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jmh2002 · 28-02-2021, 10:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Was watching an interesting Youtube video that had Ken Read on it...

I watched it yesterday. Here's the video so everyone else can see it too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go4HOg7O_uI

jmh2002 · 28-02-2021, 15:23

Some might like this tech video from Mozzy Sails. The channel also has a lot of other tech videos too:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MozzySails/videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pryyt-A0oA0

jmh2002 · 28-02-2021, 18:31

Here's a somewhat general update on a few different subjects:

America's Cup: Start of The Match was already under threat, now teams maximise delay

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americ...maximise-delay

"The Italians have flown in new sails and other equipment at the last minute to boost their arsenal for the challenge of beating Team New Zealand...

...While racing has been put on hold the schedule for the declaration and measurement hasn’t. That was still set for 4pm Monday, meaning all the major kit on the boats, such as the foils and rudder, for the final will be locked in."

"The teams are able to train under Level 3 and the wind forecast through to Friday looks ideal, covering the broad spectrum of the racing limits of 7.5 knots to 21 knots."

"Luna Rossa wing trimmer and tactician... (said) Team New Zealand were looking strong, having decided to take extra steps in terms of their aerodynamic package...

“...And then, they have a T-shaped foil, while we are almost Y-shaped, They seem to have focused on the sheer speed of the boat, especially on medium and strong winds,”

"Team New Zealand... trialling a lightweight modified Code Zero that has already raised eyebrows after it was revealed late in their development program to try to deny Luna Rossa a chance to replicate it.

...The giant sail appears able to be carried upwind and then unfurled for the downwind legs, used in conjunction with a jib... Using that giant foresail instead of a jib, came with a trade-off of working against extra drag upwind."

MicHughV · 01-03-2021, 05:46

not to mention their gear....pretty high tech stuff too...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americ...land-crew-safe

MicHughV · 03-03-2021, 08:31

I dunno, but LR looks awfully slick to my eyes.....hard to say if ETNZ is holding back...but ????

https://youtu.be/YsW-hf-Gf5M

jmh2002 · 03-03-2021, 10:12

I'm not sure that it's possible to conclude anything from that video.

They are both mostly just sailing around doing nothing of much consequence.

MicHughV · 03-03-2021, 11:32

hard to say without any specifics...but my" perception" of the two boats together would seem to indicate....that in this particular video..LR seemed to be the quicker of the two..??? ETZM could have been sandbagging it, as to give nothing away, off course...who knows.....this is as much a mental game as it is a speed contest...

Though the general consensus is that ETNZ is going to hold on to the AC, LR might make a go of it.

I wait with bated breath.....the outcome of the first two races...

Apollo19.5 · 03-03-2021, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicHughV

hard to say without any specifics...but my" perception" of the two boats together would seem to indicate....that in this particular video..LR seemed to be the quicker of the two..??? ETZM could have been sandbagging it, as to give nothing away, off course...who knows.....this is as much a mental game as it is a speed contest...

Though the general consensus is that ETNZ is going to hold on to the AC, LR might make a go of it.

I wait with bated breath.....the outcome of the first two races...

If I was in the NZ team, I would sandbag a bit as the last thing I would want is LR thinking they need to urgently find more speed. Better them think they are ok or dominate. We saw the UK find themselves in the situation of having to urgently find more speed after the world cup races. They went away searching hard, made changes then came back into the round robin and blew everyone away. Same risk applies now. If LR had to urgently go searching, they may come across something that is a game changer. These boats have much more speed around a track left in them untapped.

MicHughV · 03-03-2021, 13:00

The Kiwi's have been at this game for quite some time, and they are in home waters...so yes, I agree, that the ETNZ is probably keeping their card close to their chest...so there is that unknown.
Based on the prelims, the takeaway was the ETNZ was simply going to stomp over everyone, but LR certainly picked up up their game in the Prada Cup series, nothing like a bit of onfield experience to fine tune things.......so, at this point in time ???

Could have been a bit of gamesmanship in that video...hard to get into the minds of these competitors...

I thought the Americans would have been in there with a chance, but we all know how that went....then I thought Ineos might be a player....but we all know how that went as well..

As said before, I wait with bated breath the outcome of the first two races.....I've watched to many of these events to pick a winner...

jmh2002 · 03-03-2021, 13:01

The final declaration and measurement was already done for both boats on Monday so no real game changers can be done now.

It would only be about discovering new methods or improving existing methods to sail the boat.

As I said, I don't think anything much can be perceived from that previous video.

During racing I fully expect Luna Rossa to win some of the starts but then for ETNZ to burn them off on the beats, possibly even by the first mark, and then just keep extending the lead.

Here's the Italians suggesting where they think ETNZ are clearly faster:

America's Cup: Where Luna Rossa fear Team New Zealand the most
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americ...aland-the-most

Luna Rossa grinder Davide Cannata... concedes the defenders have a speed edge, particularly in certain areas. “The New Zealanders are amazing with the speeds they can reach upwind ... this is what we fear most,”

If it's really light air, Luna Rossa will have an advantage with their bigger foil wings. Hence ETNZ's continued focus on the Code Zero over the last months to try and even that out, even when the other teams mostly gave up on it.

And so here is a more interesting video. ETNZ testing their new smaller Code Zero again.

Furling and unfurling during maneuvers while the Jib is still up.

I'm guessing that they will use it to build speed in very light air, in order to get up on the foils, and then furl it away and keep sailing on the Jib only to reduce drag upwind.

It will be interesting to see if it gets used downwind too, in very light air.

Finally we are seeing some sail handling onboard!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohFQGBWTZDs

jmh2002 · 03-03-2021, 13:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmh2002

During racing I fully expect Luna Rossa to win some of the starts but then for ETNZ to burn them off on the beats, possibly even by the first mark, and then just keep extending the lead.

Further to this point, I also expect that Luna Rossa's plan will be to win the start, maybe even forcing ETNZ into a penalty, and as we saw in some races against Ineos, try to use classic match racing to stay in front.

And especially if it is light air, to include a lot of tacks since this is where Luna Rossa's supposed advantage is. They will try to negate ETNZ supposed speed advantage upwind by slowing them down with a lot of maneuvers.

This can work, up to a point. It will mostly depend on just how much faster ETNZ is. If they are faster, at some point it comes to one of the following two scenarios during a close cross with ETNZ on starboard:

- Luna Rossa is forced to concede and dip ETNZ.
Then it's mostly game over as the faster boat just sails away.

- Luna Rossa lee bow tacks on ETNZ and switches to their high mode.
ETNZ either rolls over them with boat speed, or ETNZ are forced to tack away.

The latter scenario will obvioulsy make for much more interesting racing.

Much has been made of Luna Rossa's 'high mode' upwind. It was very noticeable and very effective against Ineos. Kudos to Luna Rossa for developing this mode. Then again, Ineos was also the slowest and least developed boat in the fleet, so...

We haven't heard much about ETNZ's high mode recently since they haven't been racing and it's been difficult to make any comparisions.

But it was certainly evident earlier. Then they were able to switch to this mode and sometimes they were able to sail both higher AND faster - the holy grail.

However since then the boat configuration has changed quite a lot so I don't think one can speculate too much about what might be possible in that regard from ETNZ now.

But's let's assume that they haven't given up too much of this mode. That wouldn't make sense from a development point of view.

Unless of course there was so much extra boat speed to be gained by doing so.

MicHughV · 03-03-2021, 15:11

Wish I could add to this discussion.....each boat has their strong and weak points...depending on wind conditions

So that leaves two things...the respective teams and their tactical decisions...LR having had the advantage of some on-the-water combat with Ineos, but ETNZ have undoubtable been watching and analyzing LR every move.....

I tend to agree with the above observation...LR will attempt to win the start, and thereafter try to employ tactical rules and advantages to keep ETNZ at bay. Even if ETNZ win the start, LR will be looking for any tactical advantage they can to make up for any potential speed difference.

I think after the first two races, these teams will better understand the other and perhaps modify their game plane to suit.

Should be a good final.....if they ever get back on the water.....

Pelagic · 03-03-2021, 16:49

I think both teams are sandbagging a bit via the media, but each knows whats left under the hood

What will be telling in the remaining 6 days.... is if we see one team NOT practicing on the water every day in favor of shore based modifications.