The guys have done it again! -ripper! A few pics of the course and spectator fleet and just a fraction of the crowds on the wharves and waterfront areas (these near the Cup base in the viaduct harbour) Last pic is Te Rehutai (sea spray) crossing the finish (trial boat was Te Aihe (dolphin) Wonder what will happen next time, new boats, racing in the northern hemisphere perhaps, it will be interesting. Now the crew pilfering begins from other syndicates, we'll see who jumps ship for money this time.

For those into pilot boats, you can see in the distance in one pic, a number of ships waiting in the stream (about 15miles from the port). The pilots have to go out there in some pretty heavy weather at times, . Used to have pretty slow displacement launches years ago, then a fast tri-hull with surface drives, now have new big 40knt RIBs doing the job. Used to take around 50mins or more on a good day, now about 15. Boats have certainly advanced over the years, especially yachts.

JB

Who says Kiwi`s cant fly ! - Well done guys !😎👍⛵

Just a few boats out Tuesday around the course. Ain't sayin nuttin' Roy😁

JB

Sorry mate, forgot you guys are retar I mean behind😂 Still good to watch though👍

JB

Thanks for the 'spoiler' I have to wait 12 hours to watch the race and like to see it unfold as it goes;
R

But did you see todays effort by ETNZ Roy, came from 2km behind to win by a fair distance due to Prada touching down and not getting back up again,- same thing that happened to ETNZ not long before to make them 2km behind. ETNZ won both races today and if they win 2 tomorrow, the fat lady will have sung. BUT, we all know what can happen in the AC ! horrible things have happened before😐.

JB

Hi all again latest update.

AC75 Sunday was postponed for races 7 & 8 and I did not envy the commentators! They kept everything going though very well and discussed the previous starts and showed edited video to look at the finer points. Each team is allowed 6 jibs, you might surmise that in a high wind you use a smaller jib, Hmmm, not so sure now. The jib selection is the last chosen item per race, the crew sit there until 10 minutes before and then the jib is chosen to suit wind conditions.

The balance point of the yacht when foiling is at the centre of area of the leeward foil. So the pressure of wind on the sails has to balance this out as the effect of the smaller jib moves the centre of power of the sails further aft. But this movement also affects the speed that the yacht can turn on the balance point of the foils, the further back it is, the quicker the boat turns when tacking or gybeing. It is a formidable calculation!

This combined with a view of the discussion points on Mozzy Sails web site elicited just how critical the operation of these yachts is. As I said before each entry is allowed 6 foils (i.e. 3 sets) and the design of them is starting to become known. Viewed end on there are 3 types all within the 2 metre width allowance. They are an inverted T then there is the anhedral shape (an upside down shallow Y) and the W shape.

Early on in testing the NZ boat was seen to launch with one T and one inverted Y to check out the attributes of each type. The W shape seems to be the one in use. As most things are now set so to speak the flaps on the foils are becoming more obvious to see.

Some are a straight forward full length hinged flap but others show an extended right angle fin pointing downwards showing that the centre of radius of the foil movement is outside the foil and this leads to the possibility of the foil extending out and down and as it changes angle so increasing the surface area. (as per aircraft flaps on the wings to give a lower stall speed)

It may seem that the yachts all look the same but the parts that count are all under water and the NZ boat and the Itallian boat are very different.

Have a look next time you see a race and see how soon the boats can get up on the foils. A larger foil area should make this sooner for a given wind speed but does it? I find it difficult to reason out why the first boat across the start line wins even against a faster boat!

Maths has always been involved in creating the fastest boat within the given Americas Cup formula restrictions but never more so than now.

Without the 'game boy' screens on-board they could not operate the yacht or even stay within the course and also somewhere along the line the overall goal of match racing has been lost, but why? Probably need a computer and a new App to find out!

regards

Roy

I too watched it this morning live and the first race was not very exciting with NZ out in front and extending their lead from the off. A little odd inasmuch that there was not a lot in it with regard boatspeed of both but possibly NZ were heading to wind a bit higher. 2nd Race a lot better with Italy in the lead from the off but covering every tack made by NZ. Not a lot in it at the finish but showed NZ what Italy can do.
Interesting to see that with these foiling yachts a breeze of 14 kts can be turned into a boat speed of 40 its or more, even touching 50 Kts at times. What a great venue to sail in.

Hi all well we have got through day 1 of the races. The first race was a walk over by New Zealand leading all the way. Their boat was 2 knots faster over the entire race.
The course is 6 legs of a 3.6 Km course, total race time is 23 -24 minutes.

The start can be a bit cut throat and on the second race it would seem that the Kiwis decided who needs to worry, when we are faster so they did not engage. The Italian boat was on time with the Kiwis 5 seconds behind and from then on for the Kiwis it got worse and worse!

The second race was won by the Italian yacht by 7 seconds for a slightly longer race of 24 minutes. Analysis shows that the Italians travelled 200 metres further overall and there was nothing in it with boat speed.

Greater minds than mine are working out what this all means at this moment. The Kiwi boat was getting round the corners in an upright position and doing a 180 degree turn at 50 mph better than we do in our cars!

No one came off the foils and there was only an umpire boat following the race. The chase boats with on-board rescue were not there. There were some small errors but not enough to change the result.

Looks like we may have a race right down to the line!!!!!

Next 2 races are Friday 12th. March.

Regards

Roy

Hi Nerys thanks for your kind remarks. Though I have to differ about atitudes of the parties concerned at the time.

Although we look back on 1851 with a soft eye, it was the time of the Great Exposition, GB was showing the world how modern they were and the products being sold would bring other countries into this new world.

You can see from the quote that the round the Isle of Wight 'race' was already part of the 1851 festivities. There were many GB entries but the America won with a big margin of victory that belied any agreement on the size of yacht taking part.

To quote-:

The history of the yacht America began with five members of the New York Yacht Club, who decided to build a state-of-the-art schooner to compete against British ships in conjunction with England’s Great Exposition of 1851. Designed by George Steers, the 100-foot, black-hulled America had a sharp bow, a V bottom, and tall masts, making it strikingly different from the traditional yachts of the day.

Hmm! 'State of the art schooner' and 'strikingly different' that is hardly the nice cuddly friendly view we might have in looking back. For all concerned in 1851 these were modern times! It was also cut throat trade as well.

I can imagine the USA thinking perhaps 'we will go and show them what we can do'! And who can blame them! The world was getting very trade conscious and that meant money.

The second outing to compete for the Americas Cup, as it was now known, was in 1870 and a lone GB entry competed against 14 other yachts, the yacht America came 4th. by the way. The history is all there on the Internet.

Another point from Nerys's post. Although we all accept countries putting on trade fairs now, the 1851 Exposition was the first and biggest ever seen in the world, and the world came to see it.

Many nations brought out their biggest and best to show off, it was a monumental sales drive. Nations were forced into realising that they did not want to be the only ones left out.

Also we must not miss the point that if it had just been Queen Vic it would never have happened! It was the German Prince Albert, and Henry Cole, who thought of it and promoted it.

Just like to say Nerys always enjoy your posts and builds, 'long may your chimney blow smoke!

Best regards

Roy