I find it somewhat embarrassing. Especially the ability to do math.Don, thanks.
MOST folks don't know the REAL score is + whatever it is to MINUS 1.
Even the bloody "commentators."
USA Vs NZL
- Thread starter Don Guillette
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Wow, some pretty strong opinions. I'll add a few more:
1. The racing is great. Fast boats, interesting tactics, lots of action. The venue is up-close and personal (SF rocks!).
2. I've really enjoyed the TV coverage. In general I think the commentators are doing a fine job. I've seen graphics intended to give non-sailers information to get them into the basics, as well as information befitting the most seasoned racers.
3. The soap opera drama of cheating and the various accusations and trash talk are stupid and defeat the purpose of presenting a stellar regatta. One newspaper talked about "Ascot wearing whiners", and that hit it on the head. The boats are so expensive that it priced out most entries. That's really a shame.
4. The boats push the technology envelope. Good. The America (replica) was out there today. It pushed the technology of the time. The larger bows of the Team Emirates allow them to accelerate faster than Oracle. Good to know. You can now buy bolt-on hydrofoils for your laser, cool. Cats are exciting!!
5. Stan Honey's graphics have changed forever TV coverage of sailing. It is just fabulous.
6. The reason why they keep talking about the "cone" is because that is the part of the wind/current lee that is on the race course. The part that is off the race course just doesn't exist in the context of the race. And yes, a couple of miles an hour can make a difference.
7. New Zealand is kicking our (USA) butt. I've rooted for USA every Cup since I was a kid. I'm never gonna stop. However, any discussion of which people are nicer, or better or any other personal judgment is just ... well, I'm just not going there. If NZ continues to dominate the regatta, good on 'em. I talked to a guy on the NZ team this morning and wished him good luck (but didn't tell him, not as good as ours!).
8. Don started this off by inviting some of us to his fantasy party. Gee, what about the rest of us? Since it's a fantasy anyway, let's just invite us all!
9. I'm disappointed in the sailing of the Oracle team. I think the NZ boat is faster (especially in the acceleration after course changes), but Really Guys???
I went out this morning (races 6 &7) and sailed around the staging area, saw the mega-yachts and got a real close look at the two racing boats. Saw an AC class monohull, and the "America" under sail. It was incredible. We set up near the downwind gate and could see the racers foiling towards us, then coming around the mark. My brother had a TV set up (inverters are great) and we watched the action up-wind of us and really had a sense of what was going on. I'm telling you guys, it was absolutely incredible. For me this has been an awesome regatta. Yes, lots of mistakes, but also some real excitement.
1. The racing is great. Fast boats, interesting tactics, lots of action. The venue is up-close and personal (SF rocks!).
2. I've really enjoyed the TV coverage. In general I think the commentators are doing a fine job. I've seen graphics intended to give non-sailers information to get them into the basics, as well as information befitting the most seasoned racers.
3. The soap opera drama of cheating and the various accusations and trash talk are stupid and defeat the purpose of presenting a stellar regatta. One newspaper talked about "Ascot wearing whiners", and that hit it on the head. The boats are so expensive that it priced out most entries. That's really a shame.
4. The boats push the technology envelope. Good. The America (replica) was out there today. It pushed the technology of the time. The larger bows of the Team Emirates allow them to accelerate faster than Oracle. Good to know. You can now buy bolt-on hydrofoils for your laser, cool. Cats are exciting!!
5. Stan Honey's graphics have changed forever TV coverage of sailing. It is just fabulous.
6. The reason why they keep talking about the "cone" is because that is the part of the wind/current lee that is on the race course. The part that is off the race course just doesn't exist in the context of the race. And yes, a couple of miles an hour can make a difference.
7. New Zealand is kicking our (USA) butt. I've rooted for USA every Cup since I was a kid. I'm never gonna stop. However, any discussion of which people are nicer, or better or any other personal judgment is just ... well, I'm just not going there. If NZ continues to dominate the regatta, good on 'em. I talked to a guy on the NZ team this morning and wished him good luck (but didn't tell him, not as good as ours!).
8. Don started this off by inviting some of us to his fantasy party. Gee, what about the rest of us? Since it's a fantasy anyway, let's just invite us all!
9. I'm disappointed in the sailing of the Oracle team. I think the NZ boat is faster (especially in the acceleration after course changes), but Really Guys???
I went out this morning (races 6 &7) and sailed around the staging area, saw the mega-yachts and got a real close look at the two racing boats. Saw an AC class monohull, and the "America" under sail. It was incredible. We set up near the downwind gate and could see the racers foiling towards us, then coming around the mark. My brother had a TV set up (inverters are great) and we watched the action up-wind of us and really had a sense of what was going on. I'm telling you guys, it was absolutely incredible. For me this has been an awesome regatta. Yes, lots of mistakes, but also some real excitement.
Team USA needs to learn how to lead the upwind leg.They have yet to dish any dirty air upon the Kiwi's.Twice now,they have let them separate at the leward mark after having the lead.The first time on tues.They tried a foiling tack at the mark.Quite possibly the most ridiculous maneuver at that point in the race.The boat darn near stopped.With all due respect to JK these are not monohulls!Could they not have sailed at least a few boat lengths and stayed on nzl's air? Even a slower boat might have success if they placed a hard cover and dished some dirt. Just venting a little but I am loving watching this event.It seems these are the most difficult sailing machines to master.They sail much more like iceboats than any other type of sailboat.Hoping to watch much more of this in the future...Barry
Jviss, having lived in the US, Australia and NZ I'm not surprised by the number of people moving from the US to NZ
There's something definitely wrong with Oracle. Upwind the boat is slightly bow-down and stern up; and, occasionally the lee bow dips and drags in the water. The balance of this boat is out-of-kilter which requires more foil attack angle (slightly more drag) to keep it level, in comparison to the Kiwis.
The foiling tack was just plain stupid even if they could have pulled it off, it left Oracle vulnerable. Would have been better for Oracle to stretch out on starboard after the mark and then tack over to cover ETNZ or simply 'stretch out the lead'. Tacking over to port by Oracle gave ETNZ the choice to follow or split; the split gave ETNZ clear air and Oracle couldnt respond because of its low speed due to the 'dumb' tack. ETNZ chose wisely and stretched out on stb. and in clear air. Kostecki blew the race with that foil tack which left Oracle no options. Slower boats can win; but, only if the tactics are supreme.
Brilliant analysis, I concur.
You should be a commentator, not these jokers they have on NBC!
I am puzzled by Oracle's failure to cover after turning upwind at mark 2. Seems like the only strategy that would work in a boat that's apparently slower, and slower upwind.
Kostecki couldnt cover because of the drastically poor boat speed, they simply didnt have much speed/momentum on as a result of the tack and thus couldnt tack back to cover ... AND with a slower boat two tacks is a death sentence when your obviously faster competitor only takes a single tack.
They could have easily covered if they simply stretched out on stb ... and still had the option to tack once if ETNZ had committed to a tack. Tacking over prematurely and unnecessarily was a death sentence for the slower boat. VERY BAD tactics lost that race.
They could have easily covered if they simply stretched out on stb ... and still had the option to tack once if ETNZ had committed to a tack. Tacking over prematurely and unnecessarily was a death sentence for the slower boat. VERY BAD tactics lost that race.
There is are major difference sailing cats compared with monos that I think some folks really miss. These things are true of beach cats and even more true here:
- Cats tack way slower than they sail. Some folks think they don't tack well; not true, since they carry more speed through a tack than most of our boats will EVER see. But even with beach cats, tacking costs boats lengths.
- Dirty air is hard to dish out on boats that reach much faster than they point; the guy simply puts the bow down for a few seconds. There are some things you can do, but close cover almost never works. It CERTAINLY is the wrong strategy if you have more more up-wind speed, as NZ has learned; better off building lead.
- Boat speed is everything. Clear air, shifts, waves, current. Tactics are cool, but in multihull sailing the balance of importance is different. If the other guy is faster he's going to get away, simply by drag racing away. That's all. Try to cover a beach cat someday.
Well, here are the numbers.
Over the last 12 years (all the data I have) there has been a net loss of folks from the US to NZ of 2,361 people. That means the net of US to NZ minus NZ to US. For example, in 2011 803 people immigrated from NZ to US, and 1182 the other way, for a net loss of 379 for the US.
So how does one crunch this? Considering that the population of the US is 314M and NZ 4.4M, one might view it as saying that in 2011 .02% of NZ's population immigrated to the US, while .0004% of the US's population immigrated to NZ. So, the flow, normalized for population, is 50 times greater NZ to US than the other way.
In beach cat racing,covering is a "textbook" tactic.Especially if you are a slower boat and find yourself leading at the leward mark.Why would they give the faster boat a clean lane by splitting tacks.I understand course conditions and all but geeze.
http://www.americascup.com/en/news/3/news/18132/pedrick-ac72-technology-is-a-moon-shot An interesting article.
There was a headline in the sporting section of the SF Chronicle this morning: NBC Reviewing Commercial Breaks. They mentioned that the races are 23 to 25 minutes long, but NBC does TWO commercials during the races. However, during soccer matches that last 45 minutes each half, they don't interrupt the "action."
Helpful of NBC, isn't it? And they "wonder" why no one watches. It's not that time sensitive, so we plug our laptop into our widescreen HD TV and watch the whole thing, no commercials.
NBC?
Clueless.
Helpful of NBC, isn't it? And they "wonder" why no one watches. It's not that time sensitive, so we plug our laptop into our widescreen HD TV and watch the whole thing, no commercials.
NBC?
Clueless.
What the hell is this garbage? NBC is televising a freaking golf game in my area. With the damn delay I can't get anything through Youtube. Stu, go thump those jokers for me will ya? Especially after that recovery by ETNZ. How did they pull that off?
Holy crap!! I thought NZ was going over!!
Anyway -- Rich H, what's it mean to "hook" in the starting area and what's the advantage.
Anyway -- Rich H, what's it mean to "hook" in the starting area and what's the advantage.
Same here. I still have an antenna on the roof so Channel 11.2 (COZI TV) instead of NBC channel 11.1 is showing it. I've never seen a guide for the subchannels now that broadcast tv is digital. Since I only have the cheap satellite package I can't TiVo 11.2 and its not scheduled to broadcast on 11 until 9/17 (after the AC is over). My schedule is clear for live viewing now.
Leeward boat forcing the windward boat to luff upwind, no? It looks like they try to time it just so the windward boat can't recover when time goes to 0.
Spoiler alert: if you haven't watched yet and don't want to know anything about Saturday's races, don't read this post!
Has anyone mentioned that Oracle won? Wow. True, it was certainly clinched by TNZ's near capsize, and windward/leeward penalty, but I think one of the factors that led to that was that TNZ was rattled by USA's startling good performance: good speed downwind, losing not a second on the first downwind leg, and gaining upwind! Surprising, considering past history, and certainly a factor in Barker's head, I think.
Apparently the near-capsize was due to lack of hydraulic pressure. Considering they went ahead with the race two start without repairs, it seems likely it was a crew mistake or performance issue, not to keep the hydraulic pressure up.
Good win for Oracle. Now to win nine races before TNZ wins three more!
Has anyone mentioned that Oracle won? Wow. True, it was certainly clinched by TNZ's near capsize, and windward/leeward penalty, but I think one of the factors that led to that was that TNZ was rattled by USA's startling good performance: good speed downwind, losing not a second on the first downwind leg, and gaining upwind! Surprising, considering past history, and certainly a factor in Barker's head, I think.
Apparently the near-capsize was due to lack of hydraulic pressure. Considering they went ahead with the race two start without repairs, it seems likely it was a crew mistake or performance issue, not to keep the hydraulic pressure up.
Good win for Oracle. Now to win nine races before TNZ wins three more!
A more realistic goal for Oracle might be to increase their total to greater than a net 0 number of wins.
I don't know, man, they seem to have found the recipe. Sure, it's a daunting challenge, but what a story it would make! Just think if TNZ had capsized that boat, considering the damage that would have been done, and the fact that they've cannibalized boat 2 for part already, they could have been seriously handicapped going forward.
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