35th Americas Cup: Foiling Multihulls!

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Doug Lord, Sep 26, 2013.

  1. Doug Lord
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  2. sharpii2
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    This is a surprise.

    I'd think you'd like San Diego better, as it is less boisterous, and more conducive to foiling.

    It seems clear to me that that the conditions in San Francisco beat up the boats quite a bit, causing two capsizes and one death.

    Also, races were delayed and canceled, due to too much wind.

    It seems that this is far less likely to happen in San Diego.

    More conducive conditions may also help lure more challengers too.
     
  3. Doug Lord
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    35th AC on Foils!

    I remember the last America's Cup in San Diego(I think)- very light air. And the place has the rep for a lot of light air days. But I've never been there or to San Fran but I have watched every America's Cup that has been televised and outside of Perth Australia, San Fran had the best conditions ever. I really think its a shame the powers that be didn't do what was necessary to hold on to that venue.
     
  4. catsketcher
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    catsketcher Senior Member

    Are they the right boats?

    Gday

    I would be interested in watching a cup where the boats are slower. My problem with the last cup (apart from Oracle winning) was the lack of switch of attack opportunities.

    In normal match racing the lead boat has the attacking advantage upwind but downwind the attack advantage shifts to the trailing boat. It gives the trailing boat a chance to dictate tactics and attack.

    In the last cup the boast were so fast that the lead boat always had the attacking advantage as it could gas the trailing boat even on the square runs. I think this is a serious disadvantage of the AC 72s and any boat as fast.

    My two cents would be that the boats go no faster than the AC 45s where the trailing boat could at least gybe early and gas the lead boat if close enough. Give the boat big foils if needed to foil slowly - they can make a Laser foil. Otherwise it will be less interesting downwinds with little tactics. I might even look longingly at the old mono days. Monos have great match racing stoushes on the square run.

    cheers

    Phil
     
  5. Doug Lord
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    35th America's Cup on Foils!

    Phil thanks for your comments! Did you watch all the racing in the last Cup? There were multitudes of leads changes-great excitement throughout the racing. And the guy that won the start didn't automatically win the race as so often happened when leadbellies were raced.
    I've watched every Cup race and I don't remember any other racing as exciting as the the last 10 or so races in 34. The only Cup racing that was even close to being as exciting was the last race in 83 when Australia II did her thing and Perth in 87 when Dennis Connor lost his jib in big seas but still won.
    San Francisco was tremendous and going to San Diego takes a big chance on light air. To me, it is a historically horrendous mistake to leave San Fran.......
     
  6. sharpii2
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    But that wasn't with foiling boats. Or was it? These foilmarans go so fast they just about make their own wind, or at least appear to.

    An eight knot wind may be sluggish for a heavy mono, but might be heaven for a foiler.
     
  7. Doug Lord
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    35th America's Cup on Foils!

    From the America's Cup website: http://www.americascup.com/en/news/...he-groundwork-for-first-season-of-racing.html

    Foiling AC45s confirmed for America’s Cup World Series

    The best sailors in the world will be flying above the water at speed when the America’s Cup World Series begins in the summer of 2015.

    Champion sailors Ben Ainslie, Dean Barker, Franck Cammas, Nathan Outteridge, Max Sirena and Jimmy Spithill will lead their respective teams into the first stage of the competition for the most storied trophy in international sport.

    Commercial Commissioner Harvey Schiller says that he also expects at least one additional team will be joining as a late entry.

    The America’s Cup World Series runs for two seasons in 2015 and 2016, ahead of the America’s Cup Qualifiers, Playoffs and Finals in 2017.

    In a Regatta Memorandum issued to the teams today, Schiller confirmed two America’s Cup World Series events have already met the hosting criteria and had been scheduled to be raced in 2015 by the America’s Cup Event Authority.

    Further events will be added to the America’s Cup World Series calendar as hosting agreements are concluded and subject to the unanimous consent of the teams.

    “This is the first time in America’s Cup history that each of the teams has been given an opportunity to host America’s Cup World Series events,” Schiller said. “All six teams are interested in hosting at least one event in either 2015 or 2016 and we’re working with each team to convert that interest into a concrete event plan.

    The two confirmed host venues will announce their events in the coming weeks with the first announcement expected on November 5th.

    “We’ve also started working with the teams on filling out the 2016 America’s Cup World Series calendar,” Schiller said.

    All racing in the America's Cup World Series will take place in foiling versions of the one-design AC45 catamarans. A feasibility study has confirmed the necessary modifications can be made to all the boats prior to the first event in June 2015.

    Powered by a highly efficient wing-sail, the foiling version of the AC45 catamaran will lift out of the water, riding on hydrofoils which reduces drag and increases speed.

    “It will be a thrilling and spectacular sight to see these boats racing together in a fleet race format and it will be challenging for the five sailors on board,” Schiller said.

    2017 America’s Cup Venue Decision

    In December, the final host venue announcement will be made with Bermuda and San Diego the remaining candidates to host the 2017 America’s Cup.

    “We’re moving forward on the host venue agreement,” Schiller said. “Bermuda and San Diego have now submitted their final bids and in each case we have a potential partner who has presented a compelling event plan. The benefits of that will accrue to each of the teams leading to a successful 35th America's Cup.

    “It’s been a running start for me,” concluded Schiller, who has been in his role since late summer. “We have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the year. But all our teams have worked together, and we look forward to sharing additional positive news in the coming weeks.
     
  8. Doug Lord
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  9. Doug Lord
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    A wink to history

    Photo by Guilain Grenier showing America with Team USA:
    click for a much better view-
     

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  10. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  11. Doug Lord
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    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  12. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    35th America's Cup on Foils

    Bermuda?! I guess it's better than San Diego but neither compare with San Francisco. This is one of the biggest foul-ups in the history I know of the Cup.
    Monumentally unfortunate not to have made San Fran work......
     
  13. sharpii2
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    I don't understand your fixation on San Francisco.

    The wind there is often excessive for these kinds of boats. How many races there were cancelled due to excessive wind? I don't remember, but at least a few.

    If this is to be a live spectator sport, like football, basketball, or soccer, the show must go on.

    I know baseball games are cancelled due to rain, but there's a lot of them, throughout the summer.

    Here, we're talking about just a few races, less than two dozen.

    Since you live in Florida, I'd think you'd pitch for Miami, or Tampa Bay.

    San Francisco would have been much better for the bad old days of lead mine monos.
     
  14. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    35th America's Cup on Foils

    San Francisco provided the best sailing video ever recorded in an America's Cup with the possible exception of Fremantle(in a couple of instances). The wind was always there-very few wind related postponements.
    I guess part of the reason I like San Fran is that the coverage was so good and the wind almost always there coupled with extraordinary boats doing extraordinary speeds with closer racing than in the majority of Cup racing that I've seen.
    Probably a better chance of seeing similar great sailing in Bermuda than in San Diego?
     

  15. schakel
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    schakel environmental project Msc

    reefing capabilities of wings

    Hi doug lord and all other designers

    In Sailing Anarchy there is a discussion about sustainability.
    http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=162048

    I posted the following:
    Sustainability and top racing is an difficult dualism.

    For instance: The off-spin of top autocar racing is enormous. It makes a lot of cars very efficient in fuel consumption.
    But the moment a top racing car is built the value drops immediate and by the time the raceseason is over it's as good as worthless.
    But still: the technological advance being made is for the overall global sustainablility a good thing.

    The same counts for the cup. By the time the world runs out of oil based-fuel, it's usefull to have wings for sailing researched.
    Same counts for hydrofoils.


    Now for my question: Does anybody know of studies being made to have the AC-cup wings being customised for future use in commercial shipping?
    I brainstormed once that these wings on for instance an oiltanker must be able to be kept segment for segment under deck for area reduction in case of a storm. (Reefing)
     
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