35th America's Cup

+1. My feeling is LE had his run and is done with it. He's hoping BA wins it for merry old England. And we are not schmucks, they are.

Someone on SA wrote that he got the next ACWS event (Gothenburg) credited to his AC+ account as compensation for there not being any racing on Sunday in Portsmouth.
I'm kind of hoping that Ainslie wins the AC, Portsmouth would be a great location for the next AC (and its only a few hours travel!).
Anyone else got an email about that?

That was released in the news a few days ago....Gothenburg should be free for anyone that paid to see Portsmouth (I'm guessing they aren't exactly making a fortune with the paid viewing).

OK, not even a sailboat, but check out this 'foiling' motorcycle!

Dude even surfs with it! Stick with it to the end to see him outrun a huge wave.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDi9uFcD7XI&feature=youtu.be

wonder how many bikes he went through to get those takes...

That's hilarious.

That was exactly my thought. That didn't happen on the first try.

Something they worked on for two years to get right. There's a how they did it vid out there.

Man... from the name of the video I was hoping to see him time the tube to perfection. Oh well, still impressive. I bet that salt water played havoc on a small gas engine.

-Rob

And the drive chain, sprockets, bearings...etc. And, technically speaking, it's planing - not foiling. 😉

the way they edited that lead me to believe that big wave at the end choked the engine and the wave got him.

I can promise you, salt water is a hell of a lot easier on it than dune riding. It's like riding through a sand blaster.

and all are quite a bit more difficult than my favorite past time... drinking and posting crap on sailing websites.

Or Karl's favorite: hookers & blow

Blow, then hookers. Get it straight damnit.

my bad... too much

Breaking Bad

binge watching lately...

But I did go cruising last weekend about 10 miles offshore... Single-handing so I didn't want to get too crazy.. Had to outrun a T-storm with some gusty 20 kt breeze but managed okay.

Docking is a bit of a challenge singlehanding, but managed without any gelcoat scars this time..

And I noticed that it's time for new sails... The laminate is pretty much disintegrating leaving only the carbon strings (or black kevlar... can't tell). No crinkle at all when I roll it up. Almost feels like fabric.

dammit... main is almost $6k. There goes my drinking money for the month.

Truth be told, it's more than likely just a black tinted dacron scrim.

not that there is a problem with black dacron scrim...

but it is wearing out.

$6k for a carbon radial main (243 sq ft fat head) with epoxy battens... sound reasonable?

poking around on Doyle's fabric selection page, it would appear the type III (woven, film, scrim, film, woven) might be the best overall in terms of stretch and durability?

I'm sure it's heavier, but I'm not a foiling boat so an extra few kilos won't make me look much worse than I am around the cans... And if it lasts 1/3 longer than the type II I think I could justify the cost...

Must read.

Grant Dalton: For love, and money

Has the Auld Mug lost its shine?

Truthfully, though, it was almost impossible to watch in the US by design - so I'm not sure you could say the American's have tuned away. You have to be able to tune in before you can tune out.

With that said, is there anyway we will be able to watch the ACWS on the cheap and easy?

Kingpostgate just won't go away.
Part 1
Part 2

The Ideal America's Cup

I think Jobson really misses the mark in this article. Trickle down is far from dead and while I'm pretty miffed at not being able to see the current series easily it's hard to deny the foiling madness the last America's Cup ignited in the world of multihulls.

The problem, in my opinion, is all about the money. (isn't it always?). When you have some campaigns with a limitless pile of cash against other teams that spend as much time trying to find sponsorship as they do running their team, the result is always going to be skewed and boring to watch.

yes, but there was the Jamaican bobsled team...

Remember the salary dispute from Spooner requesting $38,000/month to move family to Bermuda? Then the lawsuit against Oracle and then the writ on the AC45?

Turns out he lost his case.
Oracle Team USA win Kiwi sailor dismissal case

Impact vest earning its money...

meh... just the driver. And quickly/easily replaced I see in that last bit...

ESPN acquires rights to 35th America's Cup

Only thing wrong with this is the defender's own country still can't watch. . . yet

But, by god, we can watch poker and a spelling B on ESPN.