The 36th Americas Cup

[sunchaser]

Peter B
An Aussie boat you say? You mean a vessel skippered by a Kiwi, with sails made in a US space age loft, funded by the Saudis, software designed in Italy and carbon fiber from Japan? Today's AC is like a family dinner with the wind supplied by the host country.

But great fun with wonderful drone footage. Wonder where those drones are made

 

[FF]

"People have been complaining about the cost to campaign a racing yacht for 100+ years (auto racing too).

Falls under the category of rich - folk problems."

Rich folks can afford creative accountants and frequently can get the taxpayers to foot the fun stuff bills for some "business " reason.

Not saying its right , but it adds allure to becoming rich.

 

[OldDan1943]

Historically, if you were a big donor you could ride on the chase boat during a practice.
I do not know it is still available.
Thanks to the foils, it puts a new definition of "chase boat" LOL

 

[Peter B]

Peter B
An Aussie boat you say? You mean a vessel skippered by a Kiwi, with sails made in a US space age loft, funded by the Saudis, software designed in Italy and carbon fiber from Japan? Today's AC is like a family dinner with the wind supplied by the host country.
But great fun with wonderful drone footage. Wonder where those drones are made

A bit disingenuous there Sunchaser, surely..?
All campaigns as costly as these have to rely on significant financial support from sponsors. Emirates have been backers of Team NZ for decades, so in for the long haul, and the design was largely done in house, and NZ has always been regarded as in the forefront of the use of exotic materials.

Also Team NZ has a NZ crew and skipper.
However, the concept of professionals in sport is long established, so no biggie I guess, although I personally would favour the teams having to be nationals of their team country.

 

[sunchaser]

A bit disingenuous there Sunchaser, surely..?
All campaigns as costly as these have to rely on significant financial support from sponsors. Emirates have been backers of Team NZ for decades, so in for the long haul, and the design was largely done in house, and NZ has always been regarded as in the forefront of the use of exotic materials.

Also Team NZ has a NZ crew and skipper.
However, the concept of professionals in sport is long established, so no biggie I guess, although I personally would favour the teams having to be nationals of their team country.

Disingenuous? Absolutely. But as you say, NZ is at the forefront. Their product development, skills and capabilities have set the benchmark for others to follow and copy. An oft asked question was how could the challengers successfully move forward given the virus travel restrictions?

But you asked about Australia. It would seem that the path forward for the Aussies is to indeed emulate and avail themselves of the demonstrated expertise and knowledge of outsiders while soliciting offshore funding. This funding arises from tax friendly nations allowing the accumulation of individual wealth or non business related expenditures.

Question - is there an individual or syndicate in Australia onboard yet for the next AC? The Aussies and the AC have a great history. It would be nice to see them firmly in the game next time.

 

[Peter B]

Sorry folks, but the Prada Cup final series resumes on Saturday, 20th. The 5 & 6th races were programmed for Wed/Thurs, 17th & 18th NZ time, but a (hopefully quickly contained) covid outbreak in Auckland caused a short lockdown, necessarily delaying proceedings.

More info here...
https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1086_PRADA-CUP-FINAL-RESUMES-ON-SATURDAY-20-02-AT-4-00PM-NZT

Prada is currently 4-0 up, so the next couple of races are crucial for Ineos Britannia.

 

[Peter B]

Thank goodness..! Ineos Team Britannia finally managed to win the second race today, so now it's 5-0 to Prada, but the Brits are at least in with a chance.

The crucial thing appears to be winning the starts. They did win the start of the second race, having conceded a penalty at the start of the first. That Jimmy Spithill is one clever cookie when it comes to match racing tactics. Ben Ainslie is going to have to be very canny from here on out.

But they are in with a chance, because today, with a bigger jib in the second race at least, they had about 1 kn speed advantage both upwind and down. The highlights should be available now on Youtube for you non-antipodean folks.

 

[OldDan1943]

It would be nice if the boat representing a country would have the total crew from that country.

 

[Jeff F]

It would be nice if the boat representing a country would have the total crew from that country.

There are pretty strict residency requirements.

"An increased emphasis has been placed in the rules relating to nationality of the sailing crews whereby 20% (three crew), whichever is higher, must be citizens of the country of the competing yacht club. The remainder of the crew can be made up of residents of the challenging yacht club’s country which is defined by being physically present in that country for a minimum of 380 days over a two year period, between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2020"

https://www.americascup.com/en/official/the-protocol

 

[Peter B]

Update re AC actual cup final series

Dear all interested...Covid has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works, as a result of a small outbreak of cases escaping from the quarantine of some returning citizens, so they have moved from level 1 restrictions to level 3 in Auckland.

As a result, the races which were due to start on the 6th & 7th of March are postponed till at least the following Wednesday.

Y'all can keep updated by going on here...
https://www.americascup.com/en/home

and then going to here...
https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1140_36TH-AMERICAS-CUP-MATCH-COVID-19-RESTRICTIONS-UPDATE

Let's all keep our fingers crossed...

 

[Peter B]

36th America's Cup

Ok people interested in the above - and it you're not take a look anyway - you will be surprised..!

Race one begins 4pm NZ times tomorrow, Wednesday 10th March, then basically daily, 2 races each day until one boat has won 7 races. For some reason there's no race just Thursday this week.

I think it is available on YouTube for those where it is not on a regular TV channel.

See here...
https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1140_36TH-AMERICAS-CUP-MATCH-COVID-19-RESTRICTIONS-UPDATE

 

[koliver]

Ok people interested in the above - and it you're not take a look anyway - you will be surprised..!

Race one begins 4pm NZ times tomorrow, Wednesday 10th March, then basically daily, 2 races each day until one boat has won 7 races. For some reason there's no race just Thursday this week.

I think it is available on YouTube for those where it is not on a regular TV channel.

See here...
https://www.americascup.com/en/news/1140_36TH-AMERICAS-CUP-MATCH-COVID-19-RESTRICTIONS-UPDATE

Countdown is under way. Remember it is already tomorrow in NZ
2 hrs 20 minutes and the Real Racing begins.
www.americascup.com will get you there.

 

[Peter B]

Team NZ now one up. Second race about to start.

PS. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, (henceforth LRPP, or Team Italy), won race 2, so today ended 1-1. No race for some reason tomorrow, then daily until decided from Friday 12th.

 

[Peter B]

Race day two went 1 win apiece, so now 2 all, and day three's 2 races start soon. 1pm Australian Eastern time. 2pm AEDST.

 

[darkside]

Heading out on the course soon from Rakino Looks pretty light today as well.

 

[mvweebles]

It's a shame, but the AC YouTube channel is now impossible to navigate. I had been following via highlight reels due to time zone differences. AC has so many clips of interviews, tactics, rules, and other stuff that I can no longer find the race synopsis.

I'll read it when it's over and a winner is declared. Too bad. I enjoyed watching the race summaries even on delay.

Peter

 

[Peter B]

Italy have gone 1 up again. TNZ just seem to fluff the starts more often. They seem to have the faster boat actually, but if you start behind, it's very hard to catch up, let alone pass.

 

[Peter B]

Race 6, the second of today, TNZ this time did not stuff up the start, and got over the line slightly ahead. From there it was almost daylight second to Prada, so there are going to be some worried people in the Italian camp tonight, because clearly the NZ boat does appear to have a speed edge - if it manages to get in front especially.
So until tomorrow, it is 3 all. Remember, it's the first to win 7.

 

[koliver]

NZ 6
IT 3
Today is for match point NZ.
Yesterday's race was the closest yet, with the lead changing several times, until a wind shift closed the door on Italy. Then the wind died and the second race of the day was abandoned.
This racing has been the closest competition for the old mug ever. Tactics and strategy have been at the forefront, with Jimmy Spithill guiding Italy to aggressive maneuvers and Peter Burling responding with the coolest head in sailing. Too bad it has to end in a very short time.
Tonight at 8 PDT (no time change in NZ).

 

[BeeJay]

The U tube link AC live seems to work ok in NZ. The only problem being the delay when watching live on the water and attempting to see whats really happening with the lead etc.

 

[BeeJay]

AC Course from McKenzie Bay

 

[bligh]

NZ 6
IT 3
Today is for match point NZ.
Yesterday's race was the closest yet, with the lead changing several times, until a wind shift closed the door on Italy. Then the wind died and the second race of the day was abandoned.
This racing has been the closest competition for the old mug ever. Tactics and strategy have been at the forefront, with Jimmy Spithill guiding Italy to aggressive maneuvers and Peter Burling responding with the coolest head in sailing. Too bad it has to end in a very short time.
Tonight at 8 PDT (no time change in NZ).

I was stunned Lunna Rossa did not tack to cover the NZ boat in that race yesterday.

 

[koliver]

All over.

New Zealand in a great show of strength!

 

[rochepoint]

Well done!
Definitely have the right slogan "Fly Better".......

 

[Peter B]

You know, as a Kiwi at heart, I can't be sorry at the outcome, but if by chance the Italians had won, I would have been ok with that. Because no other country have tried longer, harder, and more often, to win it. It is about their turn. So, watch this space, as they say...

 

[koliver]

You know, as a Kiwi at heart, I can't be sorry at the outcome, but if by chance the Italians had won, I would have been ok with that. Because no other country have tried longer, harder, and more often, to win it. It is about their turn. So, watch this space, as they say...

Now I have to figure out how to get my Laser foiling.

What a great way to advance the sailing world of technology! 40 knots in 10 of wind speed. We need advances like this in the world of power boating, but until that happens.......

 

[darkside]

Excellent series but the fun is over for this summer.
Start of a big night in Auckland.
We sneaked in pretty close after the win.

 

[koliver]

Excellent series but the fun is over for this summer.
Start of a big night in Auckland.
We sneaked in pretty close after the win.
View attachment 115687

You are so fortunate to be in Auckland for the big event! We were there 13 months ago, got the T-Shirt, saw the 1/2 scale boat but the real one was well hidden.
Saw the big party just about to start, treating the champions like ...CHAMPIONS!

Who is going to be the next challenger? How long until we find out? Willl they use the AC75 platform again? So many questions.

 

[darkside]

The gossip is a one off challenge by Ineos at the Isle of Wight next year. Only Ineos and TNZ with Ineos picking up the full tab.
Big risk for TNZ to host offshore but remember TNZ have no billionaire. Last time we won at home the key talent got cherry picked by the Swiss and others. That meant we had to start again more or less.
If TNZ win then perhaps back here in 2024 and you are all invited.

 

[RedRascal]

Hoping to be in NZ for the 2024 race, maybe spending a month or two exploring and watching the races with friends. Does anyone have some insights on boats that take you out to watch the races? I would also consider buying to boat to watch the races, nothing fancy just something that would work for races. Seems like it would need to be something that could deal with 20 knots of wind as that seems to be the upper threshold for racing. That may be an older 30-35 foot sailboat. I am thinking about something in the less than $20k USD range. Buy it, sell it, lose $3-5k on the deal, and have the adventure of a life time. Does someone have a good online site for smaller or less expensive boats in NZ?