Will Oracle Remain Alive or Will It End Today?

[s/v 'Faith']

Having watched every race, I see Oracle as simply having learned to sail their boat.

The Kiwis did a masterful job, and sailed a very fast boat very hard. There were times I could see the reasons for their choices that just simply did not work out... For example, the "extra" tack in race 15... They were looking to ride the good air and get current relief behind the cone.... The announcer seemed clueless about that. I think that the turn came after the day the US lost 2 in a day.

This was (as most racing is) a largely mental game. The last race Oracle got beaten on, they had the line (I believe it was the furling line and the halyard) get tangled together so they could not drop the code 0 completely..... Those kind of errors take the mind of the entire crew off task and loose races.

It is very difficult to overcome the momentum of a loosing streak. Oracle only had to revere it once, the Kiwis never really did, but sailed an excellent race anyway.... Watching the last race with multiple position changes should clear up any confusion about just how closely the two boats and teams were matched.

The significant lead did not take place until the Kiwis believed they were defeated, and that has been the trend on each race they lost.

A great contest, two great competitors!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

Watching the last race with multiple position changes should clear up any confusion about just how closely the two boats and teams were matched.

The significant lead did not take place until the Kiwis believed they were defeated, and that has been the trend on each race they lost.

A great contest, two great competitors!

The last race was over at the split at the end of the 2nd leg because ETNZ would never be able to regain a controlling position again which they did have due to their start.

It had nothing to do with what they or anyone else believed.

There was nothing ETNZ could have done to prevent the split. (because Oracle would have taken which ever gate ETNZ didn't) Once the split occurred, Oracle actually took the lead until they tacked. When they crossed just behind ETNZ, it was still game over. Oracle was smokin up wind. Had ETNZ tacked at the cross, again race over due to the time lost to tack.

[Julie Mor]

Just saw this interesting fun fact...

According to Coutts, a four-time America's Cup winner with an engineering background, Oracle's shore crew and designers never stood pat seeking tiny improvements.

Coutts said that among other things they altered the weighting of the boat by bottom loading the 131-foot carbon fiber wing and adjusted the load sharing on the foils.

"The major changes in my view were the balance of the boat," he said. "Then there were a bunch of little changes that just reduced the drag a few kilos here, a few kilograms there, and all the sudden you have an edge," he added.

That was why Oracle, unlike the Kiwis, repeatedly took to the water with a new "measurement certificate" -- boating parlance indicating it had made slight changes to the configuration, within the rules.

America's Cup champions discuss secret to their success