Anyone Watching AC37?

[Griff]

Between it and The Ocean Race, I get my sailing fix, one of those bucket list items. I'd planned on attending AC36 in Auckland in 2021, but with the loss of my wife and Covid restrictions, I passed. The big thing for me then was the ability to combine that trip with visits with family there. I've enjoyed the racing to date, saddened at the loss by NYYC... but maybe the Brits will win out over the Italians and have a shot at finally winning an America's Cup!

[Grizz]

Between it and The Ocean Race, I get my sailing fix, one of those bucket list items. I'd planned on attending AC36 in Auckland in 2021, but with the loss of my wife and Covid restrictions, I passed. The big thing for me then was the ability to combine that trip with visits with family there. I've enjoyed the racing to date, saddened at the loss by NYYC... but maybe the Brits will win out over the Italians and have a shot at finally winning an America's Cup!

i went to the AC web site. worst pile of confusion i've ever seen. what electronic America's Cup. OofDa.

then i tried to look at the "events" with scrolling pop-ups and useless menus.

i looked for an actual Americas Cup match race "event" with no luck. would 2 more cups of coffee help?

i remember once listening to an entire series over short-wave radio, but that's been a while back.

do you have a link that goes to an actual non-virtual match race among sailors? you know, on their flying water-bugs.

thanks for the heads-up,

grizz

[Grizz]

so then I searched for the ocean race. good grief. it's as if LIV Golf has overcome the essence and spirit of ocean crossing, and subdivided the "events" into t.v. time slots. with scrolling pop-ups and breathless expectations of a race that ends in 2027.

i think "old-fashioned" suits me to a † . R2A interests me some because I've been on that route both directions some number of times. I follow on my charts. Trans-Pac is interesting because it involves the trade wind routing and known variables.

the race I was interested in seeing happen is a motorboat trip from Olympia to Skagway. Least fuel consumed by a date certain would be interesting. sails welcome of course. but it would seem impossible to gin up any spectator revenue over the time-span.

perhaps a race could be more of a bet, as when Alfred Johnson bet another fisherman that he could sail his dory Centennial to Europe, with a deadline. Something no one had done in 'modern times'. Johnson collected on the bet, his dory is in a museum where the trip can be pondered minus the weather and ocean.

And there is your great line, 2 boats going the same direction define a race. i enjoyed numerous iterations of that race, racing to the cove for pie and ice cream, or to the fish processor for a place on the unloading list. practical races - - -

[Grizz]

Between it and The Ocean Race, I get my sailing fix, one of those bucket list items. I'd planned on attending AC36 in Auckland in 2021, but with the loss of my wife and Covid restrictions, I passed. The big thing for me then was the ability to combine that trip with visits with family there. I've enjoyed the racing to date, saddened at the loss by NYYC... but maybe the Brits will win out over the Italians and have a shot at finally winning an America's Cup!

I found a re-run of the race. What enabled the U.S. boat to arrive at the finish line a FULL MINUTE LATE?

Do you know how they were steadily losing time? The simple answer is they were out-sailed. But how did that happen? Other than the boat was not fast enough to compete.

grizz

[Griff]

I've been watching the races on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@americascup. They're only showing the race recaps and you miss a bit of the action, but their editing is pretty good showing the exciting bits. They've been thru the double round robin, and have finished the semi finals. I see the 1st & 2nd races of the finals were posted today, racing yesterday. It's between Italy, (Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli) and Britain, (ENIOS Britannia) to see who is the final challenger for New Zealand (Emirates - Team New Zealand).

As for American Magic (NYYC), I think they got out sailed... Jimmy Spithill was simply better at keeping his crew in the wind. There's a guy on YouTube (Mozzy Sails), who has done a lot of technical analysis on the boats and his theory is that the American boat just didn't develop enough hydraulic power with the cyclors using recumbent cycles. Race 14 the Italians broke and allowed the American's to bring the score to 4 to 3...

[Grizz]

yeah, that pedal hydraulic power threw me. how long has that been going on? it's a spectacle but it's different than racing boats, with deck hands running around and teaming up on the lines. and no hydraulics.

have you watched the Dutch racing their barges? they strip them for weight and apparently don't luff. i watched one sink because the skipper wouldn't. its grand scale and hard fought racing, the old way :)

[Griff]

I think it was the Kiwis in Bermuda that first used cyclors to provide hydraulic power instead of grinders churning out power by hand. Hydraulics have been used ever since the first swinging keels, what back in the '90s? I find the foiling boats amazing, being able to sustain 40-45 knots of boat speed in a paltry 15 knot wind. But, on the other hand these AC75 boats are like beached whales when they're hull down in the water.

[Grizz]

I think it was the Kiwis in Bermuda that first used cyclors to provide hydraulic power instead of grinders churning out power by hand. Hydraulics have been used ever since the first swinging keels, what back in the '90s? I find the foiling boats amazing, being able to sustain 40-45 knots of boat speed in a paltry 15 knot wind. But, on the other hand these AC75 boats are like beached whales when they're hull down in the water.

Thanks for the update. Have you found any drawings or photos of the interiors and the systems? Do you know the fastest winds they will race in?

I agree the technology is stunning and fun to watch. I would love to see them race around the Farallons and back to SF. The survivor could try the trans-pac.

[Bill in Oregon]

Goodness gracious! What happened to the traditional sailboats that used to race in the AC? I obviously haven't paid any attention for years.
What would Nathanael Herreshoff think of these developments?

[Griff]

Goodness gracious! What happened to the traditional sailboats that used to race in the AC? I obviously haven't paid any attention for years.
What would Nathanael Herreshoff think of these developments?

The Swiss & Americans did that in 2010, when the Swiss raced a catamaran and the Americans raced a trimaran in a Deed of Gift race to determine a challenger of record for the next AC in 2013, where racing was held under AC72 boat rules, which I seem to recall were 72' catamarans.

I agree... I'd love the likes of the original "America" to be the type of boat raced in the AC. Their grace and lines were beauty in motion. While these AC75s are probably very "fair" in their lines... I find little beauty in them. I can see their grace when they're "flying" on the foils, but... good gawd, they're ugly ducklings when hull down.