America's Cup

If Oracle wins the AC, it will be the Comeback of the Century, or perhaps the Millennium, at least as far as sailing goes.

I would have given Oracle ZERO chance of pulling it off after the two point penalty and the first few races won by the Kiwis.

Even a victory by the Kiwis tomorrow will forever be remembered as a bittersweet win after the resurgence of the Oracle gang.

And if Oracle wins and the Kiwis lose, the Kiwi Collapse will rate right up there with the Titanic in the lore of disasters at sea.

It will be fun, entertaining, heroic, and tragic no matter how it ends.

Stay tuned………!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I will have to say, that the last couple of weeks has made sailing truly a spectator sport!

I agree with Joe--I would have bet $1000 against Oracle winning. I hear that even in Aukland the odds in favor of Oracle is now about 3;1! In the forum Sailing Anarchy--the Kiwi's have changed their vengeance from the Americans to the sailing crew of Team New Zealand....

On the other hand, I hope that they develop something like the 45 footers which will foil as well as the 72's. Give the same thrill of match racing, and yet keep the costs within reason. This $200 million a boat has priced almost all of the players out of the market--and thus there was less competition in this race series.
 
Oracle wins--a come back I thought was impossible. The NZ boat did a great job--but Oracle was just faster upwind. The reason, is that she was foiling more. Both Crew, tactics and boat (credit to the shore teams also)

Be interesting to see where this race goes in the future. I see smaller boats, but still foiling cats. I suspect that challangers will start putting together teams almost immediately.

I also suspect this is the end of the 72's. There is nothing they are good for--one series--and then to the junk pile. At least the old monohulls die a honorable death taking day sailors around the bay or in the Caribbean.
 
GREATEST COMEBACK IN SAILING HISTORY!

America's Cup Update (latest post is first, earliest at bottom).

UPDATE: 1339 hours

ORACLE TEAM USA won the 34th America’s Cup with a 44-second victory over Emirates Team New Zealand in Race 19.

UPDATE: 1332 hours

Emirates Team New Zealand sailed a solid beat, but couldn’t match the speed of ORACLE TEAM USA. The defender was consistently sailing a faster speed and overtook the Kiwis to lead at the windward gate by 26 seconds. Two legs remain to the finish line of the America’s Cup.

UPDATE: 1320 hours

With both boats blasting along at 38-40 knots boatspeed, Emirates Team New Zealand kept the lead on the downwind leg. The Kiwis led by 3 seconds at the leeward gate and rounded on port while ORACLE TEAM USA made a late jibe to a starboard rounding.

UPDATE: 1316 hours

ORACLE TEAM USA and Emirates Team New Zealand both hit the starting line together and onto their hydrofoils. The Kiwis had the leeward position and held it to lead by 7 seconds at the first reach mark. OTUSA dug its hulls in hard and slowed dramatically.

NEAR SPEECHLESS IN REDDING, CALIFORNIA!!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Thanks Bob,

For an unexpected dividend of being a C-Brat.

America's Cup sailing has always appealed to me. But, there was no coverage in our local media to alert me of video and TV coverage. Your posts were my best source. I only caught a few of the Vitton series. But, I watched most of the AC series thanks to your heads up on NBCsport channel. I gave up on Oracle when they had to win 8 straight. But, I watched all the races and was amazed at the outcome. Who could believe they could win 8 straight? The Kiwis had it in the bag. It will be interesting to see the post race analysis to see how Oracle gained so much boat speed.

I thought the early TV coverage was atrocious. Not enough wide angle shots (too many close-ups). Repeating inane comments. Insignificant technical graphics. Cutting away for commercials at critical times. But, in the end the TV coverage got better, with informative graphics.

Our local newspaper had it's first article this AM!

Thanks again, Rick
 
This morning, pre sunrise, I was sitting on the slickrock above Delicate Arch in the NP. One of my fellow photographers was a Kiwi, and we both agreed that regardless of who one, it was a great series.

An interesting point that he made, and I suspect it to be true is that there were more Kiwis on Oracle than Americans. It's a global world.

Congrats to Oracle!!!
 
Rick, I believe you are right about the TV coverage. A lot of this is due to Stan Honey, who also came up with the first down and Line of scrimmage lines which is used on all of the football games now. Stan is not only a superb technical expert, but a true sailor. He has done several around the world races and 11 Transpacs as Navigator. His wife Sally Lindsay Honey was a Lady's North American 505 champion and twice named yachtswomen of the year. What talents!

This speed and the graphics have changed how we will watch the America's cup in the future. Maybe this will stimulate sailing awareness in the US--but our local paper has yet to mention it (Although the Opti South East Finals at PYC made the front page of the sports section).
 
Call me old fashioned, but I think the monohull AC racing of the past should be brought back and drop cats from the AC rules. If some other country or organization wants to sponsor the super cats, then let them. But AC was a race for classic monohulls and still should be. The cats are not graceful representatives of centuries of boats that could carry people and cargo. They are something different than sailboats. But the argument isn't worth carrying on, because there is no right answer, just personal preference. Am I interested in who wins? Yes. Do I find it spell binding sailboat racing? No. Is it amazing to see the Americans come back after being down so far? Yes. Do I like the fact that the crew on Oracle are not American? No. Notice the TV folks don't talk about the "American Boat." Rather, they only talk about "Oracle." When they talk about the New Zealand Boat, they call it the Kiwi's. That is because other than the money and the design, the skilled part of the crew seems to be foreign. It is no longer the AC. It is the worlds fastest non-engined powered boat cup.
 
potter water":3muftu2b said:
Call me old fashioned, but I think the monohull AC racing of the past should be brought back and drop cats from the AC rules. If some other country or organization wants to sponsor the super cats, then let them. But AC was a race for classic monohulls and still should be. The cats are not graceful representatives of centuries of boats that could carry people and cargo. They are something different than sailboats. But the argument isn't worth carrying on, because there is no right answer, just personal preference. Am I interested in who wins? Yes. Do I find it spell binding sailboat racing? No. Is it amazing to see the Americans come back after being down so far? Yes. Do I like the fact that the crew on Oracle are not American? No. Notice the TV folks don't talk about the "American Boat." Rather, they only talk about "Oracle." When they talk about the New Zealand Boat, they call it the Kiwi's. That is because other than the money and the design, the skilled part of the crew seems to be foreign. It is no longer the AC. It is the worlds fastest non-engined powered boat cup.
Click to expand...

Harry-

I can agree with much of what you've said, but, after this AC, watching traditional monohulls race may rank somewhere between watching paint dry and grass grow. (Well, sorta!) :lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I understand that. But, they could stir up the old racing with shorter courses. And, putting those monohulls in SF bay alone would be pretty exciting. I do like the shorter course legs. However, I passed many a wonderful hour watching "the grass grow" in the old AC days. Just looking at the grace and majesty of monohulls rail down was hypnotic to me.
 
It is about a spectator medium and attracting sponsors. It is also about getting youth involved. When they see this, it is exciting. It has become a spectator sport--every much as thrilling as a football game.

Many people do not understand match racing--which the America's cup has bee since the late 1880's. There is a poor attempt to explain match racing on the TV coverage. But it does not reach those who do not already have a basic knowledge. The America's cup has been sailed in all sorts of boats--and this was not the first cat--Remember the huge New Zealand boat vs Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes. The 12 meters were only raced from 1956 to 1987. (Although the 12 meter class had been around since 1907 and the 12 meter rule has had 3 incarnations).

There are all sorts of other cat races--including the little America's cup, which is currently being run in the UK. During the first day's racing 6 boats were damaged to the point that it is questionable that they will be able to continue in the race.

What would we come away from this America's cup? The AC72 boats are too big, expensive and dangerous. But they did provide thrilling racing. Hopefully this was seen by millions of our youth--and they though it was "cool" enough to be involved in learning to sail. Unfortunately this is not going to happen. In Pensacola there was no mention in the print paper, but only on line edition and a couple sentences. However the SouthEast Opti championship (150 boats) on the bay last weekend, made the front page of the sports section. Where do those 150 kids go from Opti's? That is a always a challenge. In France, New Zealand--there are programs that take the kids to high performance boats--does not seem to happen here. Maybe seeing the big cat in the America's cup will stimulate some programs.
 
I understand that NZ government is a major sponsor of their AC boat this year and that the government there also is a major financial backer for youth in sailing. We do midnight basketball...whatever happened to that? They put money into youth sailing and water sports.

Sailing is a true thinking man's activity. It brings together physics, strategy, engineering, meteorology, geometry, physical fitness, math, problem solving and so much more.

I don't think the prisons in the U.S. are very full of young people who have been exposed to the art of sailing. It is time, I suppose that sailing is somehow re-marketed as any man's sport. Not just the rich. I don't know how the AC fits into that re-marketing, but perhaps these gigantic technical machines will stir the juices of some young men and women who might otherwise just stick to their video games. We can only hope.

Oh, and yay for the U.S.A. team.!
 
Sad to see it end and excited to see the next America’s Cup. Started watching and following the America’s Cup races back in the Dennis Conner error; these AC 72s are way more exciting to watch. A rich man’s sport for sure, spectators will never have much influence on these races; decisions are made at a level few or none of us will ever experience. That’s ok because this is like watching sprint car racing compared to soap box when you compare mono hull to these high performance vessels.
 
potter water":14hh73u8 said:
I understand that NZ government is a major sponsor of their AC boat this year and that the government there also is a major financial backer for youth in sailing. We do midnight basketball...whatever happened to that? They put money into youth sailing and water sports.

Sailing is a true thinking man's activity. It brings together physics, strategy, engineering, meteorology, geometry, physical fitness, math, problem solving and so much more.

I don't think the prisons in the U.S. are very full of young people who have been exposed to the art of sailing. It is time, I suppose that sailing is somehow re-marketed as any man's sport. Not just the rich. I don't know how the AC fits into that re-marketing, but perhaps these gigantic technical machines will stir the juices of some young men and women who might otherwise just stick to their video games. We can only hope.

Oh, and yay for the U.S.A. team.!
Click to expand...

New Zealand government put out 37 million for the Team New Zealand campaign. Estimates are close to 140 million for this time around. New Zealand hoped to gain $500 million if they brought the cup home and were able to run the next series form "down under". We only saw a few youth programs when we spent a month in New Zealand. It was their summer vacation time--so I would have expected to see a number of programs. Most we saw were under the supervision of yacht clubs as they are in the USA. We felt that France had some of the best youth programs. When we spent a month Brest the public school system starts the children at about age 7 and has sailing as part of PE thru high school There would be hundreds of kids out on the bay every day.

My kids took lessons thru the City of Long Beach CA and a sailing program which has been going since 1928 thru the recreation department. It sort of comes and goes. But it is/was rare for minorities to be involved.

We tried to start a program in Pensacola for disadvantaged--and even though I was going to provide the boats and instruction, plus I lived next door to a large waterfront park, so there was no cost to the city/County--they refused because of the "liability". The yacht club will only take a child who is sponsored by a yacht club member (does not have to be a child of a club member). It remains that in the US, most youth sailing programs are thru the Yacht clubs, and somewhat restricted to their members.

LA Maritime Institute had the goal that every school child in the LA School district goes sailing on one of their large vessels (Four 70 to 100 feet sailing vessels), I think that goal was not reached--and has been scaled back with time.

As for the prisons. You might be surprised. A close friend of mine ended doing 5 years for a "white collar" crime--and there were two other sailors I knew in that prison at the same time. My friend taught a class on celestial navigation during his "time". The reality is that if a person is motivated, in the right way, he can accomplish a lot--if not motivated, then no matter what is offered to them, there is far less chance of success. I am sure that there are some "at risk" programs and that they succeed. I know of some stories thru LAMI (above) where at risk members lives were turned around with that program.
 
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