Americas cup

[Fly4rfun]

Been watching on YouTube the Americas cup, the boats were doing 45 knots!!! that's over 50 mph, under sail !!!

[Shagbark]

Pretty crazy! And the wind speed was only half that amount.

[tomodda]

Gary, prepare for my standard and patented America's Cup Rant. TLDR: Hydro foils are BS! And I stopped really paying attention to the AC after the 1988 travesty - 27th AC, the Catamaran vs the Aircraft Carrier. The beginning of the end....

You know, racing under sail is a funny thing. The fine art of going as fast as you can while bobbing around on a seagoing tortoise. Nevertheless, it's in every sailor's blood, if you see another sailor up ahead, instantly you're in a race to overtake him.... Leaving aside my bemusement, sailboat racing is all about getting every last quantum of "GO" out of the wind that nature gives us and doing it better than the other guy. I love pulling in a sheet by 6 inches and feeling that little extra kick in boatspeed, even if I know it's just a 1/4 knot. I even love the "chores." Cleaning my hull, lubricating all my blocks, tuning my rigging, feeling how much smoother everything goes when I'm out on the water. And I wish I had the tactical smarts that the old "masters" have, at it's best racing is a moving game of chess on the water. But.... at what point does it all become ridiculous? I'm talking about the "Throw more money at it" school of racing.

There's a reason that the DS Class Rules, like many other class associations, puts strict limits on what materials you can put on your boat and still legally race. Without the limits, you start getting carbon fiber everything, sails made out of unobtanium, etc, etc. Basically the richest sailor wins, instead of the best one. The America's Cup has become the ultimate expression of that. Yes, the AC has ALWAYS been a rich man's game, no doubt about it. And has always been a showcase for cutting edge technology, some of which has even trickled down to us ordinary folk. BUT...but, but... sailing is just a whole different ballgame when it's up on computerized hydrofoils. Yes, there's still the essentials - wind and water and hull and sail (of sorts). But honestly, after the initial "Wow, they're going so fast!," it bores me. Why? Well, I always say "If I wanted to get somewhere fast, I'd be driving a car not sailing." Same thing here... yes, if you throw enough money at it, if you throw away the old rules, you can go faster than anyone else.

But if the whole point of racing is going fast, then let's use kiteboards, or even ditch the sail and use rocket-boost. No, the point of racing is getting to the finish line before the other guy, using every ounce of your skill as a SAILOR. Yes, there's plenty of skill involved in sailing a hydrofoil, and even tactics (mostly reading windshifts to get to the next puff before the other guy). But the new AC appears to be mostly the technical challenge of staying up on your foils as long as possible. I'll even grant you that it's amazing to see them stay on foil in both tacks and jibes. But, once again, this is "just" throwing money at a problem - the best computers, the best technicians. Where's the SAILING? Even the skippers admit it, they call it "FLYING." Good on them, and I always loved the Little America's Cup (C-Class Catamarans), I even like watching Moth Foiling races. But keep foils out of the Americas Cup, let's get back to sailing.

OK, reading my argument above, I sound like an old fogey, and I'm contradicting myself - both extolling and damning technology in sailing. Maybe that's it, I'm just a traditionalist. the AC for me is Ted Turner and the Courageous, nothing else compares. Except maybe Il Moro's 1992 Challenge, or the Aussies finally winning it in 1983, DC winning it all back in 87, or the J-boats.. etc, etc. Today's over-juiced glorified drag racers just don't stir any emotion for me.

Anyway, just my not-so-humble opinion, what's yours?

[Alan]

+1 on the hydrofoils. To me they look a lot more like Klingon warships than sailboats.

One of the reasons I like the DS so much is that the hull, especially in profile, looks like it was meant for speed. There probably aren't a lot of sailboats that look fast just sitting on a trailer.

[Fly4rfun]

Tom, I tend to agree, 50mph is insane on a sailboat, but the lack of the hull in the water, conventional sails and no computer. it was interesting to watch them, from a tech point of view, but give me the old way. what i learned was from the commentators talking about sail shape in different conditions and whether downwind or on tack

[tomodda]

Definitely the technical side is amazing and there's a lot to study and learn. Even for us displacement hull fuddy-duddies. Nevertheless, I can't put my finger on it... these hydrofoil boats are all flash and no Soul. I guess that's the only real way to state my objection. Of course, my grandfather, who sailed a wooden sloop built in the 20's, would say the same thing about our "modern" fiberglass boats!

[Fly4rfun]

I love the wet hull and sails, of the older boats. it just looks bizarre to see them gliding along above the water, but what do i know

[GreenLake]

I like racing as a participant -- especially at the "fun" level, where competing isn't drowning out everything else. But I don't get anything out of watching other people doing it, no matter the technology. Goes for other sports as well.

That said, I like Tom's description of the racing sailor's state of mind of optimizing everything, from boat prep to sail trim.

Also, the classic, "what's a sailboat race? two sailboats on the water".

Sailed in a mixed fleet long distance event one year that was not a race, but noticed we were following somebody in a sister design. Boats loaded to the gills with supplies, second suits of sails in case of damage, really nothing prepped for racing. But, two boats on the water. So, out came a keener look at the tell tales, reading the puffs, steering small, all the good stuff, and we caught up with them. And passed them. And then, we grounded. After we got clear, we tried again. They were getting wise to us and started to enjoy the game, trimmed their sails a bit better, etc. In the end, we ran out of runway. Got within half a boatlength at the harbor entrance. What fun!

I get more kicks out of watching some couple in a cruising boat short tacking a Norwegian Fjord than an AC video. Just the way it is.

[Fly4rfun]

GL, that is true, wanted to see what all the hype was about. did glean some information about sail trim vs. deep pockets , i enjoy a good competitive spirit, but at my age and mobility i have let the younger ones enjoy while i watch, and chair coach them thru their mistakes ans success.
used to ski, opened the lifts and closed them, begrudged the time i needed to take to eat. learning was slow, but when i caught on I took off, my second season i skied on the ski patrol, mostly for my medical ability, lived within 40 miles of two resorts was great. really enjoyed night skiing. but a hip replacement took care of that.
Same with flying, got my License in 79 , was a long desired achievement, when i graduated from Nursing school, and had the funds it was possible. but a heart attack, took care of that also. so now I follow both from the recliner and reminisce. I do try to keep active, thus my Motorcycle and now the Daysailer, do some walking, as much as my hip will let me ( I'm 12 years past the replacement time, and trying to get as much time as possible) still go camping, and plan on doing that with the boat this summer.
I would love to do the Texas 200, would love the challenge and learning experience it would offer, in fact, I was thinking about this last night. But the reality may preclude my participation.

[tomodda]

Well, I hate to admit it, but I *HAVE* been watching the America's Cup and digging into some of the commentary and analysis. Really enjoying it, much to my surprise. Why? I think this one photo sums it up:

Diagonal Reach

AC_reverse_leeward.jpg (88.27 KiB) Viewed 14653 times

Negative Leeway! Look at the wakes, these guys are sailing diagonally into the wind (no, they're not in a turn). How is this even possible?!? I may be blasé, but foiling itself is old hat by now. But this? What is going on?!? In this case, it's "simple"... they cant the arms so that one side of the foil is something near 45º to the surface. Now it it produces lift to windward, which can force the boat more towards the wind than the angle it is sailing. Add a little trim - these boats have "ailerons" on their foiling wings - and voila! But doesn't that affect your helm? What helm do you want on these boats anyway, weather, neutral, or lee? It certainly affects drag, your VMG may actually be lowered by sailing diagonally upwind. How to figure this out in real time? By stuffing the boat to it's gills with computers! And that guy in the back of the cockpit with what looks like a red Gameboy Controller - he's the "Flight Controller," in charge of keeping the boat up on it's foils and moving efficiently. So, he's not a tactician? Who's the tactician?!? Now things get fascinating, it depends on the boat but it's basically a "split-brain", everyone feeds their observations to the helmsman/skipper and he decides. Except on the Luna Rossa, where they use TWO helmsmen and swap at each tack...

And there's been actual match racing. Admittedly, most of the races have been won at the starting gun (making the pre-start maneuvers especially fascinating), or at the very latest by the time of the first tack (60 seconds after the start). But even after it's a "horizon job," the sheer seamanship in sailing these things is amazing. And...as Race 8 showed, a "horizon job" is no guarantee, the Kiwis overcame a 4-minute, 2km+ deficit to win by the same margin (an 8-minute swing!). It happened as both boats came off their foils in relatively light winds, but still amazing. Especially in the details - the Kiwi boat came off her foils during a "jibing duel" on a downwind leg... they were nipping on the Italians' heels while both boats were reaching towards the boundary line...no space to pass because of the boundary, so the Kiwis did a quick jibe behind the Luna Rossa... and went straight into their bad air while hitting a light patch at the same time and boom! down off the foils, decelerating from 30 knots to 2 in about 5 seconds. THAT is why they wear helmets and body armor. But.... since when do boats leave a wind shadow UPWIND on a run downwind? Since foiling, apparently. I know they generate so much apparent wind that they are never really running, the wind is always forward of the beam... but the implications are enormous - bad air upwind. Also, despite the flying hulls, or even because of them, drag is a huge component in winning or losing. Case in point, race 7 - the Italians had a slightly too large jibsail for the winds at racetime - maybe 10% larger than what the Kiwis were using. Controlling that sail cost them drag, the drag cost them 2-3 knots raw speed. Despite losing the start and losing the first two legs of the race, the Kiwis won when they managed to slip out of coverage upwind and extend away. Even with the aid of computers, it's still been a sailor's race - just different, very different. Those differences has made the AC worth watching again. And Ok, I'll admit, watching two 20-minute sprints is more "digestible" than watching a 4-hour 1970's vintage race, although I still miss Ted Turner's Courageous.

Here's some videos, to give you a taste:

https://www.youtube.com/c/PlanetSailOnline/videos

an introductory article:

https://www.yachtingworld.com/americas-cup/americas-cup-boats-7-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-ac75s-129881

and the official America's Cup youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/americascup/videos

If you want to watch it live in the US (where it's pay-per-view, and very expensive), then you'll need a proxy server in another country. Use the Opera Browser, it has a built-in free VPN server, simple matter of hitting a button. I'm watching the AC from Finland

Enjoy!

[Shagbark]

Alright Tom... that's a big reversal from your earlier post

[tomodda]

Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds....

With all due respect to R. W. Emerson, I can occasionally change my mind. Congrats to the Kiwis! And the future looks promising, they're going to stick with the AC-75's and there's talk of doing a 'Round-Solent race for the Cup next year. Sounds like great fun!