Having won the America’s cup....

[flaming]

Do you (depending on your scoreline on a given day) choose a foil that's a bandit for the forecast wind, but risks being unable to take off? Or do you forego a knot of top speed for ol'reliable?

The rules for this cup are that you have to measure your boat in several days ahead of each round, and then items like foils, hull, mast etc cannot be changed. So you're picking a foil to work across the wind range you expect for the next round. If the Prada cup goes the distance that is 10 days.... So really you're looking for a foil to perform right across the wind range that the RC are allowed to start racing in. But you're going to have decided if you expect more light air, or more heavy air...

 

[LONG_KEELER]

The rules for this cup are that you have to measure your boat in several days ahead of each round, and then items like foils, hull, mast etc cannot be changed. So you're picking a foil to work across the wind range you expect for the next round. If the Prada cup goes the distance that is 10 days.... So really you're looking for a foil to perform right across the wind range that the RC are allowed to start racing in. But you're going to have decided if you expect more light air, or more heavy air...

Do the teams have their own weather satellites ?

It seems that they can choose their own headsails on race days .

 

[Frogmogman]

Not looking too good right now, at 4 nil down, but those of us who have followed Sir Ben's career know that it ain't over until it's over.

Can he pull something out of the bag, as he did with team Oracle in 2013 ?

 

[Daydream believer]

At least we can forget worrying about where to sight the venue for the cup now !!!!!!

 

[Rob_Webb]

As a dual-passport citizen (born in UK but naturalised kiwi) living in Auckland I’m obviously in a state of mixed emotions. I love having the event on my doorstep just an hour from my marina berth but I also still love my country of birth and reckon the super-tough last couple of years of “BBC” (Brexit/Boris/Covid) means my beautiful homeland deserves a break - I wouldn’t mind a period of intolerably smug British media coverage to silence our similarly smug All Blacks-loving fan-boys & journos!

Meanwhile, I fear that LR have both the mental and physical edge over Ineos. Spithill is such a machine and he has won every race in his mind before he even crosses the start line.

But I dearly hope I’m wrong because I’d love to see a UK-NZ final..

 

[Frogmogman]

At least we can forget worrying about where to sight the venue for the cup now !!!!!!

At the risk of being accused of I-told-you-so-ism, that's pretty much what I suggested on 3rd Feb.

Let's get back to worrying about getting past Jimmy Spithill and Luna Rossa.

If chicken counting (prior to hatching) were a competitive sport, there might be a few on here who’d be in with a shout at a podium place.

Let’s get past Luna Rossa in the Prada Cup first.

 

[kof]

As they say, hope is always the last thing to die. Sadly I don't see Ineos coming back from 4 down given the way that Spithill and LR are performing. Like many match races, the pre-start is key and Spithill is winning these. If you lose the pre-start then you are relying on a mistake from the other team to open the door and let you back in and that's not a given with these teams.

Some great match racing today (yesterday?) and covering on the beats. Great to see that and who would have thought you could do that when going 30+ knots.

Just saw that Aukland has gone into a 3 day lockdown so possibly the next races will be delayed.

As a dual-passport citizen (born in UK but naturalised kiwi) living in Auckland I’m obviously in a state of mixed emotions. I love having the event on my doorstep just an hour from my marina berth but I also still love my country of birth and reckon the super-tough last couple of years of “BBC” (Brexit/Boris/Covid) means my beautiful homeland deserves a break - I wouldn’t mind a period of intolerably smug British media coverage to silence our similarly smug All Blacks-loving fan-boys & journos!

Meanwhile, I fear that LR have both the mental and physical edge over Ineos. Spithill is such a machine and he has won every race in his mind before he even crosses the start line.

But I dearly hope I’m wrong because I’d love to see a UK-NZ final..

 

[Rob_Webb]

Yes instead of a 2 day delay we are now looking at a 5 day window - possibly longer. That could help the Brits explore possible tweaks for extra boatspeed. Plus to remind themselves how to win a start.

 

[Roberto]

Yes instead of a 2 day delay we are now looking at a 5 day window - possibly longer. That could help the Brits explore possible tweaks for extra boatspeed. Plus to remind themselves how to win a start.

Not sure: Prada cup *has* to be finished by Feb24th, no matter what happens (possibly except a 6-6 draw), a week-ish+ lockdown would put it straight into LR hands.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yes instead of a 2 day delay we are now looking at a 5 day window - possibly longer. That could help the Brits explore possible tweaks for extra boatspeed. Plus to remind themselves how to win a start.

Are the teams allowed to tweak during lockdown?

 

[Bathdave]

Notwithstanding the fact the Ineos have not excelled at the starts, it is clear now that at this stage LR is faster, and as they are executing their manoeuvres smoothly, and the narrowness of the course and the boat speeds are largEly mitigating the effect of wind shifts, it seems that Ben is going to have to rely on cockups by LR

 

[Rob_Webb]

Are the teams allowed to tweak during lockdown?

Yes during L3 (which we’re in) they seem to be allowed out on the water much to everyone’s surprise - the rest of us are told “no recreational boating” so maybe they regard AC boats as somewhere in the twilight zone between recreation / sport and commercial. But hey it’s NZ so despite the “clean green & altruistic” image presented to the outside world it’s a country where money talks as much as anywhere else in the world. Which is why the foreign big spending AC teams and Amazon Prime film crews were allowed into NZ despite the border closure last year!

But on a more practical note we’re in the middle of an ex-tropical cyclone sweeping the North Island so it’s blowing 30-50kts for the next couple of days, which might keep them off the water even if lockdown doesn’t.

 

[Bathdave]

It looks like the Prada cup may be over and Luna Rossa to progress ...

a Barney between the organisers and the teams, due to Auckland lockdown.

Luna Ross think they should go through as they are leading 4-0, if whole series can’t be rescheduled to complete by 24th ...it looks like Auckland lockdown will continue , so arguments whether they can race in lockdown, whether series should be decided on water or in the courtroom

 

[westhinder]

It looks like the Prada cup may be over and Luna Rossa to progress ...

a Barney between the organisers and the teams, due to Auckland lockdown.

Luna Ross think they should go through as they are leading 4-0, if whole series can’t be rescheduled to complete by 24th ...it looks like Auckland lockdown will continue , so arguments whether they can race in lockdown, whether series should be decided on water or in the courtroom

Losing an incomplete series might be a nice face-saver (I'll get my coat)

 

[newtothis]

Losing an incomplete series might be a nice face-saver (I'll get my coat)

Don't think Ineos are going to be offered that option.
America's Cup 2021: Prada Cup racing to continue under level 2 without fans - NZ Herald