 12:42 departure. The boat left under a short towline and, before any foiling commenced, completed two towline-release tests at around 7 knots with both boards down, one to port and one to starboard.
The first foiling run began in the channel and headed out toward the bay. Towing got underway at 12:52, the boards canted up until the wings reached horizontal at 13:02, and the boat was foiling by 13:11. The run ended with a tow release at 13:17. Ride height and pitch appeared reasonably stable throughout, with the hull skeg grazing the surface and a modest bow-down trim developing toward the end. The foil cant system was then cycled again on the water before two further foiling runs in Lorient bay. A short run took place from around 13:50, and a longer one ran from 14:08 to 14:22, the latter finishing back in the channel close to the dock. On those later runs the pitch was irregular early on, the boat pitching fore and aft before settling into a mostly slight bow-down attitude, consistent with flight control and flap testing, something Antoine Carraz pointed to directly in his post-session interview.
The boat returned to the dock at around 14:30, was lifted out at 15:03, and was back in the shed by around 16:00.
