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Americas Cup

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
Oracle-Team USA lost first two races today. Penalty for crossing the line early in race 1 and a bad gybe in race 2. Uh oh!
Go USA!

PS Interesting documentary after today's races called "Courageous" about Ted Turner's AC win. You can watch it on demand on the NBC Soorts App.
 
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Rick R.

Contributing Partner
They (we?) looked slow. Maybe it was the light air.

The foils on the Kiwi boat looked longer (better light air design maybe). On leg 5 USA got within a meter of the Kiwis till that crappy gybe killed their speed.

Christian Have you seen the documentary about your old captain Ted Turner?
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
...and, lost two more on Sunday. Now down 0-3 points in a best-to-seven regatta.

Team New Zealand looks very smooth. Team "US" (*) on the other hand, looks pretty ragged. Sloppy maneuvers, and a number of uncharacteristic unforced-errors by Spithill (OCS in race 1 of the America's Cup? c'mon...)



(*) I have a hard time calling them that, since there are no Americans on the boat. I miss the days where boat was built in the country it represents, and was sailed by citizens of that country...
 

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
A little humor after USA's terrible performances

JS was absolutely brilliant in San Francisco four years ago. This time not so much. Too many unforced errors and a slower boat. Maybe the Kiwi's will bring changes such as a new rule to require teams have 60/80% of the crew actually being the nationality of the flag and maybe even monohulls again!

Here is a funny video I found on Sailing Anarchy, "An Interview with Oracle's Performance Consultant" .


https://youtu.be/cv8SC3-FrfI
Enjoy!
Rick
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
This time not so much.

Yeah, this was pretty underwhelming as Cups go. My own completely-uninformed perspective is that team Oracle fell into the same trap Australia did in 1987... they tuned their boat for the conditions throughout the early rounds, and failed to adjust to the conditions during the Cup itself. Oracle was *very* fast when the breeze was on... but the breeze generally isn't on during late June in Bermuda.

So it goes.

I'm perversely excited to note that NZ was the only team that declined to sign the agreement committing to keep the 2017 rules/format for the next Cup. I feel like, of the teams there, they "get" the traditions and heritage of the Cup more than most, and I'd like to see them take it backward a few steps... nationality rules, boat designed and built in the country it represents, and the first time the Defender and Challenger meet should be in the first race of the Cup itself. Having the Defender compete in (and arguably influence) the Challenger selection process was just... weird.

$.02
Bruce
 

GrandpaSteve

Sustaining Member
Yeah, this was pretty underwhelming as Cups go. My own completely-uninformed perspective is that team Oracle fell into the same trap Australia did in 1987... they tuned their boat for the conditions throughout the early rounds, and failed to adjust to the conditions during the Cup itself. Oracle was *very* fast when the breeze was on... but the breeze generally isn't on during late June in Bermuda.

So it goes.

I'm perversely excited to note that NZ was the only team that declined to sign the agreement committing to keep the 2017 rules/format for the next Cup. I feel like, of the teams there, they "get" the traditions and heritage of the Cup more than most, and I'd like to see them take it backward a few steps... nationality rules, boat designed and built in the country it represents, and the first time the Defender and Challenger meet should be in the first race of the Cup itself. Having the Defender compete in (and arguably influence) the Challenger selection process was just... weird.

$.02
Bruce

Count me in the return to mono-hulls crowd too. Let the big foiling cats have their own separate cup.
 
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bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
return to mono-hulls

I'm conflicted on this one. The foiling cats are spectacular to watch, and great for TV. I just have a hard time "connecting" to them... it seems like a completely different sport than the one I've spent much of my life playing... especially as more than half of the crew aren't even "sailing", they're just there to pump hydraulic fluid.

I'd love to see the next Cup in something like the new Pac-52s (turbo-charged TP-52s). They're exciting to watch, they plane around the course, and... they are "sailboats".

Unfortunately, the decision will probably get made based on what's good for television advertising rather than what's good for the Cup....
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I think that as NASCAR, the cats really work. Lots of leads changes, high closing speeds, incredible physics (30 knots in 10 knots of wind?), skippers falling overboard, real danger from those razor- sharp foils, spectacular pitchpoles, unprecedented real-time information right down to VMG. It sorta takes your breath away. I watch for the same reason I watch snowboarders make suicide runs down the Alps, even though I am merely a recreational skier. Foiling cats relate not at all to my sailing world.

I think it's silly to require human-powered hydraulics when the hydraulics get that important. Really? four donkeys plodding straw in a circle to power the grist mill? And we see their heart rates? I'd prefer allowing powered pumps, and allow the entire crew to make themselves useful sailing the boat. They'd find things to do.

I also think the NFL should put every player in a carbon fiber naphtha -powered golf cart. It would up the speed of the game, and the carts could have sponsorship stickers like the America's Cup.
 
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Rick R.

Contributing Partner
I think the speeds are just awesome and the telemetry makes it like a video game. It sounds as though the TV numbers were as dismal as Oracle's performance in the final rounds.

I wonder ETNZ held back during the LV races, just enough to advance to the finals. They sure found a whole new speed once the AC started.

I agree with Christian about the grinders pumping hydraulic fluid, why not just use a powered system?

I though I was the only one that noticed the "Camo Wheel"!
 
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