Americas cup
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so I've heard of the America's Cup, never really knew what it was, basically found out about it when i was in Auckland 20 odd years ago. I knew Ainslie was racing in it, but only because i watch cycling and ineos popped up on my twitter feed.
Even as a sports nut who sailed a bit when i was younger, with sports nut friends, I have never ever had a conversation about it, don't know the rules or how the competition works but every so often over the years watched a bit (seem to remember Ainslie sailing in San Fran a few years back). Having watched about 10 mins of the last 'round' - the boats are so boring now, no crew throwing themselves around, no boats up on their side, no real sense of how fast the boats are travelling and very little actual racing appears to take place. Give me a laser race, or kite foiling any day. Bring back single hulls and a bit of drama.
Maybe i'm not the target audience i guess.
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@Dodge said in Americas cup:
so I've heard of the America's Cup, never really knew what it was, basically found out about it when i was in Auckland 20 odd years ago. I knew Ainslie was racing in it, but only because i watch cycling and ineos popped up on my twitter feed.
Even as a sports nut who sailed a bit when i was younger, with sports nut friends, I have never ever had a conversation about it, don't know the rules or how the competition works but every so often over the years watched a bit (seem to remember Ainslie sailing in San Fran a few years back). Having watched about 10 mins of the last 'round' - the boats are so boring now, no crew throwing themselves around, no boats up on their side, no real sense of how fast the boats are travelling and very little actual racing appears to take place. Give me a laser race, or kite foiling any day. Bring back single hulls and a bit of drama.
Maybe i'm not the target audience i guess.
I think you have to be up close and personal with these boats to really appreciate how fast they are travelling and what a spectacle they are. After viewing these boats in Auckland in the last edition of the America's Cup I quickly found out what all the fuss was about, probably one of the best sporting events I've been to. The way these boats roar into the racing area is a sight in itself and I feel like there's no going back.
As a laser sailor for twenty odd years myself, I appreciate what you're saying in terms of proper match racing. I guess the America's Cup is now sailing on steroids' but as seen in the pre-start yesterday there is still room to make maneuvers and force the opposition into penalties. Something Burling seems to have all over Ainslie atm.
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the think i really miss about the old boat was yes they were going much slower....but it was more obvious the work people were putting into getting every ounce a speed, i was talking to my only interested mate yesterday and just pointed out this is just like the old cgi simulations because all we get is the boast and close ups
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Auckland could absolutely be ready in 2 years time. all that really needs to be done is some team sheds be built and the land is still available.
The reality is even if the govt stumped up the squillions that Dalton asked for ETNZ would find a reason for it not to be hosted here.
The reality is we are in the wrong time zone for the advertising dollars and far fewer teams would challenge. The Med is the epicentre for Americas Cup teams although I can see ETNZ being pressured to give the hosting rights to Dubai. The whole thing would be petty cash for the Maktoums
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@Kiwiwomble said in Americas cup:
the think i really miss about the old boat was yes they were going much slower....but it was more obvious the work people were putting into getting every ounce a speed, i was talking to my only interested mate yesterday and just pointed out this is just like the old cgi simulations because all we get is the boast and close ups
I think bringing the boats back to the water would bring more interest and certainly more traditional sailing. The design or the design rules would be key. Something like a box rule with maximum waterline length of 90' and super light displacement. Basically a giant 18' skiff that would still generate a tonne of speed but bring back the key elements of sailing such as sail changes and eyes on the water rather than relying on computers.
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@LatsToTheMax im not too worried about the in or out of the water personally, the foiling cats were pretty amazing where they were working had and struggling to get them out of the water and then it was game on, and was a huge thing when they had the first 100% dry race, you could still see them sailing
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@SBW1 said in Americas cup:
Can someone please explain the format a bit. I realise the Kiwis are up 4-0 against Team Brittania. How many more races to we need and does this mean we retain the Cup? Why can't it be held in New Zealand?
First to 7 wins, so we need to win 3 more races before GB win 7.
Why not in NZ? Money. We're poor and in the wrong time zone.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Americas cup:
@LatsToTheMax im not too worried about the in or out of the water personally, the foiling cats were pretty amazing where they were working had and struggling to get them out of the water and then it was game on, and was a huge thing when they had the first 100% dry race, you could still see them sailing
The AC75 is definitely very cool but what I hear and see is that there is a big disconnect in the sailing and sailing interested communities. The AC has always been a technology and design race but it came with traditional elements of sailing a boat such as sail hoists etc.
What made the cats cool were the displacement values. They weigh close to 3x less than the AC75 which allows them to fly in less breeze. -
@LatsToTheMax said in Americas cup:
@booboo said in Americas cup:
Who was/is the commentator?
Sounds like Stephen McIvor. Is it?
McIvor is cringe personified. I really enjoyed Ken Read, young man in an older man's body. Essentially the Murray Mexted of sailing.
Yeah, I really liked his commentary too.
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As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
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@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
I think sail mgmt has a lot to do with it, from memory we have ours set up differently to the other boats.
If Ineos was able to match ETNZ here then we have a boat race.
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I've watched all 4 races and at this point in time, it's troubling viewing for Ineos Brittania.
Race 1 was just a plain old trouncing, we really had it together and just went for it. We looked incredibly well drilled and genuinely just a bit faster than Ineos. The weird thing was that we seemed to have a much better read of the conditions which was not what I was expecting given the significantly less experience racing on the course than the challenger.
Race 2 had a much closer first few legs but then we found some wind in places and looked to take advantage of it. It really does seem as though we spend those first couple of legs looking at the conditions then using where its' best to find better boat speed over the rest of the race.
Race 3, after the penalty, it was just a matter of covering off Ineos the entire race.
Race 4 was a repeat of race 2. This is where I think it's a bit troubling for Ineos as it doesn't look like they've learned anything from the first 3 races. Either that, or we are simply a faster boat. Neither of those things bring any encouragement for the challenger.
Rest day today, which I'm sure Ineos will use to really analyse things and see where they are going wrong. It's far from over though, as we aren't that superior and the way these boats are, I'm sure the right tweaks can make a huge amount of difference.
Not sure what peoples problems are with McIvor - his question was a bit daft, but Ainslie misheard it which caused his reaction. There was a bit of banter about it at the start of the interviews post race 4 which Ainslie was grinning about. Overall I think the commentary has been good, it's not Montgomery, but it's added to the viewing and not been over the top. They do talk about the crowds a lot, but I'm unconvinced that they are that big. There are certainly less boats on the water, but the location has a huge advantage over Auckland in that you can see the races from the shore.
Have to miss the next 2 days, although I might see if I can find it on my phone to watch. Have really enjoyed it.
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@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
I think sail mgmt has a lot to do with it, from memory we have ours set up differently to the other boats.
If Ineos was able to match ETNZ here then we have a boat race.
Yeah I would also point out that in Race 4 ETNZ continued to give up extending their lead to cover INEOS. There were times they were just carving up meters.
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the kiwis definitely look smoother
whether by design or sailing skills dunno
guess thats for the brits to figure out; they either got to make a tweak to their boat or sail better
ainslie is a great sailer, cant imagine he'd put up with any lackness in his crew there; so must be design
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@LatsToTheMax said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
I think sail mgmt has a lot to do with it, from memory we have ours set up differently to the other boats.
If Ineos was able to match ETNZ here then we have a boat race.
Yeah I would also point out that in Race 4 ETNZ continued to give up extending their lead to cover INEOS. There were times they were just carving up meters.
It seems a feature of this class that when teams are in front they generally keep extending to big wins.
Perhaps it is a narrow course making it easier to provide wing wash or just the trailing boat having to go and find some wind and split the course which is not optimal. 100mtrs gains can be had in a few seconds in these boats.
The speed difference in upwind tacks is pretty big and if Ineos were able to address this, they would have done it by now.
Perhaps ETNZ modifications while waiting for the match has surprised them in this area?
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@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@LatsToTheMax said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
I think sail mgmt has a lot to do with it, from memory we have ours set up differently to the other boats.
If Ineos was able to match ETNZ here then we have a boat race.
Yeah I would also point out that in Race 4 ETNZ continued to give up extending their lead to cover INEOS. There were times they were just carving up meters.
It seems a feature of this class that when teams are in front they generally keep extending to big wins.
Perhaps it is a narrow course making it easier to provide wing wash or just the trailing boat having to go and find some wind and split the course which is not optimal. 100mtrs gains can be had in a few seconds in these boats.
The speed difference in upwind tacks is pretty big and if Ineos were able to address this, they would have done it by now.
Perhaps ETNZ modifications while waiting for the match has surprised them in this area?
Burling did allude to not showing their hand in the pre cup races they sailed in. Keeping their powder dry.
At this point I think it’s pretty much over. The twin main sheet arrangement for individual control over the mainsail skins is genius. -
@W32 said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@LatsToTheMax said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
@DaGrubster said in Americas cup:
As seen by the naked eye over the first 4 races.
ETNZ lose less speed in tacks and are quicker out of tacks which is where they are winning races.
I think sail mgmt has a lot to do with it, from memory we have ours set up differently to the other boats.
If Ineos was able to match ETNZ here then we have a boat race.
Yeah I would also point out that in Race 4 ETNZ continued to give up extending their lead to cover INEOS. There were times they were just carving up meters.
It seems a feature of this class that when teams are in front they generally keep extending to big wins.
Perhaps it is a narrow course making it easier to provide wing wash or just the trailing boat having to go and find some wind and split the course which is not optimal. 100mtrs gains can be had in a few seconds in these boats.
The speed difference in upwind tacks is pretty big and if Ineos were able to address this, they would have done it by now.
Perhaps ETNZ modifications while waiting for the match has surprised them in this area?
Burling did allude to not showing their hand in the pre cup races they sailed in. Keeping their powder dry.
At this point I think it’s pretty much over. The twin main sheet arrangement for individual control over the mainsail skins is genius.I think the 2013 loss has had a major effect on how they approach regatta’s and the constant need for improvement up till the final race.
In 2013, they showed their hand too quickly (I remember one commentator saying if they just kept foiling under wraps for another month of testing - no one would have got close) and in the end were out developed by a desperate team that managed to find a bit more performance where ETNZ plateaued.
So I can see merit in what you mention about keeping powder dry and also planning new things for later in the development cycle when they have data from race conditions.
ETNZ have not been put under pressure in the finals and have been sailing pretty serenely. I am sure there is more speed to be found if they were under more pressure and needed to find a bit more from somewhere
