America's Cup

A

arfa brane

call me arf
Valued Senior Member
The upcoming boat races should get interesting as the weather warms up.

Notice this regatta is the domain of rich people who can afford to design and build state of the art sailboats. (Historical footnote: yes, and always has been)
In Auckland NZ, people can gather in crowds and watch it live from the shore, so score one for the plebs.

It looks like the crew and the helmsman really need to know their stuff, since it's all about keeping the hull out of the water as much as possible. A campaign is going to want a good crew, but this is all new stuff and the crews are still learning.

Also notice, these racing yachts would be impossible not that long ago, before the age of carbon-fibre materials for one. A critical component is the hydraulic control system for the foil arms. I haven't seen this before in a sailboat.
 
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I really think something got lost in the switch from single to multi hulled boats.

Sheer speed is not an indication of a true sailor and seamanship.
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arfa brane said:
The upcoming boat races should get interesting as the weather warms up.

Notice this regatta is the domain of rich people who can afford to design and build state of the art sailboats. (Historical footnote: yes, and always has been)
In Auckland NZ, people can gather in crowds and watch it live from the shore, so score one for the plebs.

It looks like the crew and the helmsman really need to know their stuff, since it's all about keeping the hull out of the water as much as possible. A campaign is going to want a good crew, but this is all new stuff and the crews are still learning.

Also notice, these racing yachts would be impossible not that long ago, before the age of carbon-fibre materials for one. A critical component is the hydraulic control system for the foil arms. I haven't seen this before in a sailboat.
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They are incredible flying machines, more then racing yachts.
My thoughts of course go back to the first time the pretentious New York Yacht Club were forced to unbolt the trophy and hand it over the Australia's Australia 11, and John Bertarnd and Alan Bond.
Our PM at that time the great Bob Hawke expressed the view of most Aussies of that time in 1983.............
https://thebeast.com.au/video/video-week-bob-hawkes-joke-funny-racist/#

Write4U said:
I really think something got lost in the switch from single to multi hulled boats.

Sheer speed is not an indication of a true sailor and seamanship.
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I'm inclined to agree.
 
LMAO, that joke is precious......
rolling-on-the-floor-laughing_1f923.png


I'll still be watching.....sailing is one of those beautiful modes of transportation that use natural forces and have absolutely no adverse impact on the earth's ecology. That feels right to me.....:cool:
 
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If you've seen any of the boats in action, "foiling" isn't possible when the windspeed is too low. That is, when there is insufficient power.

There are three hydrofoil surfaces or blades. The two on the side arms and one on the rudder; one side foil plus the rudder foil are the surfaces all the power goes to when the boat is up and sailing. I've also seen a boat with both side foils down but the hull staying up, during a turn maneuver. And the AC75s don't seem to 'need to' heel to leeward, they all sail upright when they're foiling, pretty much.
 
I've asked myself how easy it is to sail an AC75 with both arms lowered? I think it would be easier to then get the hull to lift with twice as many hydrofoil surfaces.

The racing rule is you can only have both arms down when turning (and presumably changing tack); when straight-line racing you can only have a leeward foil in the water; a bit like being told you have to drive your car on two wheels unless turning.

A piccy of the NZ team taking their new toy for a drive on the harbour; in non-racing mode:
Screenshot from 2021-01-01 12-27-25.png
 
For several years, Larry Ellison had his America's Cup racing yacht in the lagoon at (what will soon be the former) Oracle headquarters not far from my home. I used to pass it all the time. Kind of a local landmark.

It won the America's Cup in 2010 and 2013, but lost in 2017.

Americas-Cup.jpg
 
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Yazata said:
For several years, Larry Ellison had his America's Cup racing yacht in the lagoon at (what will soon be the former) Oracle headquarters not far from my home. I used to pass it all the time. Kind of a local landmark.

It won the America's Cup in 2010 and 2013, but lost in 2017.
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Americas-Cup.jpg


AC75
The AC75 (America's Cup 75 class) is a 75ft sailing hydrofoil monohull class, governing the construction and operation of the yachts to be used in the 2021 America's Cup.
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The class features a unique combination of sailing systems for a monohull such as hydrofoils mounted on port and starboard topside longitudinal drums, a double-skinned mainsail and no keel.[1] Speeds of 50 knots have been claimed based on computer simulations.[2] The highest speed actually recorded on the water is 49.1 knots by Te Rehutai on December 17, 2020.[3]
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In 2020 patent infringement was claimed in New Zealand regarding the canting foil system used in the boats that have been produced.[4]NZ 740860
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC75

Cost:
Some Cup commentators have criticised the new boat as being too complex and too expensive; legend Dennis Conner reckoned it would hike the cost of a competitive challenge up to $200 million.
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https://www.sail-world.com/news/200452/Am-Cup--Dalton-refutes-AC75-cost-claims
 
sculptor said:
When did the last wooden boat win?
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1492 when Columbus discovered America.

How fast did they go?
As you can guess, speed of sailing vessels varies considerably with the speed of the wind. Over several days, ships of Columbus's day would average a little less than 4 knots. Top speed for the vessels was about 8 knots, and minimum speed was zero. These speeds were quite typical for vessels of the period -- and indeed, typical for the entire Age of Sail up until the time of steamships and clipper ships. So overall, 90 or 100 miles in a day would be typical, and 200 phenomenal.
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columbus-ships-gettyimages-1056336226.jpg



Of the three ships on the first voyage, the Santa Maria was the slowest, and the Pinta was the fastest. The differences were small, however, perhaps about 0.1 knot between them.

http://columbuslandfall.com/ccnav/ships.shtml
 
I don't know if anyone here has done any match racing in sailboats. I imagine one or two have done some sailing (me too).

There is some griping about the AC75 regatta from the teams (not though, from the defenders). The complaints are about how there isn't much "traditional" sailing involved; no tacking duels, no sail changes, no spinnakers or genoas, you take your boat out with a crew that spends most of the time hunkered down, busy keeping the boat's hull up out of the water. It's about not making any mistakes; the team who doesn't make mistakes will or should win the race.

One big mistake is "splashdown" when tacking. It can then take over a minute to get the hull to lift up again. So in one sense the crews are competing with their boats rather than the opposition's tactics. Tactics are also pretty tied down because of the nature of sailing an AC75.

So some contenders are talking about a return to the good old days; hulls in the water, more sailing by boat crews, etc.
The NZ team, if they win the cup, might take some of that on board, but for them it seems to be about showing off their design skills and supporting NZ's yachting industry.

The politics of yachting, huh?
 
arfa brane said:
So some contenders are talking about a return to the good old days; hulls in the water, more sailing by boat crews, etc.
The NZ team, if they win the cup, might take some of that on board, but for them it seems to be about showing off their design skills and supporting NZ's yachting industry.

The politics of yachting, huh?
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Of course the skipper of NZ's team is an Aussie, [we always look after our Kiwi cousins :p] My God!! That could be interpreted as racist!:D
And getting back to the first time the trophy was ever lifted from the NYYC, here is that famous keel.................
F7CD3732-E84F-4774-9FC1-9C13BA656838.jpg
 
arfa brane said:
So some contenders are talking about a return to the good old days; hulls in the water, more sailing by boat crews, etc.
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Yes I agree, as I remarked in post #2.
This race should not be about pure speed but about sailing skill and overall sailing tactics.

Besides these new boats look like 10o million dollar children bikes with training wheels to keep you from falling over.....:(
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Even the Oracle Trimaran model was more fun to watch. It did some actual sailing rather than flying

 
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I wonder how these foil boats will sail in weather, like this;


This is "sailing" at its best.
 
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