Like to see AC 72's out in those conditions wonder if having a wing on X 40 whether there would be any difference in speed compared to the 45's Can't wait for the WS horse and pony show to be over & get on with the real AC ... and if ETNZ win Claudio, my money is on that we will be back to into mono's again
Feeling sorry for china team after the heavy damage to their boat... One source said they have damaged (cracked) a hull as well as breaking the wing!
China replaced the whole wing with a new one, and repaired the hull (confirmed broken) in one night to be on the start line today! That has set the bar pretty high if any of the other teams are that misfortunate.
I thought that I read that there is also a dedicated group of people to assist in repairs for any of the teams. Or did I miss read something (again).
No Guzz you're right, ACRM have their own maintenance crew, Iain Murray has eight-man repair crew working for the America’s Cup Race Management. It's a smart move (as is having Murray running it also) to always have all boats racing every day so they carry all the spare parts for the teams and have a resource team of experts to do this kind of repair work. Can imagine it helps keep individual team costs down also, Jim I thought you maybe in this team ? The hull fracture looked pretty serious & suprised they managed to repair it so quickly....
There is fixing it and "fixing it"..... ;-) It can be done, just need the horsepower to do it. There was indeed help from some guys from the Core factory. All credit to the team, because even the, sailors were stuck into the turn around.
Thanks Claudio ...bad day for the O Superstars uh, Jimmy “spitting” his dummy over errors and Russel getting out sailed ... Oh look !!! ETNZ in the final again, can hear the kiwi's now quietly ribbing RC “sure you don’t wanna go back to mono’s Wussel?” Looks like Coutts days are numbered as helmsman on O5, if the rumors are true? but gotta like his sense of humor about their minor collision with ETNZ "We didn't hit them hard enough. I figured if we could sink them we might stand a chance”. .. ETNZ is showing their compass is firmly set on only one direction ....WINNING !!! Cheers :zbeer:
A question : How does the skipper knows how not to cross the red lines that limit the water plan? I don't see any marker on the water at the corner of those lines. Yet, they tackle only a few meters shy of these red lines. Do they have a spotter on shore that looks at a computer screen, sort of what we have on TV? Sylvain
They have accurate GPS instruments that tell them the exact distance to the sideline boundary lines. Sometime you can here the skipper calling out the distances, "230...200...180...". They have to tack before they get there. A few times there has been some equipment malfunctions and the skipper was not aware that he had crossed, but the race management team still penalized them and they had to slow for two boatlengths.
Thanks! Is GPS the gizmo screen we see in this picture? And what about communication between the umpires and the boats? By flag or radio?
Yes. I don't know about radio communications. I doubt there is voice radio due to possible misunderstandings in language. I do know there are lights on the crossbeams that signal something to the entire crew. Whether a penalty or boundary approaching, I don't know.
Light on the crossbeam is the boundary indicator....it flashes faster the closer they get to the boundary!
its lost so much of its romance, all the techno crap....would be nice if the average sailor could compete in the AC.... put em in some lightnings, or albacores or megles 24's get rid of the technology "crutch" One can dream....
As an engineer and a model boat designer, I love the development class and would not want to see the cup go to one designs. A lot of innovation actually comes from the Cup. However, these new boats in particular make the event more of an athletic event than a sailboat race. They actually make me long for the old big AC boats of the 90's. They have gotten away from boats that are relevant to the majority of the sailing world. We have been sold out for TV ratings.
I don't doubt for one minute that there are better skippers out there who can't play int he big game, because they don't have deep enough pockets. Not that sailing is a poor mans sport by any means. But it has gotten out of control... Bring back the 12 meter formula...
While I don't disagree with you Marc - what you point out is true regardless of class - be it big boats or even our little ones. Sailing (among some other sports) is one where "... linear performance is directly proportional to rectangular dollars." And for Gregg - while there may be "romance" associated with the AC Cup - we don't race "J's" for the Cup any longer, nor do we race open cockpit cars from the 1920's - 1930's. Thus technology will continue to be the driving force - and don't discount the technology associated with "one designs". They may "try" to hold boats being equal in performance, but there is a lot of human technology/training that has taken place and turned "blue-blazer yachtsmen" into young, muscular guys and gals that train year-round for their particluar assigned task in sailboat racing. I would venture to say that I might be able to day sail a Laser one-design - but I would never again be competitive in racing it. Just one reason I finally sold my big catamaran - it became too physical for me to sail a single handed boat, low boom, 11 foot wide, two boards and two rudders to raise lower, while steering around a mark, trimming the main and traveller, keeping clear of the mark, watching competitors, and looking for the next mark after rounding all while planning tactics and whcih side of the course was favored. What I am saying, is the physical condition of sailors have gone a long way over the years - just like technology. We may have sold out to TV - but I assure you .... when I found MY wife watching the 45 footers racing on the Versus TV channel, it was a true accomplishment ! I'm trying to imagine how many non-sailors will find the racing of fast multihulls much more exciting to watch than the ponderous 12 meters "trying" to go fast. In the end - if nothing more, perhaps non-sailors will refer to catamarans or trimarans as "multihulls" - not as a generic "Hobie Cat" [smile]
That's my point. Non-sailors will be more interested, but most of the sailors that I know do not even know or care what is going on. Granted there are far more non-sailors than sailors, therefore more-non-sailor dollars than sailor dollars. From a purely selfish point, bring back the 12 meters.