34th America's Cup: multihulls!

34th AC

TNZ gybe on foils16:55 in! Code Zero on TNZ and Oracle... click on URL and watch on expanded screen on youtube. Video taken by JNavas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=stxnb5QICEg

 

Hi - The guy in the row boat is associated with Team Oracle somehow. He has "appeared" in earlier Oracle videos. I think its a Whitehall not a Dory. Cheers Peter S

 

TNZ boat and crew look simply awesome in that video. Apparently much better coordinated, faster and more efficient as a boat/crew system. Could be just my impression, of course.

 

34th AC

That gybe is the first foiling gybe ever recorded by any AC team as best I can tell-and naturally the first to do it is TNZ!!

 

Beautiful.

Anyone in the Bay area gone out to watch them practice?

 

This guy?

http://www.mojosail.com/2013/06/12/oracle-versus-the-rowboat/

 

34th AC

From Scuttlebutt tonight:

AC 34: where am I now?


Baseball has its World Series
Football has its Super Bowl
Hockey has its Stanley Cup
Basketball has its Finals

But what makes each of these championship events great is the buildup. They have the regular season, and they have the elimination series. Each step heightens your interest.

With this edition of the America’s Cup eager to become a spectator sport, here is how the buildup is looking…

* There is one defense team. They go straight into the Finals.

* There are three challenging teams. They all qualify for the Playoffs.

* The challenging teams compete in the First Round of the Playoffs. Nobody gets eliminated.

* In the First Round of the Playoffs, a team might not show up.

* If one team doesn’t show up, the other team must race by themselves.

* Did we mention that nobody gets eliminated from the First Round of the Playoffs?

This situation has caused some problems:

* Tickets were sold to watch the First Round of the Playoffs. Tickets are now being refunded.

* San Francisco businesses had prepared to serve crowds during the First Round of the Playoffs. Businesses now realize there may be no crowds.

* The First Round of the Playoffs was going to be broadcast. It is now being decided whether there is interest in broadcasting a one boat race.

* The America’s Cup International Jury is now deciding whether a playoff system where you can not show up for the First Round of the Playoffs and not get eliminated is a good system.

But the 34th America’s Cup is not all a blanket of fog. We still have foiling 72-foot catamarans with wings that extend 40 meters high. They require a small army to maintain, are awesome to watch, and attract a global audience when they crash. The broadcast tools are remarkable.

All we need now is sport, where competition is close, losers get eliminated, and the finals represent a crescendo where the winner is not known until the final note is played. Hopefully we will get it.

 

Nope.

I went back, turned up the resolution and did enough "stop - starts" of the video to catch a few frames with the row boat clearly between the hulls.

Staged for sure, but still makes you jaw drop when you see it.

 

Don't know if this has been posted yet, site with loads of foil information. http://carbonicboats.blogspot.de/

 

Hi Doug

Thats all true but how much following do you get when the team only exist in one place at one time and just sponsor based.
How would the Olympics go if it was Colgate team versus Oracle versus Preparation H versus Vespa

Moving to Country of Origin would not hinder the sailing one bit but increase the following.
Sponsors could choose which country's team assuming they operate in that place
just a thought.

 

34th AC

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I'm 100% for bringing nationalism back to the Cup-it should be American,NZ,Australian etc owned, designed and crewed, in my opinion.

 

Might be a bit of an ask?
I would start with sailing crew and the sponsors need a connection to that country

PS I still think that for the given speed that they can do if the boat was 40' it would look much more exciting?
I guess you need to be there up and close to get the wow factor from that size at that speed, its lost in the media
UK cross channel ferry at 40kts does not look fast

 

Look at the Nationality of the crews in 1851 ...

You cannot 'bring back' something that was never part of the cup until the 12M era. Boats have nationality, they exist on national registers. No one cares about the crews.

If you want to watch national teams in sports there is an event that has that tradition. No reason to try to make the AC into a second Olympics.

More nationality rules for the design and construction of the boats, yes. Not the sailors. Where the hired help was born is of little concern.

R

 

I dont see the design and build as an issue
Lets say all the NA's/Mech Engs just happened to go to the same uni and they just built a factory in Namibia, shipped all the staff to build it and its a Namibian boat?
That has already happened.
I guess the only spin off would be exposure in that country for the team?

 

The single most important factor in contests like the America's Cup is money. Those with the most money are most likely to win all things considered. Technology, designs, crews and athletes can be bought - witness how athletes "emigrate" to participate in sport at elite levels. The Olympics is full of athletes who optically become competitor "citizens" of well funded nations.

The America's Cup is less hypocritical in that they do not force people to engage in Olympic-style pseudo-nationalistic idiocy. It would be ridiculous to see on-the-water team ETNZ in keffiyeh trying to reinforce the illusion they are anything but hired help for the oil rich.

In my opinion, honesty is the best policy.

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CutOnce