can anyone beat JC/JW now?

Maybe... the tiller extension is between the main and the boom... ?

The spinnaker sheet went under the port hull, and the spinnaker is now in the water behind the trampoline.

The youth team smiling after a very good result (sail / boat number 2).




Here you see them dueling with Lovell/lovell (sail / boat number 3)




A shake up in the score sheet.

Team Pierce/Spina fall back a long way in the overall scoring. The were unlucky to score a 9th in race 5A with a follow-up 14 in 6B, this means they stay in the B fleet for race 7 with an 11th as the lowerst possible score. This means that their score after 7 races will at least be 31, with the result of race 6B (14th) striken of the record.

They were at 11 points overall after 5 races and will at least be at 31 after 7 races and that is a big hit. It will most likely place them out of contention for the two 3 spots.


But the dominance of Team John^2 is waining. Team Tomko had been leading them in to previous races and now in race 5A they have score a 4th position. The other crews seem to get comfortable on the boats and with the winds being a little lighter (8 knots) they are directly challenging team John^2.


Biggest attention grabber are the youth sailors out there. See picture. They have won race 5A, with Ken Marshack and Mike Siau second and the olympic slot Lovell/Lovell at 3rd. John Casey and John William were 4th in that race.





The youth Team Luke Lawrence / Caroline Wright will most likely hold 4th spot overall after race 6 has been completed and they are back in contention.

So one team goes for a big drop while another team makes a sudden high flyer.

Welcome to Alter Cup multihull sailing !

Wouter

yawn....

The infamous picture is of Marshack/Siau.

Yeah, I only managed to slide that past Darline twice before she caught it. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Say, can someone summarize what in the HELL you guys have been talking about in 104 posts in this thread? I don't have time to read all that.

Hot racing today! Got the boats turned around very quickly and got in a bunch more races. JC and JW ate a 4th today but dropped it after we hit 5. They got another bullet in the last race they sailed in...it's theirs to lose now. Also of note, our 16 year old youth sailing team scored a bullet in an A race. Results are up at the US Sailing Alter Cup Page (THANK YOU DARLINE!).

http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmhc/

Darline really likes it when you guys comment about her posts (but usually doesn't get many)....send me a PM and I'll send you her email address if you would like to give her some kudos for her hard work.

Jake,
People can work their buts off year after year and thanks is the only reward on the table.

We should thank the people that continue to make it happen and/or keep the outside world informed. They are our biggest asset and greatest opportunity to draw more players into the game.

BTW:- your PMs are maxed out.


Regards,
Phill

Some input on the picture in question, as it was taken of my team. We do not seem to have any lack of upwind boat speed. In the race before this we were the second boat to A, then flipped during the jibe just after passing #1 boat. This is taken just before A mark when we had an 1 min+ lead on second place (B fleet). Technique was to rotate back till the top of the mast and top three battens invert, then out slightly. This will let the top flick off in gusts. My crew is 19 and does not stop sawing the main. Even at this point where we had a large lead and I told him to save some for the next day, he just kept sawing. Picture may have been taken while he was letting some main out, but I can tell you the boat jumps forward when he snaps it back in.
The leach will look open... that is the purpose of depowering and the whole theory of the square top. Sail area up high when you want it, but when you crank on the lines it opens up the leach and does not support the top, thus less power. At least this is the way I understand it and it seems to be working for us.
Have to go sail now, wind forcasted to be lighter today.

Ken Marshack

You guys have all guessed wrong, while it is so easy.

Were is the armchair ?

No keyboard in sight either.

No wonder I tipped it in !

Wouter


(plus is the port tiller arm running over or under the hull ?)

Phil,

PMs fixed...sent you one.

Jake

New pictures available at :

http://www.ussailing.org/championships/p...ShowSub=Day%203






Racing is postponed awaiting sufficient winds (or sufficiently stable)

This probably won't worry this crew much.





They are in the lead on the chances of the crews at spot 2 and 3 are quickly diminishing.


Wouter

I spy the squirrel!
JC is amazingly good.

I think you'll find that in this case the "squirrel" is very good as well !

Besides, John Williams will have valuable experience trimming the Blades aluminium superwing mast, afterall its bigger brother is on his own Capricorn F18 !

F16 is definately a team boat in winds like these, just like skiff. You really have to act together or you'll be all over the place.

The days when a good skipper could just pick a crew up from the beach and win an event are definately over. (same applies to boats like the F18 etc)

I really would love the Alter Cup to get a few more races in lighter winds and see if the Johns can still get bullets when it is not blowing stink.

But they are obviously a kick-butt crew, together.


An interesting detail in all this is that both Casey and Pierce have scored better now, sailing Blades, then they were in the last two years. Note that in 2006 the Alter Cup was even sailed on their prefered boat !

Alter Cup 2006 Nacra I-20 : Casey / Pierce 4th
Alter Cup 2005 Hobie Tiger : Casey / Pierce 7th

Alter Cup 2007 Blade F16 : Casey/Williams 1st (official now)
...................................: Pierce / Spina 4th


Not to fan a fire in a good marriage but ..... ?


Wouter

Just after lunch it was announced that :




And the winners are clearly John Casey and John Williams !

The final standings are :






A new photo gallery is up at :

http://www.ussailing.org/championships/p...ShowSub=Day%204





The location looked superb and alot of respect and thanks to the organisers, volunteers and the repair-staff.

Florida looks like a great state for sailing !

And as a final word, because I just can't resist it, lightweight and being though can indeed go hand in hand. I feel more sorry for the scattered crab pods. The winds, chop and crews did their worst and the Blade F16 held through. A big two tumbs up to Vectorworks Marine.

Also note that this was the first production run of the new high aspect and lightweight daggerboards. Not a single one broke and that does not have much precedent. Brought to you by the company www.catamaranparts.nl . The Glaser sails looked absolutely beautiful and did exactly what they were suppost to do. A big thank you to the suppliers.


Now we know that John Casey and John Williams are a lethal combination. F18 worlds 2008 boys ?

Wouter

I can't comment too much on how the mast got broken, but I can tell you this:

1) Paul Hess is a VERY competent skipper. (Twice Past Natl. Champion, Pan Am Games, etc.) While he doesn't have the spin time many of the competitors have, he knows to leave that mainsheet well enough alone!!

2) The mast broke BELOW where the shrouds come into the mast. So it was definitely not a case of the spinnaker tearing off the top of the mast. Nobody really knows why the mast broke at this point in time, but speculation is that there is an anomaly in the extrusion that failed under the impact of the mast hitting the water. Matt was going to cut into the mast where it failed to investigate further. Stay tuned!!