OT America's Cup
Sailing is probably one of the more obscure sports out there (it doesn't even get the coverage curling gets), but the sport's biggest event is scheduled to begin tomorrow from Valencia, Spain. Race was was scheduled for Monday, but postponed due to no wind. Tomorrow's race start is already pushed back two hours because the forecast is for winds that are too high.
The America's Cup is the oldest trophy in international sports (dating back to the 1850s). It was held by the New York Yacht Club until 1983, when it was lost to the Australians, but won back in 1987, before being lost to New Zealand in 1995. Since then, it was won by Switzerland (of all countries) due to billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli pouring millions into the team (and buying the top racing talent from other countries).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_cup
This series is special because of the conflict between Bertarelli and Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle and billionaire himself. After hundreds of hours in court, the two teams built their boats and are ready to start racing. Since there was almost no limit to the design of the boats, the two boats are the most technologically advanced sailing machines ever. They are 90-foot multihulls that are both capable of sailing at 2-3 times the wind speed. It will be the most exciting sailing event in a long time.
http://www.americascup.com/en/index.html
http://bmworacleracing.com/en/index.html?track.refer=/en/index.html&tra…
Go BMW Oracle, Go America! Love it or Leave it!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:58 PM ^
I don't think they should postpone the race because of too much wind. Those boats in that wind would be awesome to watch. Survival of the fittest. Whoever can fix things the quickest wins.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:16 PM ^
those winds but unbelievable force on those boats. to wit: http://bit.ly/9S6q8e
February 10th, 2010 at 12:16 AM ^
The sailing instructions put an upper limit of 15 knots on the race. Neither of these boats would survive much above this, they are purebred buoy racing boats, not offshore racers. Both would lose their rigs real quick...and a few million dollars in damage.
February 10th, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^
Multihulls have a greater probability of splitting in 2 (or 3 for trimarans) as well as capsizing when wind speed is too great. If they think it is too strong to race, it is too strong to race. I think with the amount of time and preparation going into this event, those two outcomes would be devastating.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
it's a hell of a tradition. I had the good fortune to sail with Nick Brown of the Newport New York Yacht club (his family's summer home back in the day) and he hosted our Admiral's Ball at the club where we had open access to the entire club. it's an impressive venue with some really great America's Cup memorabilia. Nick's a good guy as well.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^
I started sailing competitively* when I was in high school and totally missed the 2007 cup. I am excited to watch this defense unfold. For those who aren't familiar, the reason the OP didn't ouline the legal drama is because it is a bit complicated, but the gist (according to wikipedia) is that "The litigated issues included which club would be the Challenger [of the previous winner], the dates and venue for the regattas, certain rules governing the regattas (in particular the measurement rules), and the construction of the boats."
Most importantly, this will be the first America's cup match between multihulled boats, the USA-17 a trimaran, and Alinghi 5 a catamaran. Multihulls are unquestionably faster but handle differently from single-hulled racing boats, so we shall see how the corresponding teams handle their new toys.
*I raced in a Lightning-class dinghy Lake Fenton, just with a local sailing club, so... small potatoes.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^
Lightnings are great boats.
I used to race Class-C inland scows out of Reeds Lake and Spring Lake. Fast, fun.
http://www.cscow.org/AboutCScow.aspx
February 10th, 2010 at 6:43 AM ^
Lightnings are great, I'd love to own one someday. We also have C-Scows at the LFSC, and even an M-Scow(?), a smaller version.
I've been reading up about the America's Cup, and it turns out I'm wrong above when I say multihulls are new. It turns out the 1988 Cup was won by an American catamaran called Stars & Stripes which successfully defended its cup on the water (against a monohull) and in court (against the monohull's owner). As far as I can tell, however, since then it has always been monohulls.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:31 PM ^
Probably an MC scow. MCs are 16 foot cat rigs (single mainsail, no jib, jenny or spinnaker), easily skippered by 1 person (no crew needed), which is why they were slowly but surely killing C scow fleets as I grew up. It's tough to find good crew that don't demand to skipper the boat.
There are also M-20s, which are basically sloop-rigged C scows. C scows killed M-20s for the same reason - all the sail combos on M-20s created a need for really good crew, and really good crew generally want to skipper their own boats at that level.
Spring Lake also had E scows, which are 28-foot sloop rigs. They were the better option vs. M-20s.
Funny story: my dad (1964 MechE, UofM) was also a sailor. Our family business was wood and metalworking machinery. Combine the two and he designed a revision to the C class which met all technical requirements, but tested faster in simulation. He built a half-scale prototype and tested it in the drag tanks at what is now West Hall (formerly West Engineering) in the early 1980s. The tests corroborated his thesis.
He built a full scale prototype, raced it in a regatta in the midwest in the early-mid 1980s, and smoked the entire field. Over the next winter, the C scow association rewrote the class configuration rules, and defined his design as out-of-class.
The prototype never lost a race.
In 1988, Dennis Conner did the cup a similar favor and a disservice. He radically departed from historical 12-meters in deploying a catamaran that was the first real leap forward in composites and carbon fiber technology. The challengers, New Zealand, rather than accepting the new form and taking the technological challenge, went backward to an older hull form (a 90-footer called a J-boat) and also sued. NZ won initially, then subsequently lost on appeal.
Stars and Stripes (US-1) won the first two races in a walkover. NZ folded and went back to court. Ultimately they lost.
As a result of all this mess, a standard class was created. It can evolve from time to time (such as the current cup, which features a trimaran vs. a catamaran), but the basic boat configuration parameters are defined well in advance of each cycle.
Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_America%27s_Cup
February 9th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
I used to work for the law firm that represented Mr. Ellison in that litigation. In fact, I worked on that matter for a short time. True story.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:54 PM ^
I believe OLN-->VS covered it previously. I remember when they used to race 12 Meter yachts, but welcome the idea of "anything goes within the confines of the Deed of Gift" as that's how technological advances are made. The idea of huge multi-hulls going 30+ knots......!
February 10th, 2010 at 12:11 AM ^
Okay so first, shouldn't you be studying? And shouldn't I be studying? But anyway both these boats are ridiculously cool and should be super exciting to watch. Even if its at like 6 in the morning...damn exam. Also Bertarelli is an ass.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:58 AM ^
Holy shit, are they actually sailing the America's Cup again? I stopped paying attention - and eventually so did my brother who is WAY more of a sailing buff than I am - as it looked like the whole damn thing was going to be decided in front of a judge's bench instead of on the water.
So they're finally sailing the damn thing. I like to see that. Would love to see the Cup brought back to America, of course. Even better (for me) is that it surely would be held on the West Coast next time if the USA brings it back, because I live in Newport right now (and am moving out again this summer) and it would probably drive me up a wall if it came back to Newport any time soon and I missed it.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:13 AM ^
edit: No racing today, next race scheduled for Friday the 12th at 10:00am CET (4am EST).
Overnight weather postponed the start to midday. Current statements are that the race won't start today (10 Feb) until 1300 CET (UTC +1, EST +6). If the HTML I am copying is correct, it is currently in Valencia. As always, waiting until the warning signal is the hardest part.
For updates, official America's Cup twitter here, video feed here, news feed here.
February 10th, 2010 at 8:10 AM ^
Are there only 2 teams racing? Usually there are more competitors. Why is this race different?
February 10th, 2010 at 8:34 AM ^
Its a deed of gift race...BMW Oracle challenged Alingi directly because they felt Alingi wasn't fulfilling their duty as defender, and the courts agree. Its a really long explanation, if you want to understand it better U recommend wikipedia
February 10th, 2010 at 8:59 AM ^
I used to race with a guy who was the sail trimmer on America3 when they won the cup. Always wanted to sail on one of them. I noticed last year in San Diego that you can go sailing on some of the old America's Cup IACC yachts. Have to try that next time I'm there.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^
The America's Cup always reminds me of the movie Wind starring Matthew Modine and Jennifer Gray. I like when they unveil the 'Whomper' and it's like the best sail ever. Good times.
February 10th, 2010 at 1:28 PM ^
Personally, I've enjoyed past America's Cup races but this litigation thing is getting old. I think Ernesto & Larry should duke it out in Sunfish or Force 5s on Lake Michigan.
February 10th, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^
Or at the very least Lasers on Baseline Lake.
February 11th, 2010 at 12:07 AM ^
At least they wouldn't have to worry about the upper wind limit...although the minimum may be tough to meet. Baseline...
February 11th, 2010 at 8:57 AM ^
If you'd have told me a few months ago there'd be a sailing thread that garnered 20 replies, and not one was a joke involving our AD . . . I'd have probably been like "What's next? The Saints winning the Super Bowl?"
February 11th, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^
Looking at the wikipedia table, it looks like the America's Cup is held usually at three-year intervals, but there was a five-year gap from 1995-2000, while it was held in consecutive years in 1987-88. How do they determine how often it's staged?
February 12th, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^
When there's a legal challenger, they race. It's up to the current holder and the challenger to work out the schedule. If there are multiple challengers, they schedule a series of regattas to determine a single challenger. Typically the Louis Vuitton Cup has been between the final two challengers for the right to race for the America's Cup, but the courtroom shenanigans finally got to be too much for the LVC folks and they cut the relationship.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:10 AM ^
It looks like we have a race today! It's ten minutes to 11am as I type (EST +6 hrs) in Valencia and the boats are out in pre-race preparation. You can watch live video feed on the official America's Cup site here, though it requires a special video player (available for Mac) or you can watch at the official BMW Oracle Racing page here.
edit, 9:08am: Is anybody else watching right now? The commentary on the live stream is hilariously bad, despite being provided by qualified experts. Some seriously awkward moments.
February 12th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
BMW Oracle Racing wins race 1 by more than 3500 meters. The trimaran/wing-sail platform was vindicated in low wind situations, which were believed to be favorable to the presumably lighter catamaran Alenghi 5. Despite a stall at the start, USA-17 gradually and steadily overtook and then built a solid lead on Alenghi, who never seemed to gain on BOR90. Today, the trimaran was clearly the faster boat, by a manner of 1-2 knots, and it pointed higher into the wind. Alenghi showed some promise on the downwind leg, but they still couldn't stop BOR90 from building its lead. Eventually, after a penalty gybe and a botched line crossing, Alenghi 5 finished 15 minutes after the American boat.
The next race is (hopefully) on Sunday, around 5-6am EST.
February 12th, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
double post