have you guys been watching?

http://youtu.be/UgLb_HfU33Q

http://www.americascup.com/

Yes! Awesome stuff, the onboard cameras and helicopters make for some exciting action.

Pretty funny when the grinder from New Zealand fell off the boat and they sailed off without him. Evidently they even have a rule about it that allows the teams to complete the race without all their crew if someone goes overboard.

Watched the whole two hours using the high-def YouTube feed on a 55 inch flat screen. Awesome.

After the fleet racing they had a 500 meter speed run, three attempts each. New Zealand won with a 28 mph average in about 15 mph wind. When these boats race in 20+ it's going to be insane.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
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I can't wait to see the big boy's come out to play

I made this gfx last year (to scale)

ha! nice pic. I'm reposting.

--
Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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You guys saw that crash in the windward pin? I think it was Emirates (NZ) ramming someone else and a couple of guys fell off the boat. I unfortunately only saw highlights but looks exciting. Hopefully many the action gets more people into sailing and cat sailing.

--
Alex

Prindle 16 "Shake & Bake"
Portland, Oregon
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This stuff makes F1 car racing look like child play.
I am so glad that the America's Cup is back with catamarans. While tri's are cool too, nothing beats the excitement of cat racing!

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Peter
Vancouver BC
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I wonder how our small fleet of Phoenix 18's would stack up in this? ok ok, we'd get run OVERRRRR......

I'd love to learn by crewing on Oracle....



Edited by argento102 on Aug 10, 2011 - 06:25 AM.

--
D Johns
Phoenix 18 KC#126
Port Hope Ontario

"If I put 2 Spinnakers on it, will it go faster?"
--

What is really interesting, for me, is that the boat in front, Artemis, which was on starboard tack when the collision occurred, was disqualified. Watch it again. Both boats are on port tack, Rothschild is set up right on the layline and slightly inside Artemis. Artemis tacks, gets onto starboard tack going verrrrry slowly, Rothschild starts to bear away to miss her and doesn't make it by about 3 feet. Artemis gets a DSQ. I assume for tacking too close. Rothschild, or you or anybody, doesn't have to start to keep clear until the tack is complete and the (new) starboard tack boat is on the right course.

Rules are tougher when you only have three seconds to make an expensive decision.

That is simply amazing racing footage. I cannot believe how hard those two boats smacked into each other. That analogy of it being like Formula one on the ocean is spot on. The state of the art Catamarans with the finest Sailors in the world in some of the most beautiful places in the world. It is simply amazing how fast those boats can go.... I watched the Youtube short on the speed trials and to be able to run 42 knots is just awesome for a sailboat. It really is exciting to watch and I really love the way those beautiful hulls slice thru the water... that has got to be the most exciting sailing to watch anywhere... peace

Pete

Quote

42 knots

it was 42 kilometers not knots.. .more like 26 mpg

Quote

more like 26 mpg

Would that be gallons of rum Andrew?

More like 26 mph I would guess.

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Scott,
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Quote

~~ Check this out>>>>> http://youtu.be/bJpFueH1wvQ

Whose fault was that? Why was the black boat protesting? IMHO, they were the ones who were in error.

Oops my bad!! Sure seems like 42 Knots!!

smfinley

Quote

more like 26 mpg

Would that be gallons of rum Andrew?

More like 26 mph I would guess.

YES RUM! thats what i meant! :)

ericweller

Quote

~~ Check this out>>>>> http://youtu.be/bJpFueH1wvQ

Whose fault was that? Why was the black boat protesting? IMHO, they were the ones who were in error.

Rothschild despite being in front, did not give room for the other boat before completing it's tack

discussed in detail here - http://www.catsailor.com/…er=235838&gonew=1#UNREAD

18.2c
When a boat is required to give mark-room by rule 18.2(b), she shall continue to do so even if later an overlap is broken or a new overlap begins. However, if the boat entitled to mark- room passes head to wind or leaves the zone, rule 18.2(b) ceases to apply.

petefromtn

Oops my bad!! Sure seems like 42 Knots!!

I often tell people cat sailing is the fastest 20mph you will ever feel!

I don't doubt that watching the videos makes it seem like they are really flying.. The way the teams work together on the boat is also very impressive. Looks like perfectly organized mayhem!! Also looks like a LOT of work...What is the fastest an 18 foot cat can go so far? Peace

Pete

Quote

What is the fastest an 18 foot cat can go so far? Peace

my guess is about 80mph (when dropped from a plane), but thats with the jib furled and the main reefed to reduce drag

Quote

What is the fastest an 18 foot cat can go so far? Peace

We had GPS data showing consistently over 20mph on a 20' cat. And that is a 30 year old Supercat design, so I am sure the newer boats are faster.

--
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Well in that light I guess that is just plain SMOKIN'!! There is a fellow up north of me who has a supercat for sale but it has a bent mast.... I NEARLY bought it but that damn mast is pretty pricey. It was nice to see the American boats come in first and third on the second day but they kinda flopped the speed run. Those New Zealanders are really doing well and that damn boat of theirs just plain hauls butt!!

It's awesome that these boats are practically floating TV studios, so high-def video from all angles. All this AC45 sailing is really just a rehearsal for the real thing!

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1992 Hobie 18
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Quote

New Zealanders are really doing well and that damn boat of theirs just plain hauls butt!!

all the boats are the same.. its all about the skipper and crew

Quote

all the boats are the same

That is like saying all F18's are the same isn't it? I bet they all have their own little tweaks. Or do they walk up and pick a different boat each race?

But yes skipper and crew is likely the biggest difference.

--
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--

They are built to the exact Formula rules (i think) but of course they all have little tweaks. Just like to F18 fighterjets, or 2 porches

The Alter Cup is a neat deal... 10 same boats.. rigged the same and 10 skippers. they switch boats throughout all the racing. and it can be different make/model of boat year to year

The AC45's were all built together in New Zealand as one design boats (I guess really One Manufacture One Deisgns) and then delivered to the teams for assembly and decoration. To say the boats arrived (in 40 foot shipping containers) with "some assembly required" is an understatement.

One account of assembly:
http://www.americascup.co…gs-AC45-almost-complete/

Pictures of construction:
http://valenciayacht.blog…construction-photos.html

So I'm sure each team has there own ideas about fitting out the boats, and sponsors to satisfy in the selection of lines and pieces. It also sounds like the final assembly of the wing masts would take some skill, I'm not sure if they had outside technicians for that. They have to apply the heat shrink plastic to create the wing surface.

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Scary to think what that container full of boat parts cost. Would love to have one dropped off at my doorstep though

Great links Damon.

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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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Gotta be one of the coolest looking boats on the water anywhere. I gotta say tho that the videos I have seen of that hydrofoil Trimaran that holds the world record for sailing speed is pretty amazing looking.... I believe it is called Le Hydroptere' Amazing what a sail can achieve these days... peace

Last years boats were pretty damn sexy too!

I am more a cat than multi-hull guy but WOW~

As awesome as the AC45's are, the 72's are going to be un-freaking-believable. The fully developed 130 foot wing masts, crossing tacks at a closing speed pushing 100 mph! I couldn't find a reference as to how many crew the fullsize AC boats will use, couldn't be still five?

Can someone hook me up to ride in the passenger basket at the back of the boat?

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
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~~ From what I can see, the AC 45 have 6 for crew... I couldn't find anything for the 'NEW' 72's..... The monos used to have 16 or 17 for crew >>> article here >>>> http://32nd.americascup.c…ing/beginners/actors.php ( I think I did it right ) yup I did

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DamonLinkous

Can someone hook me up to ride in the passenger basket at the back of the boat?

~~~ I looked it up... I'am in the back of the boat,,,,, Go find another !! ~~

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Quote

tacks at a closing speed pushing 100 mph!

I would expect there will be upper racing speed limits similar to last AC so racing about 18 knots is not likely. Last AC's vectors were extreemly impressive (doing over 40 in 15knot wind) but i wouldn't expect to see these cats breaking the speeds of last race (with bigger cat/multis)



Edited by MN3 on Aug 12, 2011 - 07:20 AM.

popeyez7

~~ From what I can see, the AC 45 have 6 for crew... I couldn't find anything for the 'NEW' 72's.....

The AC45 has crew of 5. Total weight of crew not to exceed 437.5 kg. The 6th person you see is part of the on-board guest program, and that guest is regulated to specific limits and requirements.

The AC72 has a crew of 11. Total weight of crew not to exceed 1012 kg nor less than 957 kg.

--
Philip
--

That BMW oracle boat is just gorgeous. It really is amazing what can be acheived with modern composites and carbon fiber type construction techniques. I would bet that boat is as light as a feather too despite it's gargantuan size.... Watching the videos of it out on the open ocean slicing thru waves is truly impressive and the effortless speed they achieve is astonishing. Truly state of the art in hull and sail design... peace

Pete

MN3

Quote

tacks at a closing speed pushing 100 mph!

I would expect there will be upper racing speed limits similar to last AC so racing about 18 knots is not likely. Last AC's vectors were extreemly impressive (doing over 40 in 15knot wind) but i wouldn't expect to see these cats breaking the speeds of last race (with bigger cat/multis)Edited by MN3 on Aug 12, 2011 - 07:20 AM.

In past AC's the boats were tuned and only able to sail in a narrow wind range, this was a big problem for television since the races often didn't start to fit in a TV slot.

Part of the design brief of the new AC45 and AC72 is being able to race over a range of 5-30 knots. If these boats start a race in 25+ they might come close to the world speed record while racing!

Design Brief summary from The Daily Sail

A catamaran was selected as one element to transform and enliven the America’s Cup for the future. A multihull is the ideal dynamic class, capable of being raced hard in winds from 5 to 30 knots to minimize racing delays due to winds too light or too strong.

AC72 design parameters:

• LOA: 22.0 meters (72 feet)
  
• Beam: 14.0 meters (46 feet)
  
• Displacement: 5,700 kilograms (12,500 pounds) (Note, the last Americas Cup Class ACC had a displacement of over 55,000 pounds and was 79x13.5)
  
• All-up weight: 7,000 kilograms (15,500 pounds)
  
• Wingsail area: 260 square meters (2,800 square feet)
  
• Wingsail height: 40 meters (130 feet)
  
• Wingsail chord: 8.5 meters (28 feet)
  
• Sail trimming: Manual grinders
  
• Configuration: Twin-hulled catamaran
  
• Crew: 11
  
• Sail trimming: No mechanically powered systems
  
• Sail area reduction: Removable top sections/leech elements
  
• Appendages: Maximum of 2 rudders, 2 daggerboards
  
• Construction: Minimum 600 grams/square-meter outer-skin;
  
• High-modulus carbon-fiber permitted in wingsail spar

http://www.thedailysail.c…maran-box-rule-published

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Damon Linkous
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Well then that settles it, I'm praying for 25+ knot winds!!! I wanna see what these babies can really do. If that information is accurate and the new boats are THAT much lighter than the previous ones we could see some VERY fast action. I cannot believe they have 130 foot high masts on them. Incredible.... I am beginning to see why you say that the AC45 boats are just the hors d'oeuvre's to the main course of this Amazing America's cup action. Bring on the big boys!! peace

Pete

Wow guys,
My wife and I have REALLY been enjoying watching the action at Cascais, Portugal with the AC45 racing. Been rooting for Spithill but that Team NZ is really on their game. I thought Spithill had that match race on day 5 but it is really amazing how a tiny little mistake can be taken advantage of and you watch that fast black and Red boat go blowing by. The coverage and video as well as the audio from the boats is amazing and really fun to watch. Those Koreans are learning that boat pretty quick and the Artemis boat is also impressive. All of these guys really know how to read the wind and it looks like the Kiwis wrote the book on it. I am anxious to see how Saturday's match races end up. Please Don't blow it for me if you already know I wanna watch it on youtube with my wife as soon as they post it.

How many different venues are in the World series here? Day Five had some serious wind pressure and it was nice to see these boats pushing 40+KPH. What is also amazing is how fast they seem to accelerate out of the turns....

Team Korea Damn near pitchpoled around that first turn and that looked pretty cool, it was a great save and I think if they had more time on the Boat that Team Korea could be a real contender. They show a lot of speed at times and good strategy but they seem to make a lot of the easy mistakes that you cannot afford to make with the competition they are up against. This stuff is really cool to watch. Anyone else watch the full broadcasts on youtube like that? Pretty sweet. Peace

Pete

Congrats to America's Cup AC45 Team Oracle Racing Spithill for a well earned victory over Team New Zealand. That was a really exciting couple match races to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed the coverage of the races on high definition youtube. Can't wait for the next venue and more of this really cool and challenging racing. It really makes me want to take my boat out and learn more about how to sail her. Anyone else watch this? I was not able to watch it as it was posted last afternoon but finally got to watch it after church today. Great stuff!! peace

Pete

Pete,
I've been watching it too...loads of fun and I was also pulling for Jimmy Sptithill....the youngest AC skipper ever if I heard it right. I still have not seen Sunday's final fleet race but seeing Jimmy in the match races against his boss and then against the Kiwis was awesome.

I agree, you can learn alot by watching. Even though most of us don't have the ability to incorporate the technology they have. If you think of it as the next evolution (or the next) of what we do have, it makes it very enlightening. But at the root, it's the same game.

Makes me want to plan a vacation around one of the other stops on their tour.



Edited by Beest on Aug 14, 2011 - 04:13 PM.

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Bert Scott
Niceville, FL
Nacra F18
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I can't say I would not drive a good ways to see these boats in person.... That Spithill team showed some very good boat handling skills and strategy in those last races against the Kiwis. Especially the dance as I call it at the starting box. That first one they really put it to the kiwis leaving them basically dead in the water. Kinda shocking after watching them whoop up on the rest of the teams all week. These boats are really cool to watch, I especially love when they turn at the gate and grab a big bite of wind and that hull gets ripped off the water while the leeward hull starts to dig and you can just see the power of that huge wing and the gennaker pushing the boat away. Really impressive stuff. Reminds me of the first time I floated a hull on that Hobie 14 way back when I was a kid. It just FEELS fast and I could just imagine what the AC45 boats feel like when they get that massive push and take off along their state of the art Carbon fibre way.... haha peace

Pete

petefromtn

Congrats to America's Cup AC45 Team Oracle Racing Spithill for a well earned victory over Team New Zealand.
Pete

Uh Peace, I mean Pete, NZ won the AC World Series, and Spithill was third behind Artemis. Winner takes all in the fleet race. If your referring to yesterday's match races, NZ had issues with their head sail which costs them the match series. NZ dominated the week long series, including the championship and the speed trial, and beat Spithill earlier in the week in a match race.

Oh, and I'm a huge Spithill fan. PEACE

--
Philip
--

Then what the heck was I watching today? They had the finals for the week and spithill beat the Kiwis twice and they had the winners circle and champagne and whatnot? I heard they are sailing on Sunday too but it was supposed to be a fleet race. The video I watched showed that they were the Cascais World series winners? Perhaps I am missing something? Would not be the first time... Oh yeah and PEACE!!

Dude it IS Sunday, and it's already Monday in Portugal.

--
Philip
--

Oh yeah man I am aware it is sunday, if you read my post I watched Saturday's race on sunday after church and what does that have to do with who won? The video I watched as I said showed them as the winners of the Cascais World series event? The races were not even posted to youtube until well into the afternoon my time for each day that they sailed in portugal. I would have been watching it on Saturday evening but I had to take care of some things and could not get to it till sunday afternoon... Sabe? Peace

Pete

Not sure if the confusion cleared up....Pete, Saturday's race was the Match race championship....Spithill won....Super Sunday was today. That was the final fleet race...Sounds like you may have another day's worth of coverage to watch still. I just finished watching the final day and all of it was great. I'm already marking the calender for 5 weeks from now....they'll be in Plymouth for another series/stop on the tour.

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Bert Scott
Niceville, FL
Nacra F18
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I just spent 10 minutes reading the results page
http://www.americascup.co…/Results-and-Highlights/
on AmericasCup.com and couldn't make heads or tails of it.

They have "AC Preliminaries", and then "Seeding Races" and Match races, and more Seeding Races and then qualifying match races then Match Race Championships and then AC World Series Championship Cascais.

Finally I figured out that "Emirates Team New Zealand" on the "AC World Series Championship Cascais" (next one will be Rhode Island), and "ORACLE Racing Spithill" won the Cascais AC Match Race Championships.





Ok, I found something that clears the fog a little on the "how it works" page.
http://www.americascup.co…s-portugal/How-it-works/

Quote

Sunday August 14th

AC World Series Cascais Championship:

This title is at stake on the final Sunday in a winner-takes-all fleet race, where all teams will have a shot at the title, regardless of results to date.

This is a 40-minute, adrenalin soaked, fleet race, designed to identify the best team under the pressure of a single race format.

I couldn't find an overall "World Series" schedule on the site that shows future dates and locations.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
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I've only been able to watch a few hours of coverage from the first two days. Which days had the most wind? Were any of the match races in 15+?

Any links to the best of the YouTube videos to watch would be appreciated. The videos aren't titled very well, so it's hard to pic which ones to watch. I want the full length with announcers and graphics. And then maybe some good onboard feeds.

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2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series Schedule

Event One: Cascais, Portugal, 6 – 14 August
Event Two: Plymouth, England, 10 - 18 September
Event Three: San Diego, 12-20 November
Event Four: Newport, June 23 - July 1, 2012

The 34th America's Cup consists of three main stages - the America's Cup World Series (schedule above), the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup Finals. The Challenger will have to win the Louis Vuitton Cup to earn the right to race the Defender in the 34th America’s Cup.

--
Philip
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Man that is really strange... SO they go thru a week of fleet racing to EARN the right to race in the top six match races on Saturday. Then they race those races and declare a winner with champagne and everything yet the next day they have a winner take all fleet race and THAT person is the overall winner of the Cascais race?? I just don't get it I guess and I agree with Damon, that diagram is more confusing than helping.... All I know is it sure was fun to watch these guys go at it with some really sweet catamarans....

Well wouldn't ya know it, my wife had to work all weekend and yesterday we had winds gusting gusting to 15 knots here and now today she is off and we can take the Cat out for a sail and there is NO DAMN WIND!! It is supposed to pick up in the afternoon but right now there is NOTHING!! oh well I wanted a sailboat right.... peace



Edited by petefromtn on Aug 15, 2011 - 07:36 AM.

This was day 6 and the last 2 races had plenty wind....http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericasCup#p/u/14/bmsFAgXqL5g

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Kenny Boudreaux
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Man, am I glad you guys are confused....I was just keeping quiet cause I thought it was me.

Pete, it's two categories Match Champion and Fleet Champion....yes they seem to feed off each other along the way but here's what I saw. On Race Days 1-3 (W, Th, Fr), they had three "seeding" races each day. The points for those were only used to determine who raced "whom" in the daily match race. Then, those daily match race points were the ones that went forward. So, points from seeding races were only used to determine the match lineup for that day. Then the points from the daily match races were used to determine the top 6 for the winner take all match race held on Saturday. Then, they all came back for the final fleet race (all boats, no elimination needed) for the winner take all fleet race. I THINK.

The last time I looked at the "standings" on the AC page, I got totally confused because it seemed like they didn't show the entire progression in the correct order and likely mislabeled. I also think the race days are numbered differently on the youtube videos vs the event schedule...probably because there were some "preliminaries" (last Sat Sun Mon)...The youtube videos are numbered up to "day 7". So something is off because I only count 5 race days that mattered. Whatever.

They had ok to good wind throughout except for one day (I think it was thursday) when they aborted a race in progress and opted to move the whole course off shore. That was sort of interesting in itself. About an hour delay and then they got after it. On those days when they were close in, it was spotty so the trick was finding the wind on the course. I even heard one comment that the teams complained one day about the helicopters messing up the wind...Overall, it was the typical slower wind to start and building.

I would guess their best winds were Sunday and I think it built to 15+. 38 KPH was noted. They were in shore and it seemed rather like the other days (no bigger seas). I only saw Spithill and Korea stuff their bows...and I think Spithill did it on purpose at that awesome start line stunt on Saturday Pete mentioned....stuffing allowed him to stop quick then duck behind the Kiwis and get rights...pushed them into irons and powered off....perfectly done.

--
Bert Scott
Niceville, FL
Nacra F18
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Yeah man Spithill really stuffed them at the start of that race, it was BEAUTIFUL.... I think that what I said is pretty much what happened in my post and is pretty much the same thing you just said. The fleet races all week were to get to the final top six teams who were to match race each other on Saturday to find the winner who was Spithill after two very successful runs where the Kiwis had issues with their Gennaker sail. Not both times but it was the kiwis biggest issue overall. They were damn near flawless everywhere else. It seemed like they never really did figure out what was causing it because they changed sails and had meetings apparently to discuss it but it just kept happening. I especially like watching the strategy of the teams and how they choose to go around the course and how they find the big wind. It is pretty impressive to watch and when I think how slow I go on my Nacra it just shows me more and more how DAMN GOOD these guys really are. I wish I had half their skills....

I think that the reality is that there were two different wins happening here, one was the match race and the other was the winner take all fleet race on sunday. I do not understand the reasoning behind the sunday race, why would it be necessary to have that race after the weeks fleet races and winding down to the winner on Saturday? It is confusing but I still enjoyed the hell out of watching it all transpire.. good stuff!!