Anybody Watching America's Cup?

[Islander]

Yeah, looks like they slowed right down to maybe 15 knots through the tacks and jibes.

Cheers.

[Sailndive345]

Originally Posted by CharlieCobra

My apologies to my Mates from the fair land of Oz. Twas the Aussies at that and the first (to my knowledge) time where new technology played such a role.

....and shortly afterwards, all kinds of boat manufacturers started equipping boats with wing keels and "running aground" got a whole new meaning

Good recovery, BTW

Sailndive

[44'cruisingcat]

"2:35: Racing underway. Penalty on Alinghi in the Pre-Start. BMW Oracle stalled, both OCS, Alinghi gets out first. Early jump to a lead for Alinghi as BMWO has to return.
Up the course, wind building to 8 kts. BMW gains on Alinghi, cutting into lead, Alinghi swaps foresails, BMW Oracle still gaining. USA pointing higher, going faster, gets ahead into 250m lead. Now 400m lead. BMW Oracle drops headsail. Out ahead to 425m. Then gaps closes, both head right, but down to 160m lead. Speeds about 20 knots upwind.
Halfway up the Windward leg, BMW Oracle extends again 300m. 500m. 630m. Wind at 9 kts. Getting toward the layline. Alinghi tacks first. BMWO about 2 minutes later. Lead 900m to BMW Oracle. To 1200m. Nearing the Windward Mark. Wind at top dropping from 10 kts to 7, at 175 degrees. BMW Oracle tacks for the mark. Rounds at 4:04pm.
Return Leg:
BMW Oracle heads downwind. Alinghi rounds, 3:21 delta. BMW Oracle leads by 1598m. 2100m. 2700m. Speed downwind about 25 knots for BMWO.
Alinghi gybes. Distance 3300m to BMW Oracle. Alinghi still carrying a penalty. USA heading lower, speed to 28.5 knots. Wind 8 kts. More than halfway along the return leg. Still huge lead to BMWO. Finish coming up. BMW Oracle wins Race 1! Alinghi takes penalty turn, Apparent finish delta of 10:04, problem with turn, has to return above the line, final delta 15:28."

America's Cup News and Information - from CupInfo.com

20 knots upwind and 28.5 knots downwind in 8 knots of breeze. Multi's dont go up or downwind do they???

[sv-Mystique]

Unbelievable technology and engineering - simply amazing 30 kts boat speed in 13 - 15 knts of wind!

[David M]

May the best legal team win.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Islander

Yeah, looks like they slowed right down to maybe 15 knots through the tacks and jibes.

Cheers.

Doesn't matter, as it's all relative. If you make one bad tack, you can't recover nearly as quickly as in the monos. So, my guess is that's why no one risked it. Maybe Alinghi should have.

Bottom line: the boats were spectacular, but the race wasn't.

[Chief Engineer]

About the Americas Cup.

Ever since the Drapery King got involved, I couldn't care less.

and once you add lawyers to the mix...it is a non-starter...........

Originally Posted by David M

May the best legal team win.

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by Bash

Let me see if I've got this straight. The GGYC boat is 87 seconds late over the start line--in a match race, of all things--and still beats the other boat to the windward mark by a delta of 201 seconds.

Are they really calling this a race?

And evidently BMW Oracle is faster without a headsail upwind when the wind is 10 knots or higher!

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by speedoo

And evidently BMW Oracle is faster without a headsail upwind when the wind is 10 knots or higher!

Look at the C-class cats. Once you have as much power as you can use you can point higher without the jib bending the wind and making the main operate in a header.

John

[Chuteman]

Just select replay tab - scroll down - click on race - you can move cursor forward or back if you want to skip chatter or re-play - enjoy
Online Sports Schedule, Sports Video Schedule - ESPN360.com

No love for this format, owners, race committee, time of year, amt of money spent, multis, etc, etc.

But it is amazing to watch (finally) the technology as well as the limitations.
Interesting stuff. Great helicopter shots - Allinghi would not allow the usual cameras on board - think they want to race in a bathtub

Winner - it ain't over till it's over

Sponsors not thrilled
America's Cup sponsors washed out to sea - Feb. 12, 2010

[Factor]

Originally Posted by sneuman

one wrong tack is very costly in these boats because they do it so poorly vis-a-vis the old AC Class monos.

Whats an AC Class mono? If you mean 12 meter they were a class before the AC. And they were AC bots for a few years but certainly haven't been the only class of boat used in AC.

[sneuman]

Factor - No, I wasn't referring to 12 meter class, but ACC boats:

Cup in Europe (formerly Hauraki News) - The ACC Boats

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by capcook

After oohing and ahing at the technology for about 30min I became quite bored with the race... I do hope they go back to mono's next time...and this from a CAT guy.... they should also outlaw all assisted power devices...
just one mans opinion...

I like seeing multis, but I heartily agree about the power devices.. WHAT'S up with running a genset for hydraulics?? It's a SAIL boat. Geesh.

If you need power, get one of those guys with a big hammer to pound out rhythm and a bunch of slaves like in the movie Ben Hur.

[Islander]

Originally Posted by sneuman

Doesn't matter, as it's all relative. If you make one bad tack, you can't recover nearly as quickly as in the monos. So, my guess is that's why no one risked it. Maybe Alinghi should have.

Bottom line: the boats were spectacular, but the race wasn't.

They didn't do much tacking or jibing because they didn't need to - they could point close enough and sail deep enough to get around the course on a couple of tacks and jibes, while doing three times windspeed.

I think the race was a bit boring because there's a real mismatch in the boats' abilities. Next time they'll both have solid wing sails, high-tech backpacks feeding heads-up displays and who knows what else and things should even up a bit.

Unless, of course, the winner - likely to be USA - changes the rules back to keelboats, but I doubt they will given the possibilities for technological innovation the new format opens up (which is what the AC is really about).

Cheers.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I like seeing multis, but I heartily agree about the power devices.. WHAT'S up with running a genset for hydraulics?? It's a SAIL boat. Geesh.

If you need power, get one of those guys with a big hammer to pound out rhythm and a bunch of slaves like in the movie Ben Hur.

Definitely agree. There should be no engines running on any of these boats. That applies to the Sydney-Hobart boats too. Sail boats should be propelled by wind, and all sailing systems should be human powered.