Americas cup (spoiler alert)

[davidej]

I'm surprised that there is no discussion now Ineos is out.

Two all and plenty to play for. A good start seems critical even though we don't see much sign of classic match racing tactics.

 

[Tomahawk]

Not much of a spolier..

 

[Rum_Pirate]

They, boats and crew, so far appear evenly matched.
It seems that the smallest single mistake, a second or so at the start, one slightly slower tack or gybe etc and the race is lost.
Course seems too short to allow any real recovery.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I hoped that NZ must have had some underlying confidence in their speed or the left side to have let LR go uncovered after their first tack on leg 1, R4. Seems they were right!

 

[scottie]

Thank you for spoiler warning

However the official site does not seem to bother as the result is headlined

 

[Laser310]

certainly it's not very compelling...

As I said in the other thread - I would like to see a few races without the course boundaries; there might be better passing opportunities. At least the boat a head will be more inclined to cover the boat behind. Also, the presence of actual laylines will open up some tactical opportunities.

 

[Topcat47]

Since San Fransisco, the AC has been raced inshore where spectators can see. This means that you need space for the Spectator fleet (a lot of people like to think you see more from the water) which rather necessitates a racetrack. I'd hate to be at anchor and have these two bearing down on me match racing.

 

[Laser310]

Since San Fransisco, the AC has been raced inshore where spectators can see. This means that you need space for the Spectator fleet (a lot of people like to think you see more from the water) which rather necessitates a racetrack. I'd hate to be at anchor and have these two bearing down on me match racing.

There were spectators when it was raced in 12m yachts in Newport, with no boundaries.

anyway - we don't know how it will go.., but if we have an entire AC decided by who gets port entry, with no passing.., they will need to do something...

 

[TLouth7]

I'm surprised that there is no discussion now Ineos is out.

There is, over on Scuttlebutt.

I am less confident in my prediction that the Italians will be able to capitalise on their better tactics and manoeuvres than I was after the first day, but will stick with that assessment in the absence of any other hot takes.

What is clear is that each race has one moment which decides it (excluding massive unforced errors), and that is often in the pre-start or pretty early on the first beat.

It was really nice today to see how superficially similar starts gave the advantage to opposite boats. In the first there was too much gap, allowing the Italians to tack after the Kiwis and slightly to windward. In the second the Kiwis managed to close the gap in the last few seconds, forcing the Italians to tack off early and giving the Kiwis a slight edge.

 

[Topcat47]

There were spectators when it was raced in 12m yachts in Newport, with no boundaries.

anyway - we don't know how it will go.., but if we have an entire AC decided by who gets port entry, with no passing.., they will need to do something...

I don't know about Newport, I wasn't there. A lot of the 12 meter stuff was out of sight of land. We at least get some really good TV out of this format. Have all the results in the run up gone the way of Port Entry (apart from the American crash)? I haven't thought that deeply about it

 

[Kukri]

It is often said that the best racing, from the point of view of the spectators, was the Fremantle Cup, which was raced in fresh consistent winds (“the Fremantle Doctor”) and in waves.

Certainly the best television!

 

[RJJ]

It is often said that the best racing, from the point of view of the spectators, was the Fremantle Cup, which was raced in fresh consistent winds (“the Fremantle Doctor”) and in waves.

Certainly the best television!

I still say the best was in the final couple of IACC editions, when the designs were highly evolved and several races were conducted entirely within seconds/feet of each other.

There were also dazzling displays in the pre-start. I remember one where the tailed boat used the pin to tack around and then gybed between the tailing boat and the pin; you were watching it thinking they'd never get the bow down fast enough and it would be a 10 knot T-bone, but they made it with about 2 feet to spare.

 

[RAI]

Good to see such balance results, makes for a long series, first to seven wins.

 

[bdh198]

Since San Fransisco, the AC has been raced inshore where spectators can see. This means that you need space for the Spectator fleet (a lot of people like to think you see more from the water) which rather necessitates a racetrack. I'd hate to be at anchor and have these two bearing down on me match racing.

I watched the 2015 World Series in Portsmouth from a boat in the spectator area on the water. It was rubbish from a spectator perspective. I then watched the 2016 World Series when it came back to Portsmouth in 2016 from the race village in Southsea. It was considerably better and very enjoyable.

 

[Laser310]

I watched the 5th race.., but as soon as I saw the start of the 6th.., I turned it off - not worth the time to watch with a foregone conclusion.

It was unfortunate for LR - they sailed into a huge hole while NZ had great wind. You could clearly see the hole from the helicopter camera. I wonder how visible it was on the water...

 

[RAI]

First to start, first to finish. Getting too predictable.

 

[davierobb]

It seems to be following F1 , the turbulence the lead boat/car causes the boat/car following so many problems that overtaking isn't possible. I've watched all the races but have to confess to fast forwarding entire races. The commentators make it sound like fantastic entertainment but in reality a 30 minute race has only a few minutes of watchable TV.
The NZ skipper acknowledged in an interview that they hadn't fully understood the effect of the wash or dirty air and that they were still trying to work out the area it extended to.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Possibly the most suspenseful day so far.

 

[Tomahawk]

It’s not over till its over

 

[Rob_Webb]

Which it now is.

Question is whether the next event will be in 4yrs time in Auckland again or - as rumoured - next year in the Isle of Wight against sole challenger Ineos???!!