Americas Cup anyone?

[Stephan]

2 Champions - 1 Winner
Thank you both



replay here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHdmviq1 ... e&t=12m52s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CaptPatrick]

The finish is at 1:40:09

[Stephan]

Just after the 44:00 mark Ben Ainslie is steering, has champagne poured in his mouth and says "I can't see if we're going to hit anything... oh well..."

[Todd Pearce]

well I`am a bit lost for words, its such a loss, its been a roller coaster of a ride and today the whole country has a quietness to it, a real sense of loss mixed with a real sense of pride that we pushed it all the way. there is a sentiment that the S A S system wasn`t in the spirit of the race but an equal understanding that that's part of the cup, pushing the rules finding an edge, and that's what otusa did and did it well. Its probably hard for you guys to think that a whole country could be so intensely ,passionately involved, but in a country as small as ours almost everyone knows someone personally that in someway has a connection to the team or the OTUSA team(a lot of them are kiwis) so its more than just a sport to most of us .tomorrow will be another day and hopefully it will bring a resolve to comeback and have another go at the ol mug. Its my hope that it is in boats with no foils, no sas, no wing sails, just good old fashion yachts/cats, where its affordable and its about sailing, not the tecno or the biggest check book, just the best sailors, thanks to all who took part in this thread ,as usual its been entertaining and spirited, I have enjoyed it very much. My congratulations to team OTUSA on an epic come from behind win that surely will go down in AC history as one of the greatest of all times
Regards Todd

[Jeff S]

well I`am a bit lost for words, its such a loss, its been a roller coaster of a ride and today the whole country has a quietness to it, a real sense of loss mixed with a real sense of pride that we pushed it all the way. there is a sentiment that the S A S system wasn`t in the spirit of the race but an equal understanding that that's part of the cup, pushing the rules finding an edge, and that's what otusa did and did it well. Its probably hard for you guys to think that a whole country could be so intensely ,passionately involved, but in a country as small as ours almost everyone knows someone personally that in someway has a connection to the team or the OTUSA team(a lot of them are kiwis) so its more than just a sport to most of us .tomorrow will be another day and hopefully it will bring a resolve to comeback and have another go at the ol mug. Its my hope that it is in boats with no foils, no sas, no wing sails, just good old fashion yachts/cats, where its affordable and its about sailing, not the tecno or the biggest check book, just the best sailors, thanks to all who took part in this thread ,as usual its been entertaining and spirited, I have enjoyed it very much. My congratulations to team OTUSA on an epic come from behind win that surely will go down in AC history as one of the greatest of all times
Regards Todd

Well stated and with much class. Tip of the hat to the Kiwi team. Well done.

[Rawleigh]

Wow, what a series. Talk about coming through in the pinch!

[JeremyD]

Nice comments -Todd Pearce - The Kiwi's are a complete class act. The whole country has a ton to be proud of. The US boat found some serious boat speed - having a faster boat sure makes it easier on everybody in the campaign. It will be interesting to see when the US effort comes clean on what changes they made -

[Bertramp]

Todd .... you're a class act !! .... as is the New Zealand team !!

[Carl]

You can only have a great race with great competition!

[Todd Pearce]

thanks for the kind words. Jeremy,all of us would love that to come out but its my understanding that someone would have to "TELL" and that seems unlikely,Team OUSA are under no pressure to say anything and that's the nature of the sport, It is as some say "Formula One on the water" and the same rules apply ,each teams edge is theirs to have and protect. selfishly I`d love to know, we`ll have to apply the WWW (wait watch wonder) to this one

[Todd Pearce]

Well, its Race time again, new boats, different format, and on the back off a very uncertain year, covid has disrupted life for so many,and my heart goes out to all affected, we are somewhat blessed at this point in time as we are such a small country and we have had great leadership around covid protocols which means life here "currently" is relatively normal and allows us to enjoy the America`s Cup Racing,
I`ve been on the water and had the boats have come past quite closely and i can tell you its amazing, they are so BIG and so FAST and almost silent its actually hard to convey just how impressive they are, our TV coverage here is amazing and iam curious if you guys can get it online , try TVNZ on demand, it may work and its free .
The first thing thats come out of the prelims is that its going to be a real true race, we certainly arnt as dominant as last time, both the British and the american boats are very fast indeed
I am loving this series and cant wait for the next round of racing to begin

[Yannis]

Kookaburra...

[Todd Pearce]

Yannis, the Australians, didn't enter this year, kinda sad they didn't, fierce rivalry between our two country's , there`s an old kiwi saying "We`ll support anyone playing against the aussies" LOL

[Yannis]

Todd,

Looking at this year’s entries I wonder if we can still call this a sailboat race anymore.
State of the art carbon contraptions doing 50 mph, that one will never see at any marina, let alone own one, costing millions, leaning on one “bionic” leg...I reminisce the times when real sailboats were racing..
I guess it’s me...you can’t stop evolution.
It’s really bizarre my 48 year Bertram at full speed can’t even go half the speed of such a sailboat! Really bizarre indeed!!
I mentioned Kookaburra as it was the first ever to beat the Americans, back in the 80’s...
I’d love to visit the kiwi land, but it’s so damn far...
Happy new year to you and your’s!

[Tony Meola]

It is just not the same anymore. Speed takes away from pure skill and strategy. I think they should bring back the 12 meter boats.

It is available online. Used to show up on TV. Was a big here in the US thing in the 80's. The Hype seems to be gone, I think a lot of it is due to these high speed boats.

[Todd Pearce]

Yannis, Tony, theres two schools of thoughts around these boats, some say we should go back to slow boats with no foiling and more actual match racing, more skill ,more tradition, more etc....., but the people who run these events want TV ratings and seem to think that fast is the answer, Me personally, i love both!! both are entertaining to watch both have there upsides, but if i had to pick, id pick 12 meter monos with sails, whilst the cup has a long history of evolution, lawsuits and gamesmanship, the current evolution is so costly that we don`t have a very large challenger fleet , which is a shame, i guess covid probably also had a part to play too
Yannis, if your ever coming this way, let me know so we can help with your plans, Its a great country to visit

[Yannis]

Thanks Todd! I might take you up on that one day!

On the same issue, on second thought, the F1 racing is identical to these fast boats.

Same carbon contraptions, same millions spent, same “will never see these in any garage or own one”, same speed etc.
Yet the F1 races are the top viewed event in the world! Millions of fans go or watch.
SO, the organizers might have thought, hey, lets copy paste the F1 into the America’s cup, and voila!
Time will show if they were right in their strategy or if viewers do not wish to associate sailing with F1 speeds.
But something is telling me that before they started pouring so much money into the event, they did their homework in terms of researching thoroughly the public opinion. I would anyway.

PS: I remember with some nostalgia the days where a sailing team/company would hang long sheets to cover the keel of their boat so as not to unveil to the competitors the “invention” or the “huge secret” they had come up with in terms of hydrodynamics, that would eventually put them ahead of competition in the race. And that this huge invention was a mere bulbous extremity in the keel! Or a torpedo shaped keel bottom...ahh those days...

[Amberjack]

It is just not the same anymore. Speed takes away from pure skill and strategy. I think they should bring back the 12 meter boats.

I also miss the monohulls. It was enjoyable to watch the races unfold over a couple hours in a much wider weather window, and the start line action was more intense than with today's equipment. Of course I also run a Bertram 31 instead of a center console with outboards. Tony, let's face it, it's not our world anymore.

[Tony Meola]

Doug

You are so right. Not our world anymore. I guess we are just getting to be old dogs.

[Bruce]

It becomes not our world when WE give it up to others. Of course now a days who wants to own a world full of lunatics.

The more they try to make any form of racing more equal, they just make it worse. Faster is not better, but tv ratings controls how sports are played, it's become all about the benjamins.

[Todd Pearce]

Well its a bit of a sad day really, Most Kiwis were hoping to see dean barker and Team USA give Prada a good run for there money yesterday, we all had our fingers crossed the lighter air would have given them a chance , but Prada was just so fast and so stable, as kiwis we are so used to battling it out with team USA that its just not going to be the same with out them
It was amazing to watch them yesterday from out on the water, we got a great park and a great view among what seemed like a thousand spectator boats at the bottom mark, watching team usa round the mark at pace was just amazing to see in the flesh, It gives you a true sense of just how fast they are and how fast they turn, its actually CRAZY fast,
I`ve not been that much of a fan of these foiling boats until yesterday, but when they blast past and turn on a dime, i have to admit its very very impressive and exciting to watch
I hope we can retain the cup and hold the event again in 4 years time, hopefully Covid will be gone and the world can come and enjoy our slice of paradise, we really miss the international Tourists and the super yachts that make this event such an amazing spectacle , That said i think all kiwis are feeling quite blessed just to be able to have such an event given the woes of the covid world we live in currently
So i think its going to be a very tight race between Prada and Ineos , both teams have been evolving very quickly especially Ineos, they have really thrown the farm at it, its going to get really interesting

[Stephan]

Always sad to see a competitor limp out of the ring defeated.
I am aware a lot of people do not see this as racing. For me, and perhaps ironically, seeing the other teams come to American Magic's aid made it seem more like competition and a good one.

It's remarkable how much the teams have progressed over the past few months. Approaching and now occasionally exceeding 50 knots on a 76' sailboat is something I could not have imagined.

Even if you don't like the sailboats, a collateral benefit may be the development of the tenders and support boats.


https://www.americascup.com/

[Tony Meola]

50 knots in a Sail Boat. Man that is moving. What wind speed is needed for that kind of speed.

[Rocket]

The boats go about 3 x the wind speed the race limits are 7 knots for low and 23 knots for high. The weird part is even when you are going downwind, the wind is on your nose!

[Todd Pearce]

its crazy to see them go down wind at such speed , but its a case of speed begets speed , they create there own "apparent wind " and off they go,
The highest reported speed i`ve heard of is 57 Knots during training , some say that they will crack 60 knots before the racing is done, crazy stuff