I suppose the city will fine the guy with a trespassing violation, and “dangerous towing without a permit.”
I’m intrigued as to how she managed to break free from her mooring on such a calm night -surely it can only be down to incompetence. Salvage claims are usually fairly straight forward, especially where there is the potential for loss of life and/or environmental disaster. Neither applies in this case, so it’s ultimately a matter for the French insurers (if they have any) and the perceived ‘value’.
I’m sure they are looking into it… 
ETNZ foils $400,000 each ! …insane !!!
I just think that the use of foils take away from the concept of sailing. The America’s Cup is supposed to be a competition based on the sailing abilities of the yacht and the crew, not on just on the raw speed of the boat. If that’s they way they want to compete ( in a drag race) then they ought to swap the boats for actual Formula 1 cars and compete on a road circuit somewhere.
What’s next, Giant fans blowing on the sails??? turbine power?? Rocket power??
Maybe so, but wing sails & foiling is what it is needed to have the right of owning the AC this time …whats next ? canting wings ?!? who knows but one thing is for sure, if you have short arms and deep pockets you cannot win the AC but if you do win the Cup, you can then write your own rules for the next cycle !!! …you can’t do that with any other sport
Great sequence of pictures showing ETNZ on take-off http://www.sail-world.com/Europe/Americas-Cup:-Emirates-Team-NZ----Up,-up-and-away-on-foils/102780
CRM also submitted that the history of the America’s Cup had many examples of technical innovations exploiting provisions of the Class Rule not considered when it was drafted 'and is often accompanied by determined efforts on the part of other competitors to outlaw the innovation. Innovation of one competitor is rule breaking to another.
this phrase say it all… IMO… America Herself was a technological innovation. the Kiwi’s and their Keel, long overhangs to create an illusion of longer waterlines when heeled over…Remebe when the Genaker or the asymitical spinaker was the big thing…or canting Keels…
Until they decide on a true “one design” you will always have folks who want to exploit the rules. I am a big fan of using the rules to your advantage. if you are on starboard. and a guy port tacks you do you not use the rule against him to maintain your advantage?
I am not a big fan of multihulls, but I have not missed a single ac45 race… and I have no doubt that I will not miss any of the LV cup or AC cup. Sailing is sailing. if we had enough frozen lakes I’d get an ice boat, and if we had enough wide open parking lots chances are I’d have some sort of land yacht…
canting keels are here, solid wing sails… foils it is… and while itmay mean the cup finds a new home down under, so be it. the AC is not just about sailing it also incorporates a design strategy.
Waterfront scuttlebutt has it that the ETNZ AC72 has been able to gybe while fully foiling at speeds of 40knots - which if true is rather impressive.
Hi Marc,
I agree on all points of your compass, actually they have a one design boat called the AC 45 ! but that is too small for big ego’s and breaks the whole thing down to only sailing skill, BUT that isn’t what the Oracle wants, is it ? to keep the Cup !
There would be too much competition with as many countries there are sailing currently in the ACWS albeit in hindsight it is the right formula given the recent (or still current) world economic depression.
The only real shame about this current cycle is that they are now running the equivalent of F1 cars in supermarket size car parks for both AC 45 and AC 72, technology has out grown the course.!!
If the rumours of ETNZ now gybing while foiling at 40 knots are true …don’t blink or the race will be over ! match racing at these speeds hmm …don’t think so, who needs to match race when you have a speed advantage !
To me the AC is the pinnacle of match racing and it got lost in the technology of AC 34 somehow, IMO the switch to multi-hulls is the blame.
Cheers Alan
So (as Devil’s Advocate and Multihull enthusiast) ---- what do you all suppose we would be sailing if all the racing rules in the past had NOT outlawed the multihull as a competitors? Would sailors continue to add chunks of lead to the bottoms of boats in order to stay upright but go slower? Would the racing rules continue to reference sailing rules designed for boats that could make (on a good day) 8 to 10 knots of boat speed? Would 2 boat length leads at marks still be there or would they have changed to perhaps 5-7 lengths? Multihulls are the formula “cars” of the boat world … be they Formula12 class, (12 foot) of any of the other formula classes - 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, … etc. And less you think of a multihull only as a drag racer - perhaps you need to visit a close by catamaran club and actually get out on the water and see that tactics still are involved. You can approach a crowed “A” Mark at 5 knots - or at 18 knots. Where do you suppose the adrenaline factor is?
You can fool yourself into thinking you are sailing a one-design class (also available in multihulls) - but in the end, the quest for speed and to win is the final goal if you are RACING ! Match racing is still happening - it just costs a lot at this size. Funny no one mentioned the rise in costs of the multihulls used in round-the-world efforts. They are at 60-70 feet in length (PlayStation was 125 feet as I recall). A lot of ink was used when the ultimate French record setting foiling multihull managed to his some fantastic speeds. The “type” of boat used for the AC cup isn’t to blame. It was already stated that the 45’s would work. And we seem to forget, that Michael Fay with his giant monohull forgot to write enough exclusions to prevent Dennis Conner from showing up with a measly 60 foot multihull to take the cup. So that size could also have been the format for this round. Why didn’t it? I’m not sure anyone ever answered that.
And remember, we would still be seeing 12 meter boats if the rules hadn’t been changed for the recent IAAC designs.
Cheers -
Alan - I had the privilege of sailing Chris Traiser’s MicroSAIL radio controlled foiler trimaran on Crystal Lake here in Minnesota. While it wasn’t sailing at 40 knots, it was difficult to keep up with a pontoon boat. During one windward leg, I was able to “tack” from one side to the other, upwind and remain on foils. The original builder of the boat liked to quote me on that when selling his theories of foiled sailing. Unfortunately, he kept forgetting about the rest of my comment that included “there was great difficulty in foiling in light winds - or through weed patches on the lake”. Umm this was in early 2000’s too - so foiling whether on r/c boats, 18 foot long multihulls, or the new 72 footers isn’t really a new concept. And one must also consider the (monohull) Moth Class - where it is now almost a requirement that one learn to fly (foil) if there are any hopes of winning a major regatta or championship. Cheers -
Below is an 18 Square Meter foiler. Jacksonville (FL) Rudder Club - mid 1980’s that was entered into the North American Championships. Skipper was Randy Smyth - they had an arm failure and didn’t win.
the switch to multis, if they had kept it at the ac45 level would have been fine. more people would be able to afford to compete. More boats=more fun. enough speed and gee-whiz technology (carbon, solid wing sails, on course judging, ect) to satisfy the masses.
I’m a fan of the 12 meter class. and i would love for 40-50 foot class of one design monohull yatchs to come back into the mix. glass hulls, aluminum mast, soft sails.
But methinks that ship has sailed…
Dick, yeah coming into a fleet of boat at 18knots will get one “puckered up” but as fast the cats scrub off speed its like having brakes. doing that same with a with a monohull that 40-60 feet long displacing 20 tons has a wee bit of momentum and essentially no brakes… Pucker factor is still there. even at 6-8 knots
nice pics…
http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Emirates-Team-NZ-and-the-Friday-Racers/102834
Knew we would stir a hornets nest with Dick …great stuff ! yip done the multi thing, great fun but it’s not AC in eyes of the mass of world sailing enthusiasts.
Now it’s only a technology arms race that everyone wanted to avoid when they were originally drawing up the protocol for AC 34 to keep expenses down and have more teams involved etc etc…remember? … but the baby got thrown out the window with the bath water this time.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the technology and how it is pushing big boat multi-hull performance up the curve so quickly & we all like to sit and watch especially when the technology is out running the current AC holder & organisation of the event.
Found two recent photos from similar angles:
And they’re is saying the O.R platform twisting is a controlled design element … PIG’s AR*SE !!!
It must be painful for the O.R sailing team to be riding this bucking bronco waiting for boat # 2
I’d give my left nut to endure that kind of “pain”
Stand in the queue 
Yeah, OR has some lift control issues. I have to wonder if the Vee shaped underwater profile of ETNZ isn’t a better way to control angle of attack, and total lift once foiling? As the hull rises further, the foil comes up also, reducing the surface area of the part of the lifting surface. I’m not clear on ETNZ angle of attack control of their foils, or even if there is an adjustment, but they sure look smooth!
OR’s foil has a constant surface area, whose lift is dependent on speed through the water and angle of attack (flexing the platform).
Ah, so that’s what my Chief Financial Controller has been up to - and there was poor me thinking it was just a string of supper meetings!
So, come on then Alan, where d’you find the pics? Or do I really not want to know - 5 weeks away from home is a jolly long time…
Apologies in advance,
Row
It is said that Ainslie will skipper one of the two Oracle AC72 in the defender series (alongside the Louis Vuitton Cup), with the intent of “pushing Spithill into match fitness”. We all know that a second Oracle boat is comming that will try to correct the flaws of the first. Does someone know if they will built a 2nd generation sister boat (or said another way, a 3rd one) or if Ainslie will only be skipping the present boat?
Because if our “assessment” of the present OR AC72 is right, he may not be able to “push” Spithill at all:)
Sylvain,
you make a great point…if OR1 isn’t fast enough, and they build OR2 to be faster. the speed/acceleration differential woudl be so great, that OR2 will come out smelling like roses every time. If they just plan on teaching spittle match racing tactics, they could always just depower OR2 when racing against OR1…