Sail GP

Bobc

Bobc

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Surprised not to see anything on here about it.

Bermuda regatta just happened last weekend. Full race coverage is on Youtube.

8 F50 foiling cats, fleet racing on a narrow course. Highly entertaining.

I won't tell you the result in case you want to go and watch it.
 
I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching the Sail GP races. Goes to show that if a match race is close, it's great but in fleet racing there's always something going on.
 
Jonny A said:
I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching the Sail GP races. Goes to show that if a match race is close, it's great but in fleet racing there's always something going on.
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I agree. If they can really get this going, with 15-20 teams and a fully global race programme (which they have a good chance of doing now), then it could start to go more mainstream, which would be great for our sport.
 
What a comeback from from ainslie & co after disastrous first few races. Thought that they were toast after that.feel for the Aussies. Ainslie looks knackered all the time. Strain terrible. Hope he gives the next AC a miss .just love this gp format.
 
anderson1947 said:
What a comeback from from ainslie & co after disastrous first few races. Thought that they were toast after that.feel for the Aussies. Ainslie looks knackered all the time. Strain terrible. Hope he gives the next AC a miss .just love this gp format.
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That's classic Ben. Always puts himself under pressure and then pulls it out of the bag when it counts.
 
Often the word amazing is over used, but the racing footage really is quite amazing - I thought it was on fast forward / 3x speed when first started. 90kmh boat speeds and tight passes, nail biting edge of seat stuff.
 
Yup say what you like about foiling boats but that was some of the most exciting and entertaining sail boat racing that I've seen
 
I thought it was brilliant... and the ability to watch it "live" on Youtube on the big TV was a game changer.. the second days racing was unbelievable.. fairly clear that focus on the AC has resulted in the expected favorites languishing at the bottom at the end of Day 1 but they pick it up very quickly..!
 
loved it, this was so much more entertaining than the AC thats just been ran. looking forward to the next one
 
Bobc said:
I'm booked in for both days at Plymouth. Seemed rude not to.
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Went up there today - quite amazed how much of the Hoe has been fenced off for paying customers only. In fact it was a pain in the arse getting back to my bike. Luckily the fencing is pretty weak so a few of us took a short cut.

Looks like quite an event. Unfortunately I'll be in London racing skateboards. I'd have liked to have watched it from the water - they've generously allowed an area you can 'Watch from your own boat', though whether you have to pay to do that is unclear.

An information board by the race village states there are 5 crew: 2 grinders, a trimmer, a helmsman and a 'flight coordinator'. It's sailing, but not as I know it!
 
Looks like it might be another victim of weather. Deader than disco here (Cornwall) currently. Maybe a bit of sea breeze as the day goes on, but yeah.

They thinned out crew numbers last event to get weight down so they'd get up on the foils, which led to pretty rubbo racing, from what I understand (still haven't found the time to watch the replays).

To quote the usual sailing phrase, "it's not normally like this here".
 
I am sure that there will be a sea breeze established in the middle of the sound both days by the time that they are intending to race, the one snag is that you often get a very soft / unstable zone out by the breakwater in these conditions so they have to e careful not to put the windward marks too far out.
 
Ingwe said:
I am sure that there will be a sea breeze established in the middle of the sound both days by the time that they are intending to race, the one snag is that you often get a very soft / unstable zone out by the breakwater in these conditions so they have to e careful not to put the windward marks too far out.
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I've experienced situations where the sea breeze cancels out a light northerly wind. Further from land the less this has an effect, but it might be what happens over the weekend.

What sort of wind strength is needed to get up on the foils?
 
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