America's Cup: First Race Now Scheduled for February 12

[sailstoo]

Does anyone care?

[imagine2frolic]

I have not watched the last several contest, because I did not care. I am extremely curious about the multis. Especially since I sail one. Hopefully it won't be a side show!.......i2f

[Exocet]

With no wind on monday it was understandable that the race was postponed, but postponing Wensday's race because the waves were too high (1.3 to 1.8 meters, heck thats only 4 to 6 feet), I find this to be a little strange. Does not seem that these boats are much in the way of racers, and maybe more like the space shuttle, we only launch in Ideal Conditions. Are they saying that I can beat these multi-million racers with my little boat if the seas get larger than 4 feet, they will be shutting down just as I would be getting my mojo on.

[klem]

The reason that I think this will be interesting is that the two boats are actually quite different. One is a cat, one a tri, one has a wingmast, etc. I don't really care who wins but I would be interested to see how the designs stack up.

The boats do seem to be designed for an extremely tight wind and wave range. I like the idea of when they used to have to sail the boat transatlantic before racing instead of shipping them. Last time they got this wimpy about conditions, the fishermen started the international fisherman's cup races which produced some incredible racing but that isn't going to happen again.

[David M]

Perhaps the rules need to be changed so that the race is postponed only if the winds exceed 20 knots or the swell is greater than 4 feet? That might produce some more realistic boats and make it more of a match based on sailors skills over who has the fastest hull.

I think yacht racing is more interesting when its team against team over boat against boat.

[TaoJones]

That is a good idea, David - logical, common sense, timely. The only problem is that the "rules" are based on agreements between the teams of competitors, or, more accurately, between the principle parties (Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli) and their legal teams.

In other words, good luck with that.

TaoJones

[David M]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

That is a good idea, David - logical, common sense, timely. The only problem is that the "rules" are based on agreements between the teams of competitors, or, more accurately, between the principle parties (Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli) and their legal teams.

In other words, good luck with that.

TaoJones

I know....I can always dream though.

[Bash]

what made the cup interesting in the 12-meter days was that the boats were close enough to our own that there was a fair expectation of technology transfer as a result of the competition. But now we've got $10,000,000 boats that can't sail in two-meter seas and that require an engine running full-time in order to power the winch hydraulics-water ballast system--dagerboards and mast rams. What are the chances that any of us will install a canting, self-raking mast on our boats anytime soon?

[David M]

If it is going to be a boat for boat match then it would make more sense to design an outrageously fast boat on computer, race them in a virtual match and then see who is the winner. We could even melt down the silver cup and allow the winners corporation to display a virtual image of the cup on their computer monitors.

Lots of money and resources could be saved and there would be no risk of injury. It would also keep them out of the courts wasting taxpayer money.

What if nobody watched the Cup? It would soon go away. Perhaps that would be the best thing? Let it go away so that the public can learn what real yacht racing is about...real people racing real boats.

[Joli]

From all I've read, the sailors are freaked out by the boats. Hard to imagine flipping one and falling ten stories.

[scook1]

Still, it is cool to see some good sailing. If they ever race that is.
Spencer

[Prerequisite]

These are hardly $10,000,000 boats. The 'test' mast on BMWO that was used to carry the soft sails pre-wing reportedly cost $10,000,000 alone. They broke it pretty quickly too. If we were to ever hear the true cost of these boats, we'd probably all walk away from the race in disgust.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Seems like with all the special agreements on wind and weather, it's going to end up with the winds under 5 kts or over 6 kts they won't race, or the seas over 6" they won't race.
Always thought the AC was an ocean sailing race, looks like they are going to have to start the race on lakes from now on. Either that or use noats than can be raced on open water...

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Joli

From all I've read, the sailors are freaked out by the boats. Hard to imagine flipping one and falling ten stories.

True enough, Joli.

Alinghi crew member Ed Baird was quoted as saying: “If we capsize, it’s going to be a disaster. The boat “will explode in a thousand pieces."

I agree with others who have suggested that one of the exciting things about past ACs has been seeing technology that had the potential to be applied to the recreational market down the road. I don't think there's much in these extreme craft that is likely to filter down anytime soon.