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speciald@ocens. · 10-02-2010, 05:36

No race again today. Seas too lumpy!

Sailndive345 · 10-02-2010, 06:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

No race again today. Seas too lumpy!

The Wed forecast I saw on www.cupinfo.com states:

Summary: Sunny morning with NW about 12-15 knots. Some overhead cloud cover builds later in the morning and the wind eases to about 8-12 knots.
Overnight in Valencia the temperature hovers around 3 degrees Celsius but with the wind chill puts below freezing as the boats leave the harbour in about 15-17 knot NW breeze. The temperature warms to around 7 degrees with the windchill putting the temperature around freezing point so expect more pictures of Harold in his fur lined hat on the committee boat in the morning. The wind eases to around 12-15 knots in the afternoon as cloud cover builds with the windchill suggesting it will feel about 4 or 5 degrees C out there - less if you are wet.

I have been ready to be impressed by technology... so far, I must say it's been a huge disappointment - if these boats can't sail in these (forecast)conditions, there is something drastically wrong.

Perhaps, I am rather old fashioned - to me, a sailboat race involves creative tactics, reading the wind and the waves and adjusting accordingly, trimming the boat better than the other boat - and if all is working properly - close crossings, covering each other, etc... and , to do it in all kinds of conditions(!) I must admit, I miss the 12 meters. These boats belong to Scientific American and Discovery mags perhaps but not in race filled with tradition over so many years. Perhaps there was something about that 'sailing to the venue under her own bottom' statement (the deed of gift used to have) after all...

For once, I am disgruntled I guess

Sailndive

**sneuman** · 10-02-2010, 11:51

I tend to agree with Sailndive. I believe after this race, the Deed of Gift needs a thorough going over to bring this back to something interesting. These points are a minimum, in my opinion:

1 - Regardless of monos or multis, NO powered assist. This will keep the boats from being too extreme and keep their cost within certain limits so more open to challenge.

2 - Open challenger series.

RikHall · 10-02-2010, 12:37

I am told that a Forumla 1 team owner was heard to comment "Wow, them boat races are getting some pricey!"

**sneuman** · 18-06-2010, 11:52

If you listen to the latest noises from BMW/Oracle, it seems they are indeed zeroing in on new monohull design parameters and not taking another multihull challenge very seriously. Not official yet, but Russell Coutts practically lets the cat out of the bag (pun intended!) in this video by ONLY mentioning monos:

YouTube - Rc1.mp4

TaoJones · 23-06-2010, 14:34

From 'Lectronic Latitude, comes word that the Draft Protocol has been released this morning, jointly, by the Defender and Challenger of Record - a very good sign:

* * *

America's Cup Draft Protocol Released

June 23, 2010 – The Bay and Rome

"We know we'd promised to give you a run-down of this weekend's more local events today, but we're pre-empting that for a look at the draft protocol for the 34th America's Cup. The document was released 45 minutes before our deadline for today's 'Lectronic by the Golden Gate YC and Club Nautico di Roma, so we didn't have enough time to peruse it. But after a cursory look at its 56 pages, we've identified what we think are some key points."

"The concept of establishing a level playing field looks like it made its way into this document..."

* * *

To read the entire piece, go to:

Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude

The story contains a link to the 50+ page draft protocol, itself, for those who would rather read the original.

TaoJones