First AC race

[Lightwave395]

Postponed through lack of wind it seems, there wasn't much breeze yesterday either when NZ showed the rest how to do it

37th America's Cup

 

[Lightwave395]

Now cancelled for today...

 

[Minerva]

Ach the Americas cup lawyers don’t need wind to have a good old scrap. I bet they’ll find something to argue about and bill some hours too regardless.

 

[xcw]

It was cancelled due to a major storm coming in, lightening and poor visibility, not lack of wind. I was there yesterday and fun (ish) to watch from the beach but as always with yacht racing you really couldn't see much from the beach and the large screens were not broadcasting the practice races, just a series of adverts. Ineos we conspicuous by there absence from the race village; no stand like the other competitors and no Ineos merchandise in the shop - very strange.

 

[Wansworth]

Storms forecast all weekend

 

[jlavery]

Well today's races were a farce I think. If you stayed on the foils you were "there", if you didn't you were toast.

The counterpoint is that the skilled teams managed it. Or did they? I reckon there was too much luck in it with marginal conditions.

 

[xcw]

Well today's races were a farce I think. If you stayed on the foils you were "there", if you didn't you were toast.

The counterpoint is that the skilled teams managed it. Or did they? I reckon there was too much luck in it with marginal conditions.

It doesn't look as if there is much more wind today....

 

[Wansworth]

The reason why the Roman’s used oar and sail the Mediterranean winds are not totally reliable……..now the rias bajas say the ria de Vigo whould be perfect

 

[jlavery]

Shocking performance by INEOS Britannia - Ben really doesn't seem to have got to grips with these boats. A real shame.

Then the match race final is skunked by too little wind.

All in all, makes the whole thing a disappointment for me.

 

[xcw]

Maybe slightly controversial but has Sir Ben passed his best? Very poor results this weekend (albeit in light winds) and hardly spectacular results in recent Sail GP races (obviously with the exception of the last race). Consistency is critical. I hope I'm wrong but it's not looking too encouraging.

 

[Ingwe]

Maybe slightly controversial but has Sir Ben passed his best? Very poor results this weekend (albeit in light winds) and hardly spectacular results in recent Sail GP races (obviously with the exception of the last race). Consistency is critical. I hope I'm wrong but it's not looking too encouraging.

I think the answer to that is probably as I cannot think of any other sport where you would have a 46 year old trying to compete at the top level of what is now effectively a reaction sport.

I suspect you probably do not want traditional sailors helming these boats at all as most of them are just unnecesarily big, I would guess that both Ben and Giles are getting on for 30kg each heavier than most of the F1 drivers and as I am sure they spend literally millions of pounds trying to reduce the boat weight by 100kg it just doesn't make sense to have tall heavy guys sailing them. If one of the teams was really serious about taking a slightly longer term view they should pick up a couple of the motor racing drivers who aren't quite going to make it into F1 and train them up to sail these boats as the traditional skill sets that you learn from working your way up through dinghy sailing etc just does not reward the right characteristics to be the best in these modern foiling boats where reaction speeds and quick decision making are far more important than physical strength and tactics.

 

[dunedin]

I think the answer to that is probably as I cannot think of any other sport where you would have a 46 year old trying to compete at the top level of what is now effectively a reaction sport.

Well except that Ben’s arch UK rival Paul Goodson, also about 46, was playing a leading role on the winning USA boat.

 

[awol]

The only Brit to have actually helmed AC winners was 35 when he won his 1st. He was dead by 46.

 

[dunedin]

The only Brit to have actually helmed AC winners was 35 when he won his 1st. He was dead by 46.

Charlie boy of Gourock ….. Charlie Barr - Wikipedia

 

[jlavery]

Think Ben's pretty honest here that they took their eyes off the ball, and weren't prepared.

 

[Bobc]

Well that event was a complete joke.

 

[jlavery]

Well that event was a complete joke.

There is that as well. Marginal foiling conditions for most of the races, luck of the draw whether you managed to stay foiling or not (yes, I know there's skill too but...).

In conventional racing there's the option to abandon a race if the RC deem conditions to be unfair - massive windshifts which invert the fleet, or not enough wind. Problem is of course, if one boat manages to complete in the time limit then by definition "the race was sailable".

I think the RC with these boats needs a better definition of what's sailable and fair. I reckon the conditions were unsuitable. And not just because Ben did badly! Look at the Swiss who led nearly an entire race, dropped off the foils and lost out.

A joke.

 

[Wansworth]

Back to proper boats then

 

[jlavery]

Back to proper boats then

Well I think that would be a good move. But less of a "spectacle" for people who don't know much about yacht racing.

 

[dunedin]

Well I think that would be a good move. But less of a "spectacle" for people who don't know much about yacht racing.

Why would that be a good thing? And what would be “proper boats”? Gaff rigged schooners? Seawanhaka rule gaff sloops? Foiling cats?
And bear in mind all the competitors and most of the target audience will be massively younger than the average age of this forum’s participants.