Because doing a normal 360 or a 720 would be a disaster in these boats, they normally enforce a 30 second penalty to your time, by making a boat 'slow down' until the gap has changed by 30 seconds.Can someone explain the penalties? What do they have to do or how are they enforced.
That is just mimicking the winch grinding as they could very well have a reservoir tank that could be pressurized just a couple of times during the race. They just had to put that in there to keep the semblance that a grinding crew was necessary.They're putting pressure into the hydraulics that work the wing and foil adjustments. They have to keep doing it so the boat always has the power to tack and gybe.
Cheers! Alastair.
Looks like 3 actually. From the class rules:I think they actually have two accumulator tanks but they are not very big so they have to continuously pump to keep up the pressure.
Would seem that having to do a 360 would be one heck of an incentive to avoid penalties.Because doing a normal 360 or a 720 would be a disaster in these boats, they normally enforce a 30 second penalty to your time, by making a boat 'slow down' until the gap has changed by 30 seconds.
actually, it is "two boat lengths" (however calculated??)by making a boat 'slow down' until the gap has changed by 30 seconds.
on the last weekend, the Oracle team removed at least one of the accumulators (to save weight)Looks like 3 actually. From the class rules
Right. Not sure why I have 30 seconds on the brain. The umps can see the computer overlay on their screens and keep their penalty awarded light on until the penalized boat clears the foul by backing off so a full two boatlength gap is added to the up or downind ladder-gap between them.actually, it is "two boat lengths" (however calculated??)
At least we have the fun of watching them scurry across the webbing (and occasionally flying right off the boat!).why not eliminate them altogether
Excellent point. The AC class back in the day when races were held off Newport was no doubt a boring spectator sport for the average person, but to experienced racers it was very exciting. The boats were basically evenly matched with the naval architects struggling to outsmart each other within the rule. The races were boat on boat held in RI Sound with tricky wind shifts and currents. Good tactics and strategy sometimes won out over boat speed. The personalities were there with people like Ted Turner, Ted Hood, Dennis Conner and others. Who can forget Turner's famous line when he sailed a radically designed 12 which was slow in comparison to the rest of the fleet. "...Even a turd is pointed at both ends...". The AC series was held only every 4 years and when it came, it was the whole summer in Newport. The races just sucked all the oxygen out of the summer. But, it was not easy to see the races as news coverage was sparse the one could only really witness the racing by taking a boat out to the course. However it was not possible to get close and there was a risk of being run over by a large fleet of big, fast powerboats. But once again, unless one was an experienced racing sailor, the whole thing really was difficult to understand. But the excitement was still there. Then everything changed when the Aussies designed the winged keel and destroyed Dennis Conner that year and the cup went to Australia. It seemed at that time the media coverage stepped it up and there was really good TV coverage of the races and you could actually see the tactical moves play out. But again, unless a spectator understood sailboat racing rules, tactics, and strategy, I can see how it might have been boring. But again, if a person didn't understand sailboat racing, why would they watch?Count me as a contrarian here...but probably with the consensus everywhere else in the sports world - traditional sailboat racing is a boring spectator sport. Might be fun to participate but when you have to sit there and watch boats amble around the buoys, well you see how many people show up to watch even the big events. Foiling Americas Cup brought many many spectators and the San Francisco tech guys have done a remarkable job of making the action understandable with superimposed laylines, gates, gridded course and speed feeds. A sail race that is completed at 35kts and is over in 15 minutes is what most people want to watch. This is battle and contest at the bleeding edge of sailing (sailing and flying) using the best technology and the world's best athletes. Going back to watching traditional AC racing would like spending a weekend at a Civil War re-enactment and assuming that it was anything like the real thing. Top tier sailing was always about speed, and now we have speed that anyone can see and marvel at. Well done New Zealand, you brought your best and proved yourselves to be the champions.