America's Cup.

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Jul 14, 2020
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And finally we are under way ! First couple of races in the Prada Cup today...that's the knock out challenger rounds. For those of us watching, these races were a big surprise. Skip to 6 minutes before anything happens. There is an American commentator for those who need it.


 
And finally we are under way ! First couple of races in the Prada Cup today...that's the knock out challenger rounds. For those of us watching, these races were a big surprise. Skip to 6 minutes before anything happens. There is an American commentator for those who need it.



I'm a an old school sailor and did participate in RORC regattas in the '50, but to me nothing beats a mono-hull, I lost a bit of interesrt when the "cats" came into the picture, lost a bit more when tri-marans were introduced, but now completely disgusted at the new "Foil" boats if one can even call them such. I'd not like to sail in those, but do admit that they are fast and if only speed is of the interest then they are the ticket, but there is a lot more to sailing than speed alone. Another example IMO where progression = regression.
 
I'm a an old school sailor and did participate in RORC regattas in the '50, but to me nothing beats a mono-hull, I lost a bit of interesrt when the "cats" came into the picture, lost a bit more when tri-marans were introduced, but now completely disgusted at the new "Foil" boats if one can even call them such. I'd not like to sail in those, but do admit that they are fast and if only speed is of the interest then they are the ticket, but there is a lot more to sailing than speed alone. Another example IMO where progression = regression.
Completely agree. Take it back to its roots, monohull, straight keel, everyone has the same equipment.

But then again, nowadays they wouldn't get the tv viewers only going 6 knots....
 
Unfortunately American Magic Lost the first race to England
Strictly speaking they lost to UK - admittedly most of the crew is English but there are team members from Scotland and Wales (and Australia) and the team represents the UK.

UK also went on to win their 2nd race against Italy, in something of a reversal of recent fortunes.
 
Completely agree. Take it back to its roots, monohull, straight keel, everyone has the same equipment.

But then again, nowadays they wouldn't get the tv viewers only going 6 knots....
Like NASCAR ?
 
NO interest is watching guys dressed in white hoisting the jib or whatever and sailing around at bicycling pace as in the good old days of Dennis Connor. These boats are something else and almost defy belief what your eyes are seeing. Lots to see on YouTube.
 
not available in my country
Half the videos I open are not available in ''my'' country.

No, it's not old school yachting...but you can still sail your old school yacht, even build a new one and people won't say ''Oh cool, love that old school.'' Old school is still current.

But this is leading edge high tech sailing, and it's pretty exciting to see. I didn't really like the Cats either, but these foiling monohulls are something else ! They are doing 3 times wind speed...they are getting up to our open road speed limit. The UK boat was in trouble in the December racing, speed was good, but not so good at low speed...slow getting up on the foils. So they were discounted from any result in everyones eye, not a threat at all. So this turn around from them is fantastic, exciting stuff. It'd be great to see the UK get the Cup back after 170 years, but not against New Zealand they won't !

They are not sure if there will be racing today, the winds are very light - they have min and max wind speeds to race in. And that's one thing I don't like - it's all about TV viewing times...if it's outside coverage times it's a no show. Disappointing that TV can say whether they race or not, light or heavy winds are part of sailing, it's how sailors and boats overcome conditions that proves their abilities.
 
Tough days sailing in light winds. The old story of the lead boat stalled in no wind....and the wind coming, but bringing the trailing boat with it. But with these yachts the difference in speed is huge - lead boat off the foils doing 8 knots, the boat coming from behind with the wind...and doing 38 knots ! Not looking good for the US boat.

 
NO interest is watching guys dressed in white hoisting the jib or whatever and sailing around at bicycling pace as in the good old days of Dennis Connor. These boats are something else and almost defy belief what your eyes are seeing. Lots to see on YouTube.
You must be a watcher and not a sailor!
 
I still think the races should be all over the globe and they should have to sail the boat there... size of support boat limited to size of racing yacht and only one support boat per racing yacht...
 
Watched some of the cup last night. I was amazed by the technology.

I had a chance to sail (mostly on, but they let me take the helm for a bit) NZL40 in Auckland many years ago. Monohull. Light. Amazingly fast.

It was able to exceed the wind speed, and on a moderate wind day, it was up around 18 knots at one point. That’s about three times the speed I’ve seen in my admittedly quite modest experience in conventional sailboats.

It was very cool. Really impressive.

I can’t imagine what these foil boats are like.
 
You must be a watcher and not a sailor!
Absolutely. I can count the number of people I've known in my life that owned a sailboat on one finger. Can't say the same about motorcycles, snowmobiles, race cars, airplanes, rock crawlers, sand cars etc. I'm sure the real sailors don't like the CG graphics on the course but it lets the not sailors understand some of the rules and the tactics involved. The amazing technology and high CG presentation make it interesting for the other 96% who don't sail!
 
Well, that will buff right out…or not. It's looking very likely there was hull damage, with the breach hindering recovery efforts. They've managed to stabilize and are towing back to port, though.

The AC75s turned out to be better than I expected, bringing back some of the match racing tactics that were lost with the cats. The AC72s were pretty awesome machines, though.

To draw an analogy, when it's not unusual for a street cars to have as much, if not more power than some classes of race cars, and extreme sports has rendered auto racing deceptively benign, the old IACC and 12 meter boats plodding along aren't going to attract eyeballs, particularly younger ones (unless it's a sailing obsessed nation like NZ), which are needed to attract the money to stage the event, especially when there aren't enough billionaires interested in funding campaigns.

Better video.
 
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Drama on the water ! Or, a typical day in the Hauraki Gulf. Light winds yesterday and thunder storms predicted for today...although it looks like Auckland missed most of it. A couple of controversial races...that didn't finish. American Magic are in big trouble.

 
Well, that will buff right out…or not. It's looking very likely there was hull damage, with the breach hindering recovery efforts. They've managed to stabilize and are towing back to port, though.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory... or is it god telling us boats shouldn't have wings....
 
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