America's Cup

[Luchito]

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.....

I'm not familiar at all with this sport, but the difference between single hulled boats and multiple hulled boats might be a call to divide the categories in the competences. If I compare the difference between those boats with land vehicles, then the single hulled boat is a motorcycle and the multiple hulled boat is a car.

 

[RainbowSingularity]

LMAO, that joke is precious......

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.....

all the chemicals that get tipped into the ocean to clean and maintain the boat is considerable.
the amount of fossil fuels used to build the new technology is considerable.

but i guess in technology terms, we are still in the age of the big dirty rockets

we need to get through the learning of the big dirty rockets to get to the other side.
even though many economic systems have built themselves around big dirty rocket production so will resist change as much as possible.

how fast would one of those boats go around the world ?

 

[Write4U]

I think I read that these racers can attain 45mph (40knots), but I wonderd how well they can take rough seas when the waves are taller than the lift. Once they lose planing it is difficult to get back up to planing speed. In one of the races a competitor was ahead by 250 ft but got caught in a wave and lost speed. The opponent overtook the stalled boat in 10 seconds.

Mono hulls are much slower but they just plow through heavy waves and keep going. The whole concept of using wind power for propulsion is so agreeable to my senses. To feel the power surge when the boat and sails are "tuned" to the wind is just awesome. The boat can actually attain speeds much faster than the wind. The new boats using "lift" can go 45 mph in a 20 knot (23mph) wind.
The laws of conservation do not hold for sailing.

Can boats sail faster than the wind propelling them?

With the wind blowing from behind and sails perpendicular to the wind, a boat accelerates. The wind speed on the sail is the difference between the vessel’s forward speed and that of the wind. Once the boat reaches the same speed as the wind it’s impossible to go any faster.

But with the wind blowing from the front, the boat turns its sails into the wind by about 45°. The sails divert the wind slightly as it blows across them, which slows the wind and exerts a sideways force on the sail. The keel (the large fin that extends down beneath the hull) cancels out the sideways force. But, if the sail is angled correctly, some of that force also drives the boat forward. The vessel continues to accelerate until that force is matched by the drag of the water. So, with clever streamlined hull designs a boat can sail faster than the wind.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/can-boats-sail-faster-than-the-wind-propelling-them/#