34th America's Cup: multihulls!

^^^

Very nice! I'll tip Martin about it.

...

There's a couple of good articles in the NZHerald this morning, especially one where Pete Melvin contributes:

Insights from the 'father' of the AC72

excerpt:

And in Peter Lester's article today, he makes the point that it would be an advantage for ETNZ to dispatch Luna Rossa as quickly as possible, so that they can focus on the secret weapons they're presumably saving for the showdown with Oracle:

Excerpt:

...


But high wind forecasts for today, Saturday, are threatening to not allow racing - Imagine that! Good winds and big crowds on a Saturday afternoon, better TV audience for the LV final in which Luna Rossa have said their boat competes better in more wind, and both boats are fully capable of racing in stronger winds. BUT EVERYTHING GETS CALLED OFF.

Caramba, what a shambles. This wind limit was brought about because of all the damned confusion and lack of openness about why Artemis really broke up, is my view.

In July, Bertelli was in favor of lower wind limits so that his boat would not get 'massacred' through equipment breakage. Today he ought to be thinking the opposite and be eager to race in more wind. But the die has been cast as the Italians like to say. What a wasted opportunity, if racing today is cancelled.

...

Anyone who is missing races with close contact and greater participation might instead watch the X40's who are racing in Cardiff today. Here's the replay page for the third race there yesterday.

But it is in fact more interesting to watch the bigger and more expensive boats, when they are allowed to race.

 

Let's hope it isn't. (What a farce it is where kids and amateurs are allowed to sail, but the pros and their multi-million dollar boats are sidelined!)

 

34th AC

Man that was a dumb comment by the NZ writer saying that the AC 72 "has earned a bad name by association with this regatta"!

 

I think it was quite perceptive. If I were a fan of large foiling catamarans I would be infuriated at the utter management incompetence demonstrated by OTUSA/ACEA. They have opened themselves up to a range of adverse outcomes, any one of which could so taint the reputation of AC72-like machines that it would be a long time before you saw them in a major event again. No potential sponsor is going to be interested in having their product associated with a machine that has been vilified in the press as a hangar queen at best and a widowmaker at worst.

And no, the fact that I'm not interested in these machines (except as a student of systems safety) does *not* mean I am rooting for an adverse outcome.

Cheers,

Earl

 

That was pretty stupid. (The sponsors are the ones who look foolish).

But the journalist did redeem himself with some other good remarks in
the same article. For example:

"... Messrs Coutts and Ellison who coined the now infamous analogy of
breaking the sport and the event away from the "Flintstones generation"
and take it to the "Facebook generation".

Ironic, considering re-runs of "The Flintstones" beat them in TV ratings.

And this gem:
"They wanted speed, thrills, racing close to shore so spectators could see,
they wanted boats which could race in 5-33 knots of wind..."

 

34th AC

==================
I disagree: with all it's shortcoming's (and pseudo shortcomings) the vision behind this regatta has provided the public(though many don't know about it yet) with the most extraordinary spectacle in the history of the Americas Cup. Never before have "the people" been able to be so close to the action either by being there or by watching the superb video coverage. There has never been a sailiboat associated with the Americas Cup like these boats which are breathrough designs that have already changed the "facts" behind catamaran foilers. And never has foiling had such a venue nor been such a part of a mainstream sailing event. This is the result of men with vision that,right before our eyes, are changing the perception of sailing and offering inspiration to hundreds of thousands of men, women,and children to look at a whole new facet of sailing and to dream of how this new kind of sailing could affect their lives.
I am so grateful to be able to witness the birth of a new America's Cup-a Cup that forever will be associated with the most technologically advanced sailboats on the planet sailed by the most advanced sailor athletes on the planet. It is a new begining that ,over time, will benefit just about everybody
who likes sailing.

 

Aww Jeez..........

 

To The NZ Journalists: "Bahhhhh! Quiet Down Mate."

Let's be sane about this: take careful note that it's a NZ writer. What would you expect from an opponent? You thought the writer was going to say that it's perfectly ok? He's writing for home consumption & to make his editors look good, boost circulation, sell more advertising, etc, etc.

I'll tell you what else the NZ papers are doing: they are setting the stage for raft of excuses if they lose to Team Oracle. We were "beaten by The Cheaters." "We want the boats that beat us remeasured!" And then when they are remeasured, they will cry, "They've hidden, removed the cheating parts."

Besides, The America's Cup has been a plaything of Big Business since J Pierpont Morgan & Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt beat up on poor Sir Tipton...Ellison had nothing on those guys.

 

Thanks So Much

@blackburn & @petereng:

Thank you for the polar plot & the effort to get them. Thanks for the article/discussion on them. gggss

 

Something that could never happen in crew, I guess

 

Opening up is the operative idea. The upside is totally unknown at the moment, and that is rare and precisely what smart business people try to get a piece of. The downside limit is reasonably well known and manageable. If you want to broaden investor appeal, you need asymmetry on the upside. A "reliable" sort of investment would have serious investors staying away in droves.

 

So would a "reliable" widowmaker.

 

Sorry, that failed to translate into Australian English.

 

Good grief, Doug, do you have an app that writes this stuff ?

For the record, I didn't mention the vision, the machines, or the athletes. I said the management sucked. I studied, taught, and practiced project management for the better part of 40 years and I known a clown act when I see one.

Cheers,

Earl

 

Sponsors aren't investors. They are purchasing exposure. Their return is having the glamour and image of the event to rub off on their brands. If googling "America's Cup" autofills to "deaths" or "fiasco" they aren't going to be highly motivated.

Cheers,

Earl