America's Cup

[oldrider]

It was always about the "Americas Cup" which is not always and never has been about the obvious or fair play, it is always "win at all cost"!

Team Oracle won at all cost by somewhere around about 42 seconds from a team that was racing to a set of slightly different self imposed fair-play rules ... game over!

If one stays clear of the inappropriate fever of nationalism generated by and in NZ then it was a very entertaining event to watch!

ETNZ punched well above their weight and earned a huge amount of respect but the objective was to "win the cup" at all cost!

[Berries]

Oh well, worse things happen at sea.






Doh.

[Katman]

In the end, it came down to a battle of watch brands for me.

At least I can still wear my Tag with my head held high.

[Winston001]

At least I can still wear my Tag with my head held high.

Mate - mate do I have a deal for you. A genuine Rolex purchased in the back streets of Kuala Lumpur, only worn by a little old man to church on Sundays. Bargain Bargain!!!!!! and !!!!!!




Ok. So its been sitting in my drawer for 5 years. But I did go to church and am no longer young. And ok the battery is flat. Bloody Swiss. Still, it could be yours with an deposit and twelve easy payments. Whaddya say?

[Winston001]

I really wanna know the system. I'm intrigued how it works everything out and how it runs - power wise and programming wise. It can't be simple and I always thought you weren't allowed stored power on the Cup boats. If it's something like solar power, that's crazy efficiency in the computer power. I also didn't think you were allowed computer power either. So if wasn't that, that's some crazy hydraulics, engineering.

It has to be remembered, those boats weren't intended to foil but TNZ found a way to make it happen within the rules. Oracle took the foiling one step further when they were behind the 8-ball. Clever. It must be bloody close to breaking the rules though.

Good post, didn't know that so will be interested in what comes out.

Tim Smyth boat builder and general manager of Core Builders Composite which built Oracle here in NZ was interviewed on National Radio today. He said the Boeing system was in the boat before the competition. TNZ objected but the jury said too late and no problem.

He also said the story about a planeload of NZ designers being specially flown up was rubbish because they had guys going to San Francisco all the time, and some of them are still there. It was part of the contract plus the boat builders got drawn into the energy of the competition.

Tim Smyths explanation was that Oracle tried radical maneuvers out of desperation and found an extra gear they didn't know was there. Foiling is SciFi stuff and TNZ were the innovators.

Bloody fascinating and NZ was the only other country in the world to be in this final. And least we forget, NZ has competed (and won) in the Americas Cup since 1987.

[neels]

that saves us a buck or two over the next four years, polishing up more of the dorkland waterfront so plebs can become experts and piss everywhere

Couldn't agree more.

To me it looked like a F1 grand prix run over 10 laps to fit a tv schedule, talking to a couple of sailing mates has kind of confirmed this opinion that the short course with fast boats doesn't allow for any serious tactics to come into play. Didn't stop the american(ish) boat shafting the kiwis(ish) boat in the last few races though.

Team New Zealand(ish) just need to get Mr Red Bull on board next time, he seems to be quite good at throwing whatever resources are required at his team of choice to get them at the top of the tree.

Playing millions vs billions you're always going to lose, the only thing I can't figure out is how Oracle have so much money to play with from making such utter, utter, utter crap software.

[Brian d marge]

It was always about the "Americas Cup" which is not always and never has been about the obvious or fair play, it is always "win at all cost"!

Team Oracle won at all cost by somewhere around about 42 seconds from a team that was racing to a set of slightly different self imposed fair-play rules ... game over!

If one stays clear of the inappropriate fever of nationalism generated by and in NZ then it was a very entertaining event to watch!

ETNZ punched well above their weight and earned a huge amount of respect but the objective was to "win the cup" at all cost!

agreed. Winning is , erm, winning . coming first not second . You do that by doing everything you can to , erm ,,,,win

As you may be aware , I work at HRC . you should see the amount of money , people , MONEY thrown at project

they are not in the game to come second PERIOD

This is why I dont like , how do we say it ,..... the current mentality of sport , Winners and LOSERS! ... no , sport is there to challenge yourself and to be enjoyed . ....

Valentino Rossi ...I got tenth but we did our best ,,,,,, gold medal right there !


imho

Stephen

[Ocean1]

Tim Smyths explanation was that Oracle tried radical maneuvers out of desperation and found an extra gear they didn't know was there. Foiling is SciFi stuff and TNZ were the innovators.

The one thing that was obvious and that explains the extra speed Oracle gained through the series had nothing to do with tactics, they simply found more lift from their foils.

Looking at the early races in the borderline foiling range upwind where the Kiwis were juuuust up on the foil Oracle was still well down in the water. That's a massive 30% more drag, along with all of the negative effects of lower apparent wind angles and sail efficiencies. Oracle arseholed their bowsprit and changed their jib rig, they learned from the Kiwis tacking and gybing routines and that all helped, but they were still in a slower boat. The most noticable change came after that "maintenance day", in spite of the fact that NZ seemed to have improved throughout those early races Oracle were now foiling at the same speeds, and with much improved stability through tacks.

I'm picking that on day one they saw NZ foiling at slightly lower hullspeeds than they could, and knew that unless they matched them it was all over. They would have immediately called their hydrodynamics consultants, analysed what they could from the race data and made some new foils. That takes about a week, and they got it at least a step in the right direction because a week later they're just about matching the Kiwis foiling abilities. They would have processed the data from that improved set and immediately laid up another set, which explains the extra gear they had in the last few races. In that last race their tactics were notably more conservative, they knew damned well they had the wheels on NZ and once they were clear it showed, they were sitting much higher on their foils, the flash control mechanism finally came into play and it looked solid there.

In hindsight I can imagine them watching the first video of the Kiwi boat foiling a year ago. Like everyone else their jaws would've dropped, and the race started right there.

A lesson in what it takes to win a technology race: Copy whatever works and make it work better, fast.

[oldrider]

In the end was it worth it?

I think so!

NZ got a lot of world publicity, not only for being good sailors but also for being good techno-inovators!

As for playing the part of "the mouse that roared" it shouldn't be too hard for another challenge to find well healed backers to finance it.

Should the government be so financially involved next time? ... probably not!

[Jase H]

Couldn't agree more.

To me it looked like a F1 grand prix run over 10 laps to fit a tv schedule, talking to a couple of sailing mates has kind of confirmed this opinion that the short course with fast boats doesn't allow for any serious tactics to come into play. Didn't stop the american(ish) boat shafting the kiwis(ish) boat in the last few races though.

Team New Zealand(ish) just need to get Mr Red Bull on board next time, he seems to be quite good at throwing whatever resources are required at his team of choice to get them at the top of the tree.

Playing millions vs billions you're always going to lose, the only thing I can't figure out is how Oracle have so much money to play with from making such utter, utter, utter crap software.

What are the chances of getting Kim Dotcom to sponsor a boat for his adopted country, d'ya reckon? Mega Team New Zealand does have a good sound to it.

[MisterD]

What are the chances of getting Kim Dotcom to sponsor a boat for his adopted country, d'ya reckon? Mega Team New Zealand does have a good sound to it.

Sounds like a great idea, as long as he goes to the US to support the effort

[Swoop]

What are the chances of getting Kim Dotcom to sponsor a boat for his adopted country, d'ya reckon? Mega Team New Zealand does have a good sound to it.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11131034

[Maha]

Well he is built like a tug and always wears black

[avgas]

Team New Zealand(ish) just need to get Mr Red Bull on board next time, he seems to be quite good at throwing whatever resources are required at his team of choice to get them at the top of the tree.

They are Oracles.....

But still could do "V" aka Frucor aka Suntory
Who could bank roll the team with Emirates.

Then there is Coke with "Mother". Or Monster Energy.

[Oscar]

Well he is built like a tug and always wears black

If he went anywhere near the water the Japs would harpoon him.