America's Cup Disaster

I used to think of the AC as the Olympics of sailing, but that was a long time ago. In an olympic event you either perform at the time and place appointed or you lose to someone who does. An olympic event may get postponed if conditions are dangerous but imagine a skier complaining the snow is too slippery or the slope is not steep enough!

The AC should be held on a date announced well in advance and delayed only if conditions are dangerous or there is virtually no wind. Acceptable wave and wind conditions can be set at the same time as the date. If only one boat doesn't showthe team pays their competitor's costs and a fine, or never competes again.

 

You're right.

But what really irks me is that these very idiots, or those like them ARE running the planet.

How else can they get this kind of loot to throw around as hundreds of millions starve, and as, in the so called 'first world', hundreds of thousands loose their jobs and retirements. These people, with their ETF'S, their private little hedge funds, and their so called financial 'inovations', gamble away fortunes, sucking all the air out of the economy-for their selfish power addictions.

Remember.

When they win, they get PAID.

When they lose, they get PAID.

And we are the ones that pay. One way or the other.
That's why THEIR standard of living keeps going UP, while just about everyone else's is imploding.

That's why this spectacle is so grating to witness. Even more so than it was, say, 100 years ago.

That's where these people are different from their ancestors, who used to pull the same crap. Their ancestors could and often did get ruined.

Useless top hamper which should be jettisoned to save the ship.

Off with their capital!

 

actually it was rigged from the word go and once that first rule change hit and it was all of a sudden a bit more of a fair fight then thats where all the lawyers came in
soon as that first fin keel showed up with a wing on it the court thing started
( bloody Aussies )
that and Denis got lynched
( really unfair )
always did feel bad for that guy
( my dad and he were buddies or at least they knew each other )
he did the best he could with what, a twenty year old boat or something like that

cheers
B

 

Yeah, like the cup was never won in court before we came along with a legal wing keel. Dennis got beat by a slower boat... boohoo!

Twenty year old defender?! Never happened dude!

Italians had the fasted boat there in 83, they just could not decide who the skipper was!

 

actually he got beat by his own design team
I knew I remembered something about that boat
they struggled to get a decent boat and Dennis was not happy with what he was getting out of Sparkman and Stephens who had designed every boat going back to 1958 and they pretty much designed the same thing this time. Old Denis was a a pain in the *** and so Sparky and Stephens quit, which left Denis in a lurch.

some junior member designed a boat and he went with it
with about six months to spare before the race
thing sucked
it dipped badly and then proved itself ugly on a run and marginal in light airs
it barely beet the other two american boats all of which were classic 12 meters
they altered the trim, cut a few feet off the back end and moved the mast forward
just a few months before the race if I remember right
they never did get it dialed in and here come the munchkins with a fin
it was bedlam in Newport
I was there
I can hear the screaming even now
not sure if you know much about old Denis the menace but I think he assaulted the race comity when they ruled in the munchkins favor. I seem to recall something about it and that it made the headlines in the Newport news. Or maybe it was my dad who told me cause he was always getting invited to the club for something or another. My grand dad old Robby used to give him **** for hanging out with the posers. I remember it pretty well for it being 27 years ago but one thing I do remember is that it was the first time an appendage was allowed and so frankly I've always thought munchkins cheated

course old Denis came back with a cat and taught them a lesson in sailing and redefined the race from then till now so I suppose in the end the Aussies got there both there comeuppance and there asses handed to them eh

 

I'm not sure you know why the Aussie's beat you, just what it was about that keel that did it!? There was nothing wrong with Dennis's boat and the Italians had the fastest boat there... but we won... now why was that?

PS... appendage.. ya tosser! It was a keel and to quote Lloyds...

And I still reckon that you can't work out why Australia II had the upper hand.

 

Boston & Zed!
The discussion is entering the canting-keel zone. Indoor America's cup he he, perhaps a Truman show variant. Remember Jim Carrey impacting the horizon with his boat.
Regards,
Booster

 

America's Cup has been Ruint

I am with ya, Bistros (Bill), this circus may spell the end of interest in this once great event.

Bertie and Alinghi lawyers need to have legs broken, twice over.

Shameful!

 

Australia II was a class-legal 12 Metre. It was ruled so by the International measurers - no one cheated.

Dennis did NOT assault any race committee and your recollections are wrong.

The Americans had brought in a radical new (to 12 Metres) keel with Intrepid, and everyone congratulated them....why is a new keel only bad when it's not created by Americans?*

Mariner in 1974 tried a brand-new ground-breaking design that would change the whole sailing world - it was a flop. Why is a ground-braking new design only bad when it is not created by Americans?



*the winged keel 12 Metre concept was published in Modern Boating (Australia) magazine in 73 or 74 in an article by Alan Payne and Warwick Hood,the earlier Aussie 12 Metre designers. It was NOT a Dutch concept.

 

AC Aside

As long as we are noting the "real" boats, as a yank, I really disliked DC; the Kiwi boats and crews were my favs...

The comments about A II and the keels are correct. All nice and legal and worked within the measurements etc. Not nearly the circus we have now.

 

This was a spectacular race in my opinion-with a start as exciting as I've ever seen in a Cup race. What was missing in tactics was more than made up for with the fantastic images of these boats under sail at speed-particularly USA.
I hope multihulls stay in the AC at least until a 90' monohull foiler beats one!

Congratulations to Team USA!
--first tri to win an AC race
--first foil assisted(lifting hydrofoil*) boat of any kind to win a Cup race
* actually reduces the displacement of the hull it is attached to

 

Doug, every boat that sails is "foil assisted". I seem to remember Australian 12 meter winged keels providing lift, reducing drag & displacement and vortex control - this would certainly qualify as "foil assist" even in your narrow foiling fanboi definition.

It was a spectacular defeat, but not a spectacular race. It was over before the start line was crossed due to the foul and subsequent penalty (that was not executed properly, while on course and before the finish line).

There really wasn't a race - it was a drubbing by a far superior piece of technology in a very limited set of racing conditions.

--
Bill

 

all smiles this morning guys
the big tri humiliated the "other guys" ( Swiss I think, it was kinda hard to see who that was way back there ) in boring fashion. Hopefully they will at least make a race of it for #2

The keel fin was by some freak ruled "not an appendage" in a world were appendages had never been allowed before.
Essentially the Aussies claimed it was just a funny shaped keel bulb which was allowed and not actually a fin.
Race comity had probably been up all night partying and got such a laugh out of the explanation that they let it slide.
Ok fool me once and next time the US team shows up with a cat.
Jokes on you guys now eh

I think they should have stuck to 12 meters honestly cause at least then they could race in some more varied conditions

Bistro's I would tend to agree it was a drubbing
15+ at the line
not even a race actually other than an ugly start

They need to bring back the qualifiers next time around and stick to letting the race comity make the rulings ( keep it out of court ) that way the race becomes interesting again.

 

You've said this a couple of times and it is not correct.

Actually, a lot of what you are posting about the AC history is not correct.

 

You were not alone. A lot of folks in the racing community have had a dislike of the man.

On the other hand there are quite a few people who would do almost anything to have him just glance in their direction.