Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 9, 2013 17:11:52 GMT -5
The current version of the America's Cup is certainly not your father's sailboat race. We were in San Francisco last weekend, and we were able to see the Emirates New Zealand entry going through its paces before this weekend's four races. I could not believe the speed of that sailboat; the chasing speedboat had a hard time keeping up. These catamarans with the foils are capable of going over 50 mph. This boat showed its true colors winning the first three races this weekend. The US Oracle entry finally won the final race of the weekend. More races tomorrow. The US entry was down two before the racing even started, and now the score is NZ 3, US -1. First to nine wins (six more for NZ, 10 more for the US).
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Post by HometownHoya on Sept 9, 2013 20:57:22 GMT -5
The boats they use nowadays are insane. All must be double-hulled. 110+ft masts. Lighter and stronger construction. Where as even 1-2 years ago, the boats would reach about 34mph, now they are getting up in the 60+ and most are truly untested. Most of them are so fast that their hulls don't even sit on the water while holding tack, they sit up on their hydrodynamic keel which is more like a hydrofoil. Anyway, its always real fun to watch world class sailing. The rules and what is going on can be confusing at first but there is a method to the madness. I believe some of America's Cup is televised and if you are lucky enough to be in the SF area like Nevada, go out and watch!
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thebin
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Post by thebin on Sept 10, 2013 8:21:53 GMT -5
I grew up partially both in Rhode Island and San Diego (both the only US race sites of my lifetime before this year), so I am not without some America's Cup nostaligia. That said, the insanely complicated litigious nature of the Cup has been a massive turnoff for decades. Then I found out there are a grand total of two Americans on the American boat. So that was not cool.
But I did catch a bit this weekened and I have to say the speed of those boats with the backdrop of the golden gate and the hills of SF/Marin made for pretty darn good HD programming.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Sept 10, 2013 10:41:42 GMT -5
They should have kept the 45's. Closer races, more teams, safer, less ability of the teams to influence through technology.
Ellison screwed up by going to the 72's. But he has the right idea in trying to make it a better spectator sport. Sooner or later, I think someone like him should just make a replica trophy, put out an insane amount of prize money and basically make a new Cup, away from the world's most ridiculous by-laws.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 10, 2013 13:47:56 GMT -5
I guess this is the first America's cup in a closed course, rather than open sea. It is a great treat for the spectators, but also throws new wrinkles into the race. I didn't know anything about sailing and its tactics, but watching the races over the weekend was fascinating. Another race(s) today at 1 pm PDT on the NBC sports channel, I believe. Weekend races were on NBC.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 13, 2013 16:22:11 GMT -5
I guess it is all over now baby blue! NZ leads 6 to -1, with only three wins to go. Will probably be over this weekend. The American ploy to postpone a race to develop better tactics (a new tacticianer) and find more speed did not work as the NZ boat owns the 3rd leg of the races.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 19, 2013 18:03:28 GMT -5
The Americans (okay, maybe only one American) outfoxed the Kiwis at the start to win today's race to stave off one match point; they only have to win seven more in a row to retain the title. NZ has another chance on Saturday to wrap this up, as the 2nd race of the day was postponed due to high winds.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Sept 19, 2013 20:30:45 GMT -5
Well, an Australian, most likely.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 23, 2013 18:27:44 GMT -5
The Americans (Aussies, Brits, etc.) are still in it as the Oracle boat won twice on Sunday, making it 8-5 (remember the US was penalized two races, so they have actually won seven races.)
EDIT: The Oracle boat won today, so it is 8-6 on the scoreboard (8-8 in your heart, if you are rooting for the Oracle boat).
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Sept 23, 2013 20:22:06 GMT -5
This seems like a pretty stunning comeback, regardless of the final result.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Sept 23, 2013 20:23:18 GMT -5
The Americans (Aussies, Brits, etc.) are still in it as the Oracle boat won twice on Sunday, making it 8-5 (remember the US was penalized two races, so they have actually won seven races.) EDIT: The Oracle boat won today, so it is 8-6 on the scoreboard (8-8 in your heart, if you are rooting for the Oracle boat). www.americascup.com/en/results-standings
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 24, 2013 17:45:33 GMT -5
Surprise, surprise: The Oracle boat, after being down 8-1, is now tied. In actual races Oracle 10, Emirates 8. It is do or die tomorrow for both teams. I think NZ may have become complacent with their big lead: ok, we can win the next race, over and over.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Sept 24, 2013 17:55:53 GMT -5
I don't think it is complacency wi the Kiwis.
The Kiwis were the first to hydrofoil their boat. Its not unheard with Cats, but I suppose Oracle and the Swedes, etc never thought of doing it with a 73'. So NZ had a 2-3 month head start on learning to sail above the water. For those not watching, these are 72' long boats, with rigid airplane wings for sails 13 stories tall. They can go 3-4x the speed of the wind and have been clocked in the high 50 mph range. And if you are sailing them right, the whole boat is out of the water except for a tiny hydrofoil and the rudders unless you are turning.
Oracle made some hardware tweaks when down about 7-0. But as importantly, I think they learned how to tack properly with the foil. They were getting killed on the upwind legs and on every tack. Now they tend to win the upwind leg. If they don't completely blow the start, they have a great shot tomorrow.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Sept 24, 2013 18:09:21 GMT -5
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 25, 2013 13:27:01 GMT -5
The present Oracle boat was made in NZ, so obviously the Kiwis have the technology down pat. But SF is right in the fact that the "Americans" have learned to tack better on the upwind legs. That is the chief difference in the big turnaround: the Kiwis dominated for the first 8-9 races, then the Oracle crew learned how to race their boat plus other hardward refinements. Even before yesterday Barker, skipper for the Kiwis, said he would rather be in their position (just having to win one, while the Oracle had to win three). Now I am not too sure, and I think, besides the edge that the Oracle has on the water. there is a loss of confidence in the Kiwi crew. But we will see what happens in a couple of hours, if the weather permits.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Sept 25, 2013 16:19:49 GMT -5
Well. How about that?
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Sept 25, 2013 16:33:04 GMT -5
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Sept 25, 2013 18:50:04 GMT -5
As Howard Cossell would say, "the best comeback in the history of sports!"
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Sept 25, 2013 19:41:42 GMT -5
As Howard Cossell would say, "the best comeback in the history of sports!" Nah. The humble one would never say in 8 words what he could say in 80.
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ksf42001
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Post by ksf42001 on Sept 25, 2013 19:48:48 GMT -5
So Ellison again gets to decide the format for next time...yay?
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