America's Cup

[shemandr]

Its on right now on my computer.
BMW blew the start. I'm a middle of the pack in club leved racing guy. And I would not have gotten caught OCS in light air.
Anyway its evident that BMW is higher and faster upwind. We'll see about the downwind.

http://www.americascup.com/en/regate/regarder-la-course/show.php

 

[Deadhead]

Here Too

http://bmworacleracing.com/en/news/livestream/?track.refer=/en/index.html&track.type=home

Finally! A race.

 

[shemandr]

2,000 meter lead - its a horizon job. Now its 3000 meters. BMW has downwind speed too. They're calling this a technological breakthrough. I'd have to agree. Its now contest. We'll all be sailing wings someday. - it looks pretty darn exciting. I'd love to get a ride on it.

 

[RECESS]

I am not sure how many of you have a PS3, but if you do, it will display the videos on www.americascup.com on full screen in impressive quality on the TV.

 

[shemandr]

Can you elaborate about the PS3. I would love to be able to watch on my full sized HD TV with sound I can turn up enough to hear instead of a tiny box on the computer.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Its about the Play Station 3. Now I wish that I owned one. You can read about it here Andrew: http://uk.playstation.com/ps3/hardware/accessories/detail/item102429/PlayTV™/ .

But maybe we can do this instead: http://pctvcables.com/?gclid=CKLM8La-758CFdx05Qod8R-ydg .

 

[RECESS]

You just use the web browser on the Play Station 3. No additional equipment necessary. It does not do the live streaming from the site but will play all the videos on it. There are several areas under videos on the website. Under the Races tab there is a 26 minute race highlight video that displays in very impressive quality. I have a 56" HDTV and it is stunning to watch it. It displays it full screen, you just have to click the small box on the lower right corner for it to go full screen. It is a streaming video so the playback not constantly reloading depends on your connection speed. I have a t3 connection so I do not experience any lag.

 

[shemandr]

No play station 3 here. I did look at the cables website and I think I found one that will connect my laptop to my TV. If racing today is cancelled I may order it. If I pay the shipping I could have it for the next race. But, we're talking over $60. That's a bit dear just for what could be one more race! Can you imagine how much money the contestants spent for just a few races?
My opinion of this event has changed - for the better. On some level this competition fits the original format of the AC challenge. An audatious challege to the establishment of racing using technology to transform the future of racing. So I think it legitimate - a bit over the top but legitmate. I don't see them going back to monohulls; or at least not back to the sea slugs that were the 12 meters.

 

[Deadhead]

It's A Go.

Today's race is on. Start is less than 10 minutes.

 

[Tom S]

Americas Cup Race 2 is on !

http://www.americascup.com/en/regate/regarder-la-course/

BMW Oracle wins this race today and the cup comes home !

(Alinghi already has a penalty in the pre-start "box" too early and BMW Oracle over the line first)

 

[sfgary]

Race over

BMW just won, the cup is coming to San Francisco bay!!!! We had both of those teams on the bay back in 2007 for the Moet cup and was a blast to watch. Can't wait for the cup to be sailed here. Gary

 

[jibes138]

Rumour is that Larry Ellison will be defending the cup using Annapolis, MD as the home port. According to Larry, the next cup will be raced in home made wooden dinghies to keep the cost down and make it accessible to more sailors. Optimist is the platform of choice at this time.

 

[Lee C - H31]

Amazing boats

From the standpoint of cutting edge technology, what a competition.

 

[jibes138]

Really amazing boats. Imagine going 33 knots as reported today with only about 8 knots of wind. The reduction in drag is incredible. The chase boats with double outboards were having trouble keeping up with them. What do you do with a boat like this now?? The wing can't stay up, how do you control it while moored or docked?
I remember seeing trimarans in Newport, RI following a transatlantic race. I think they crossed in about 11 days. Fantastic technology back them, these are drastically more advanced but you have to wonder how they would be in 30 knots of wind? Definitely tailored to the prevailing conditions expected.

 

[Mac Daddy]

They let the wing weathervane while docked.

 

[RichBone]

Maybe we'll be able to see in HD on tv next time.

Rich

 

[higgs]

Estimates are that teams combined spent $400 mil. That boils down to each race costing $200 mil. Sounds like a good argument for tax increases on the rich.

 

[ghost]

The AC boats were impressive because of their size & speed. It is great to see the the technical advances that will one day have a "trickle down" to everyday boats however the race was boring( and I'm a club racer!)

These boats are too big and fast to allow for close quarter battles between boats. It was a "drag race" around the course. They might as well have sent the boats around the course on their own and timed them. Quickest time around wins. I didn't see the pre start activities but the race itself had no boat to boat interactions except for the one port/ starboard crossing just before the windward mark.

What about the lack of tacks & jibes? They didn't even have real spinnakers, just gennakers on furlers. Not much crew work required other than pumping ballast water into the windward pontoon.

It's no wonder there was no interest from the TV networks to cover the "race".

They have to step back and go with mono hulls that are more nimble and the racing is more geared to boat vs boat with more emphasis on great crew work.

One simple rule....60 feet LOA monohull. May the best boat/crew/design/ win.

 

[rpwillia]

Here is a better rule mod

Let them each have a cannon onboard they can shoot at each other. I am sure Larry and Ernesto will go for that.

 

[Salty]

I am wondering why this race is still called the America's Cup when I cannot even find the results in any the sports section. I agree that they should move back to monohull and they should bring back some nationality in the event (i.e Stars and Stripes). I see this event as Rich boys playing with their toys hiring the best and building the fastest contraction that can use the wind to get around a course. The American cup doesn't have that feel anymore. Its sad because we are losing a great opportunity try to get people into the sport. I couldn't even get to watch the race, so I looked at the movie "Wind" instead, which was a better choice. It was fun to watch and represented an era when real men sailed real boats.