Americas Cup Races

[airshifter]

Has anyone else watched any of the racing? At this point it appears almost certain that the Kiwi's will take the cup.

The real shame is that unless the US turns things around it will happen very quickly as well. These boat are just fascinating technology and they are getting more out of them every day. In todays racing the US team clocked 58 mph before the race was called off due to wind limits. And from wind power, that is simply flying.

New Zealand came very, very close to capsizing their boat today. The boat had to have been at an angle close to 45 degrees, and appeared to be very close to the balance point before they finally saved it.


This stuff is like F1 on the water. The acceleration these boats can get is just as amazing as their top speeds with the boats going from 10-15 knots to up on the foils and doing 30 knots or more very quickly.


I'd love a ride on one of those things.

[chac47]

I'm watching. My pulse rate rose somewhat this morning as I watched the near capsize but the guys had little time to dwell on it before they were into the second race and were ahead until it was called off. San Francisco bay looks beautiful - fabulous the views from the helicopter. I do hope the guys bring the cup back to N.Z. Like many kiwis I'm watching the races on TVNZ but listening to the far better and more professional commentary on radio.

[BleAivano]

I have been following some of the previous cups quite extensively but don't give a sh*t about this one.
The boats are extreme and quite cool to watch but a bit too extreme and not really suitable to match racing.
The multi hulls lacks the manoeuvrability of the mono hulls which means that they
can't be used for super close manoeuvring like the IACC-boats.

I definitely prefer the previous IACC-boats and I really hope Oracle looses because how
they ruined the cup by all the court-processes. Sure Alinghi was far from innocent and
I don't like what they did either but I still dislike Oracle mostly.

[airshifter]

Today was good racing with each team taking a victory.

I agree the new classes of boats have changed things quite a bit, but "close" racing is relative to speed really. When you have boats crossing with close to 8- mph combined closure and getting withing a half a boat length, that's close IMO.

They mentioned today that this year has had more lead changes than any other Cup in history. So in that sense, things have changed quite a lot. Some of the races thus far have seen one boat make up huge ground or stretch leads by massive amounts.

[Tazio]

I have been following some of the previous cups quite extensively but don't give a sh*t about this one.
The boats are extreme and quite cool to watch but a bit too extreme and not really suitable to match racing.
The multi hulls lacks the manoeuvrability of the mono hulls which means that they
can't be used for super close manoeuvring like the IACC-boats.

Totally agree the boats should be mono-hull, what a travesty.
I went off shore and watched when Dennis Conner was defending the cup off San Diego. We used to frequent the same deli in Point Loma FWIW

[chac47]

One more win needed by Team New Zealand after taking the first race today. They nailed the start of the second race only to have the race stopped due to the wind suddenly rising above the limit. Fingers crossed for a restart and another win. Quite nerve wracking!

Racing postponed, darn it!

[airshifter]

That wind limit keeps breaking up the races. It must be frustrating for the teams.

I hope the US can score some more wins, just to stretch out to more races. It appears the US chances of actually keeping the cup are next to nothing now. For the most part they have improved their performance on the boat it seems, but the tactical decisions simply aren't keeping up with New Zealand.

[airshifter]

Another win by the US keeps the racing going on. Still no chance long term unless the Kiwis destroy their boat or something along those lines.

Today the boats were getting on the foils going 30-32 knots... upwind. Crazy stuff.

[chac47]

That hurt! Emirates Team New Zealand 1100 metres ahead in the first race today, the cup within grasp but light winds stopped them finishing the race within the time limit. This is getting hard on the nerves but I'm only watching, the crew have to get it all together and do it again in 30 minutes or so

[chac47]

Oracle win the re-run of race 13. NZ trailed behind after a couple of tactical errors and a penalty. NZ has only to win one more race but that's proving no easy task. I'm sure they'll regroup and come out firing tomorrow.