Americas Cup Foiling AC75 concept

[a64pilot]

Your not going to see racing being similar to boats we can identify with anymore.
It’s the way racing sports have gone with mega $$$ being the driver.
In 1974 when Heikki Mikkola won the Motocross World Championship on a Husqvarna, except for motor tuning and suspension tuning, his Husqvarna and mine were nearly identical.
The Factory bikes have had little to do with what the consumer buys for a long time.
Used to be NASCAR actually raced production automobiles that were modified of course, but were remarkably similar to the cars in the parking lot, but today of course maybe the paint job is similar, but that’s it.

There are a few series that actually race production vehicles, but you don’t see them on TV and they don’t attract sponsorship money either.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Your not going to see racing being similar to boats we can identify with anymore.
It’s the way racing sports have gone with mega $$$ being the driver.
In 1974 when Heikki Mikkola won the Motocross World Championship on a Husqvarna, except for motor tuning and suspension tuning, his Husqvarna and mine were nearly identical.
The Factory bikes have had little to do with what the consumer buys for a long time.
Used to be NASCAR actually raced production automobiles that were modified of course, but were remarkably similar to the cars in the parking lot, but today of course maybe the paint job is similar, but that’s it.

There are a few series that actually race production vehicles, but you don’t see them on TV and they don’t attract sponsorship money either.

I'm afraid you're right, but think how interesting it would be to see a race between traditional sailboats where every metric that could possibly be measured, was being measured and available to the audience in real time. We would be able to see and compare things like sheeting angles and luff tension and etc. and with multiple video cameras aboard we could call up which skippers eye (or Gods eye) view we preferred. Eventually, we'd be able to "enter" our own boat in the race and tweak the trim and choose our own tactics to see how we could do against the pro's. That sort of thing is available in video games for other sports with great realism and I think it would be very popular, at least amongst sailors, if applied to sailboat races. I bet that very soon the technology would be available to compete with the pro's in real time so we could all virtually enter in the AC and "sail" our own boats. I think that would be a lot more interesting and engaging than the current trend towards seeing some sailboats unlike anything any of us will ever sail zooming around the course at 30 or 40 knots with almost none (myself included) of the audience having any real understanding about techniques or tactics that help the winner gain an advantage. I know that's not where the sport is going but I can dream....

[donradcliffe]

The boats will be too expensive to attract more than a couple of billionaires. Its a big step backwards from the AC cats.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I'm afraid you're right, but think how interesting it would be to see a race between traditional sailboats where every metric that could possibly be measured, was being measured and available to the audience in real time. We would be able to see and compare things like sheeting angles and luff tension and etc. and with multiple video cameras aboard we could call up which skippers eye (or Gods eye) view we preferred. Eventually, we'd be able to "enter" our own boat in the race and tweak the trim and choose our own tactics to see how we could do against the pro's. That sort of thing is available in video games for other sports with great realism and I think it would be very popular, at least amongst sailors, if applied to sailboat races. I bet that very soon the technology would be available to compete with the pro's in real time so we could all virtually enter in the AC and "sail" our own boats. I think that would be a lot more interesting and engaging than the current trend towards seeing some sailboats unlike anything any of us will ever sail zooming around the course at 30 or 40 knots with almost none (myself included) of the audience having any real understanding about techniques or tactics that help the winner gain an advantage. I know that's not where the sport is going but I can dream....

Now THAT would be very cool.