34th America's Cup: multihulls!

I don't think either will open up any time soon. Even after the cup I doubt OR will because they can use that technology for the next cup, if it stays multihull.

Where is Oracle on the daggerboard count? Right now I have the 2 originals, 1 broke and they made a new one, but left the other original in, making it 3, now the 2 new different ones, bringing it up to 5. I think would be smart to only build one of each to test and see, then build the other, making it 6. So then they have 4 availible to test on boat 2.

 

34th America's Cup: multihulls! ETNZ Latest

On interest.


Yesterdays sail.


http://crew.org.nz/forum/download/file.php?id=20162

Today. Light winds again. Testing in SF conditions. Some say they foiled at less than 9 knots wind speed.

Note from the pic no white caps. White caps in NZ generally appear at 10-11 knots wind speed.

 

34th AC-- Oracle pulls it together!

Oracle just won the Cup-all past sins are gone and she is foiling perfectly. In another league compared to Artemis. At least as good foiling as TNZ with a lighter boat: (for larger click on the url and then the youtube expand icon) What say ye, Gary?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jUZu7RivhoQ

 

As much as I'd love to think 17 is foiling well, and they've basically won it, videos like this from NZ worry me as they are foiling while it looks like they are just crawling along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPkmT_smCG4&feature=player_embedded&list=UUc36Cbub8hJ8wwc8xlPba2w

 

34th AC

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TNZ has always looked good-from their first day foiling! But I think Oracle has caught up.....
Go Oracle!

 

Doug,

How do you know its a littler boat?

B

 

That was supposed to read;

How do you know its a lighter boat

 

34th AC

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All the boats have to be between 5700 and 5900kgs as I understand it. So if you look how much smaller Oracles hulls are than TNZ it seems reasonable to conclude that Oracle is the lighter boat.

 

Actually, no it is not reasonable. Not unless you know the weight of the beams, the wing, the hull layup etc.
I doubt here are many that can tell a difference of 200kg on a boat that weights nearly 6 ton, just by looking. I certainly can't.

Also, while oracle looks better than they ever have, it still is not as smooth as the etnz boat. I sailed past the etnz cat yesterday, about 50m away I guess. Just as awesome machine, especially to see it pop up on foils, in the harbour, under wing alone. oracle looks good in that video, but etnz looks better....

 

Why are you going for Oracle Doug? Is it because you like us Aussies more than Kiwis?

cheers

Phil

 

The Y structure and spiderweb cable system is designed to be the lightest/stiffest structure for the loads seen by the cat.. If all of the boats weigh about same the big question is whether the aero/hydro drag from the spiderweb of cables under the cat is going to hurt ENZ more than the flex and low volume hulls will hurt OR. I presume reducing drag to the absolute bare minimum would be the design goal of the winning boat, and keeping the boat upright would be the goal of the crew - not the designers.

I love this article about the Alighni cat with the Y structure built in 1999.

http://www.sebschmidt.ch/portfolio/99143/article/99143_article_Seahorse_Aug2000.pdf

There is some excellent insight into the structural challenges of catamaran design.

The hulls of OR also appear to have more inverse rocker, which leads me to believe their tacks and jibes will be faster than ENZs. I suspect the OR boat has greater speed potential; at the cost of a reduced safety margin. If the OR crew can keep the boat upright, ENZ will certainly have something to worry about.

ENZ does look more polished at the moment; that is to be expected given they have more than double the sailing time on the 72. The Video of OR looking good is only their day 15.

I have no idea who has the better boat or who is going to win... I'm just happy the cup is turning out to be something worth talking about. All of the sailors in my small corner of the world are talking about how do we save the sport of sailing in response to the declining numbers at local regattas...

Although nothing can be done about the general decline of the middle class, which IMO is the key root cause of the sport's decline, if we as sailors were to focus only on what we can control I think the answer is simple.... add excitement... and AC34 will have plenty.

I started racing multihulls because I was bored with monohulls, and while I'm admittedly a not so good multihull racer, I'm having the time of my life racing a boat that can reach 9 knots of boat speed in 5 knots of wind.

Apologies for the thread hijack, I'm likely preaching to the choir in terms of the awesomeness of multis, my point is no matter who wins the cup and why, I think AC34 will only help the sport of sailing... I just hope AC35 is raced with multis too. If the Kiwis do win they better not regress back to leadmines.

Frankly, I want the Italians to win. AC35 would be the sexiest sailing event in the history of the sport, and I have no doubt it would be a multihull platform.

 

I have consistently rooted for the current USA team (I have been hooked since I saw a video of Dogzilla zipping along under a wing).

I feel that the choice to go clean on areo (as opposed to stiff platform) is one of those "you picked a winner if you can pull it off" type things.

This team has spent enough time both "doing the math" on wings (I am referring to all of the computer analysis - both structural and areo) and on the water testing. They really should be at or near the top for this aspect of the package.

The next piece is a big one: Foils, foils, foils. I like the efficiency available when not relying on static altitude control (surface piercing, ladder foils, funny S shapes with semi V function at the bottom) only. Again this falls into a "can they pull it off" category. Things are looking pretty good now, but only time will tell. Other aspects of foiling a big small course racing cat (more area to get up quick vs. less area to go faster, etc. etc.) are still new to the teams. Most of them could stumble on something that becomes a real advantage.

After saying all of this, remember that it takes more than a fast boat to win. It has to be 100% reliable when it counts and the team has to avoid any killer mistakes.

When the teams are out practicing, they may routinely push hard but it is still not the same as racing. Conditions can stack up. High performance cats all have the ability to capsize. Any crew can make that one fatal mistake. And then there are the smaller mistakes that are actually more likely to come into play. A bad start, a blown tack, getting pushed into a penalty.

It all matters. Declaring a winner at this point is either unfounded hoping or trash talk.

Then again, 17 does look awesome in that video.

 

34th AC

Though I have to support the only American syndicate head, I wouldn't rule out Artemis pulling it together. Paul Cayard is a great guy and so is Juan K. I wish them well.
Go Oracle!

 

Artemis? Really?
Paul cayard?
I've ruled them out. ETNZ will win the LV cup, Luna Rossa second, Artemis last.

However, no idea who will win the cup. But I don't think it will be close, will be a whitewash one way or the other. Of course I hope it's etnz, but we will have no way of knowing till they line up for real.

 

The Italians did well against ENZ in the AC45s. OR had a strong showing in the world series as well. LR is probably keeping a low profile because they have a surprise or two up their Prada sleeve.