It teems to me from the way NZ was getting in so close with OR, while being on the foils, that there will be a collision sooner or later.
What race are you watchin??? ETNZ has not been racing against Orcale Only LR.
Oracle has been match racing their two boats against each other…
Right; ETNZ got in there during Oracle’s practice race.
did not see any video or pics of that. Maybe the Kiwi’s are trying to rattle their sabre a bit…
LR has made the decision to go high and low e while ago during the first round of the LV cup. From what I gathered reading between the lines they where expecting the wind conditions to change toward the end of Aug to more “normal SF-Bay” like i.e. stronger wind than in the series against Artemis, and the high and low would/could be the “safer” choice - would avoid the NZ “adventure” in the first race that had all the potential to be a series/campain ending jibe …
I would say John Navas was a bit too enthusiastic The white catamaran at 0:40, that’s upwind!
I think, OTUSA is more on a beam reaching or perhaps a light close reaching, but nothing you would chose for an upwind leg.
ETNZ yesterday had best conditions to show an upwind foiling (20 knots wind and 2 knots ebb tide),
but they showed only skimming.
Perhaps todays second race should be good for these upwind foiling conditions again.
But at the AC-finals in September…
there could be completly different conditions…
^ good stuff…
another failure… can we go back to the better boats that dont break??? the way this is going to go… the first to 7 that LAST… will challenge for the cup… not the fastest. I am the kiwis i would not even try a foil… just sail around. prada will break … and you win …
damm that was a good race untill the break … AGAIN…
One of the commentators mentioned that since the hydraulics to the fouls weren’t working, maybe they could forget about the foils and just sail normally using lines to control the wing.
I keep wondering why they have the guys grinding with their arms. They could just mount a bike to the hull and get Lance Armstrong to just pedal for an hour. For him, it would be easy, like a warm-up session. The grinders could just as easily use leg-power for grinding instead of arm-power.
but its probably easier to stand up and grind with your arms than it is to jump across the trampoline and mount a bicycle…
I could not imagine the amount of force on the wing. a 72’ 13 ton boat with a twelve story sail. going at 40+mph…
In dunno… I used to run with the bike, in a race, then jump on it. The only thing that took time was putting your shoes in the clips and pulling the straps tight. I think having one dedicated bike-grinder who could free up the whole crew would be worth the benefit.
I’ve also been thinking that they will find a way to get the foils up higher so they don’t catch any water at all. Every bit of spray is not only annoying to the crew, but slows the boat.
There must be a LOT of force on both the wing and the daggarboards, that they need hydraulic power, as compared to the AC45s. If they use a line to lift the daggarboards, what’s holding them to support the weight of the boat? I thought they used hydraulics to both lift and lower them.
So you are A guy with helmet, audio gear, and a life jacket. lets say 15 lbs of bulky gear. not to mention the fact that the boat is potential pitching and yawing. makes for an uncomfortable existence. I woudl think…
right now they have several grinders which operate the hydraulic systems. At any given time they are moving and trimming several things, and I don’t think just one guy pedaling could generate enough power (fluid flow) to run everything at once. I woudl imagine that they would have done this id they could. also keep in mind that the guys are also your movable ballast…
Foil higher, that woudl mean that they would have to modify the trunk and/or modify the hull to get a Flush fit. Which would be great but if if the wind is down, and on a beat to the windward mark you don’t have enough wind to foil, you are dragging a surface the through the water thats not smooth since the boards would be in the down position and the leeward hull in the water… I just don’t see that teams going after this potential gain, when it means carving up the boat…So late in the game
http://www.cupexperience.com/americas-cup-ac72-design-ergonomics/
I’m sure they will eventually. If they put fairings on the deck under the wing or aero spokes on the tiller, or deep pods in the hulls just for the small gain, they will find a way to either fair the foil into the hull. They may even find a way to use a smaller foil to do the same job.
Remember that the foils were not in the original rule for the AC72, but something that was discovered recently, so everyone added the foils on as a last-minute thing.
Check the Magnus Clarke video I posted in the Little America’s Cup thread. They are using L foils that are adjustable without hydraulics. There are only two guys on these boats, so everything has to work better than on the AC boats! He mentions that Doug Lord has some ideas they used in the controls. he also explains some of the differences with the foil angles in their boats VS the AC boats.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11111645
The Oracle protest alleges Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa crewmen had broken Protocol Article 37 which covers reconnaissance.
Sheesh, this Americas Cup SUCKS more than my shop-vac…
Hmmm, the Moths are also foiling without the use of hydraulics, but they only have one guy/gal on those, so everything has to work better than a Little AC cat and the AC boats?
They are also only 12 feet in length, as compared to 30 feet for “C” Class and 72 feet for the AC boats. I would suggest they also have significantly less stress/loads on hull, foil and wings.
The moth was also designed to foil. The AC rules were designed originally to prevent foiling. ie only one foil extended at a time, limited adjustment mechanisms and so forth. Its more amazing that they figured out how to do it when it was not intended.