34th America's Cup: multihulls!

[daiquiri]

The plan had been to use GPS-based positioning of mark boats to define the course. This enabled ACRM to move the boats as required to either shorten the course or extend it to ensure the race ended on time.

When ETNZ hit the mark boat, shown in the picture, that convinced ACRM that using boats as marks was unsafe. Giles Martin-Raget was taking pictures on the fore-deck and had to dive for the deck to avoid being hit.

ACRM switched to anchored, fixed marks for safety.

That meant the marks could not be moved during the race. Previously, finishing within the time limit was virtually guaranteed because of the flexibility of the mark boats. However, with fixed marks, finishing within the time limit became uncertain.

On the first attempt at race 13, ETNZ was leading OTUSA when the time limit expired and the race was abandoned. Had the mark boats been in operation then, Race Committee would almost certainly have shortened course to allow the boats to finish in time. But they were not able to do so because the marks were anchored.

Had the course been shortened, ETNZ would have won the race and won the Cup.

So it all goes back to their hitting the mark boat in Newport. It started a chain of events that had a surprising outcome.

Only now I have noticed this post and I find it fascinating beyond words.

Kind of butterfly effect at work - a small and apparently minor event which has lead, through a series of situational leverages (committee decisions and Oracle's giant leaps in boat enhancing), to a radical change of the final result.
An example which should rightly enter into textbooks as an example of how at this level of competitive racing any single error can make a difference between a final victory or loss.

Thank you very much for this story, Mr. Speer.

 

[Doug Lord]

First Foiling America's Cup

I just realized that it was Barker and Team New Zealand that hit the mark to start the whole sequence. Amazing....
For some unknown reason I'd been laboring under the assumption it was Oracle that hit the mark. Just didn't look closely at the boat I guess.

 

[P Flados]

So slow Doug.

If I had been in charge I would have tried to keep the mark boats with an electronically enforced exclusion zone (say 45' - one boat length).

Get too close and you have to do a circle around a mark exclusion zone.

 

[tspeer]

Only now I have noticed this post and I find it fascinating beyond words.

Kind of butterfly effect at work - a small and apparently minor event which has lead, through a series of situational leverages (committee decisions and Oracle's giant leaps in boat enhancing), to a radical change of the final result.
An example which should rightly enter into textbooks as an example of how at this level of competitive racing any single error can make a difference between a final victory or loss.

Thank you very much for this story, Mr. Speer.

In later discussions with some senior management, I found out that my speculation was not correct. ACRM weren't planning on varying the course during the AC regatta in the same way that they did for the ACWS.

 

[tspeer]

So slow Doug.

If I had been in charge I would have tried to keep the mark boats with an electronically enforced exclusion zone (say 45' - one boat length).

Get too close and you have to do a circle around a mark exclusion zone.

In their first experiments with the ACWS, they had flags on poles extending horizontally from the mark boats. Their intent was to keep the boats away from the marks. Although they did treat the poles like a ski slalom - there was no penalty for touching a pole. The poles were quickly dropped, however.

 

[Doug Lord]

First Foiling America's Cup

One of the most heart stopping moments of 34:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvab4IKr8fM

 

[Corley]

Luna Rossa's AC72 has now been transported to and set up (platform only without wing mast) in a museum in Milan:

https://youtu.be/P85soUXLgac

 

[Doug Lord]

Thanks, Corley-It's sure better than being chopped up but, to me, still a bit of a sad ending for such a great boat......
From Scuttlebut Europe 3/23/15:

Luna Rossa Milan, Italy: "When I was child, I visited this Aero -Naval Pavillion and I remember how much I was impressed" said skipper Max Sirena to journalists literally under the huge plattform of the AC72 Luna Rossa. The unveiling of the exhibit was at the National Museum of Science and Technology of Milan, dedicated to the genius of Leonardo da Vinci who lived and worked for many years in Milan.

"I really hope that someone from the new generation could be inspired as I am looking at our flying cat now suspended on display, exactly in between the boats at the ground floor and the aircraft in the gallery. We don't believe that a piece of technology like Luna Rossa should be closed up in a shed, collecting dust. She is much more useful here at the Museum, whose prestige is renowned internationally, particularly for its Aero-Naval Pavilion."

Luna Rossa AC72, which raced in the final of the Challenger Selection Series in San Francisco, will be on display to the public until the next America's Cup in 2017

Milan is where Prada was founded in 1913 and where its headquarters is still located. In the coming months an additional exhibition will be set up that will feature, with interactive media, the design complexity of this unique boat; the show will display the details of all the components as well as the history of the America's Cup and the Luna Rossa team.

The catamaran was transported from its base in Cagliari, Sardinia, to Milan where she was once again reassembled. The boat was then lifted and suspended at a height of 5 meters to allow full observation and unobstructed view of all the boat's details, both from the ground and from the gallery of the Pavilion.

"I also like to congratulate and thank Engineer Bruno Finzi, Luigi Maffioli, who produced the cables on which the boat is suspended, and the Luna Rossa shore crew. Their contribution has been essential for the outcome of this project: the assembly and suspension of Luna Rossa inside the Pavilion has been, unto itself, quite an achievement!" skipper Max Sirena stated. -- Giuliano Luzzatto, @gluzzatto

luna-rossa-challenge.americascup.com

 

[Doug Lord]

Ac 34

Complete replay of AC 34 from Scuttlebutt with notes etc.:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2...ce86aa27aa783c729&utm_source=Email Newsletter