America's Cup

[slowpoke]

This America's Cup is exactly like MotoGP: half the battle is won if you've priced most competitors out of the market.

[oldrider]

This America's Cup is exactly like MotoGP: half the battle is won if you've priced most competitors out of the market.

That was what their original intention was, to establish an MotoGP style marine equivalent spectacular ... well, they have done that!

Just need more competitors to increase the size of the (world) public interest.

[Mental Trousers]

Yeah the sail changing does add another dimension. I'm not really missing the whole spinnaker etc thing though (can't help these suckers mind you). I suppose the wings are a different type of sail management though. It'll definitely be interesting to see which way the winner goes. Ellison, as much as I'm not really a fan, has certainly brought some excitement to it.

Ellison was doing what the stupidly rich do, try and price everyone out of the game. But thankfully ETNZ look to be the equal of Oracle so there's a good chance (as of this morning it's looking like a very good chance) that it's going to have a new home.

I also have a chuckle every time their rule changes, brought in to bring the sailing back into it, come and bite them in the ass. But that's another topic.

The America's Cup was always a technology + team work + management + fund raising series. The technology bit only works if you change the rules, otherwise it's all about refinement.

That was what their original intention was, to establish an MotoGP style marine equivalent spectacular ... well, they have done that!

Just need more competitors to increase the size of the (world) public interest.

For the next cup it looks likely they're going the same way as MotoGP - make it a lot cheaper so others can be involved and generate wider interest.

[jasonu]

Even in the United States, the Americas Cup gets brief coverage despite what TVNZ has breathlessly assured us over the last 25 years. I have a kiwi mate living in the USA who is into small yachting and follows the Cup but he acknowledges it's at the back of the sports pages over there. Not much TV coverage unless they are winning.

But this time...

Right on the money there. No one around here knows dick about it or even knows what it is.

[Swoop]

The technology bit only works if you change the rules,

Ellison is a mere novice here... unless he has good connections with the New York Yacht club.

[ellipsis]

...a little bit removed from todays battles, but cool things...




...money has always dictated the clash and it's outcomes...

[george formby]

I've never thought about it until now but go the money! I can watch 40 dinghies knocking the poo out of each other every weekend, I can watch a race track full of Suzuki Swifts doing ditto or get my arse down to a megaburb & enjoy a field of buckets banging elbows, but for sheer spectacle you need dollars. I like these cats, one way or another they are setting a benchmark for the future. Thing is, some bugger still has to drive them, just like a Moto Gp bike. These boats have pilots.
Sailing is now ahead of taxi racing & F1 by a long shot. It used to be well behind Songs of Praise..
How long until this tech gets into ocean racing or even those wee dinghies I mentioned? Or sand yachts? Will they be charged an ACC levy when it does?

[Ocean1]

Even a crappy old Hobie 16 generates an awesome amount of power in the right conditions. The feeling when it suddenly goes 'twang' and accelerates is something to behold.

Aye, but they don't always twang the way you might want. I've pitch-poled a paper tiger a few times, and it bloody hurts.

[Ocean1]

...a little bit removed from todays battles, but cool things...

Yes, the real class and the rule I'd like to see there again. The cats are impressive but it's not sailing. A fleet of J class monsters would be an awesome spectacle that is definitely sailing.

[george formby]

Aye, but they don't always twang the way you might want. I've pitch-poled a paper tiger a few times, and it bloody hurts.

Aye, there in lies the rub. Make a mis-judgement on the big trimaran & it's new undies time.

Anybody have an inkling how to demonstrate wind power, 72ft at 46 knots etc into horsepowers? Or probably more spectacularly, torques..

[awa355]

...a little bit removed from todays battles, but cool things...

Lovely yachts. Not greyhounds but still look quite gracefull.

[Ocean1]

The America's Cup was always a technology + team work + management + fund raising series. The technology bit only works if you change the rules, otherwise it's all about refinement.

Yeah, perhaps. Certainly the Kiwi's success is more pronounced in the early stages of a class development, but the ability to balance those disciplines so they work better than opposition with an order of magnitude more cash is a very powerful reputation to have at any stage. And make no mistake it's being noticed by commercial tech development interests all over again.

[george formby]

Yeah, perhaps. Certainly the Kiwi's success is more pronounced in the early stages of a class development, but the ability to balance those disciplines so they work better than opposition with an order of magnitude more cash is a very powerful reputation to have at any stage. And make no mistake it's being noticed by commercial tech development interests all over again.

I'm still looking for the wire on the boat.....

But yup, great to see our wee country leading the world in such a cutting edge competition. I recall seeing something on the nudes yonks ago, an interview with one of the designers, Kiwi as bloke. He refused to set foot on the boat if it was about to sail.. Home brewed.

[pete376403]

Yes, the real class and the rule I'd like to see there again. The cats are impressive but it's not sailing. A fleet of J class monsters would be an awesome spectacle that is definitely sailing.

That's what Humpty Fay was hoping for when he had the big boat (KZ1) constructed in 1988. Unfortunately for him Dennis Conner answered with a multihull interpretation of the rules.

[AllanB]

Bring back the Clippers I say.