Anybody notice the spar in the corner of the third pic!!! Whoa it's big.
The new one is even larger. The original mast was about 4' from leading edge to trailing edge (and about 180' tall). The new one just came in last week and is reportedly about 6' from leading edge to trailing edge, has a better foil shape, and height is figured again around 180' or maybe a little more. Both teams are rumored to be working up rigid wings the size of a 747 wing.
For now BMWO is carrying about another 20 to 30' of mast than the Alinghi catamaran.
As for which one is going to be faster....I have no idea. They are definitely from two different design thoughts. The big sticky point right now is that the Alinghi catamaran has an engine on the back of it and it's figured that it's for a hydraulic assist on the winches...legal? dunno. The BMWO boat is all manual (although it does have hydralics on the stays for canting the rig, the pumps are controlled manually through the grinding stations).
I haven't been paying attention to all the "new rules" here, since things seem to change every month, but have they come up with a "minimum weight" rule? Do the two boats weigh nearly the same?
I think it would be hard to build a 90' tri (because of the 3rd hull) that weighs the same as a 90' cat, but who knows, maybe they did it?
Now, more speculation, if YOU could choose the driver, who would it be?
Is this the correct rules document? rules? There seems to be wording in it that prohibits canting rigs, water ballast, and as for the motor, does 32.6(b) apply? Do I have the correct rules document ? ?
I haven't been paying attention to all the "new rules" here, since things seem to change every month, but have they come up with a "minimum weight" rule? Do the two boats weigh nearly the same?
I think it would be hard to build a 90' tri (because of the 3rd hull) that weighs the same as a 90' cat, but who knows, maybe they did it?
Now, more speculation, if YOU could choose the driver, who would it be?
I choose Ashby for the cat and Smyth for the tri!
Ashby is already helping BMWO and has advised them on a couple of sail recuts that resulted in another 1.5knots of boat speed and he's contracted for more assistance in the near future. USA90 just pushed off from the dock and started hoisting what appears to be a new sail about an hour ago...now that didn't take them long to get from the tent to the water sailing with new hulls!
Is this the correct rules document? rules? There seems to be wording in it that prohibits canting rigs, water ballast, and as for the motor, does 32.6(b) apply? Do I have the correct rules document ? ?
No - those were something drawn up by Alinghi for a consentual match when CNEV was still the official challenger of record (before the courts made GGYC (USA) the official challenger). These matches are falling only under the Deed of Gift that governs the cup trophy (the gift).
In a nutshell, the two parties (challenger and defender) can make the match anything they want to make it as long as they agree. All but one AC match was sailed under agreement (mutual consent)...and that was the 87/88 "coma off point Loma" where the catamaran went up against the monohull. Basically, If they don't or can't agree on any of the details, the Deed of Gift (DoG) provides a simple match consisting of a few limiting factors and three races. It goes into some detail about the races.
It also applies some limits to the boats - 90' length if single masted and 115' if of two masts with a minimum of 40'.
As far as the rules go in the DoG, it's pretty simple there too and it emulates the traditional dual to the death. The challenger picks the weapon and the time, the defender picks the place and the rules. Ahhh, if it were only that easy. Because of the simplistic language in the DoG, expect two more court cases before the Feb. match and at least one more court case afterward.
I keep my ear to the digital ground...it's thumping pretty loud right now. A lot comes from Google news alerts - some from other forums. Webcams on buildings are everywhere and it's amazing how much people are finding out by using them.
Someone at Sailing Anarchy caught USA90 leaving the dock a little bit ago (BMWO has been pretty quiet about their relaunch...not much fanfare).
so, Shosholoosa could build a 115' x 115' cat with a mast on each hull to meet the 2 mast requirement? Kind of like that one "the Race" boat that looked so cool until it broke up.
You know, the one with the dual unstayed masts that rotated 360 degrees?
so, Shosholoosa could build a 115' x 115' cat with a mast on each hull to meet the 2 mast requirement? Kind of like that one "the Race" boat that looked so cool until it broke up.
You know, the one with the dual unstayed masts that rotated 360 degrees?
I keep my ear to the digital ground...it's thumping pretty loud right now. A lot comes from Google news alerts - some from other forums. Webcams on buildings are everywhere and it's amazing how much people are finding out by using them.
Someone at Sailing Anarchy caught USA90 leaving the dock a little bit ago (BMWO has been pretty quiet about their relaunch...not much fanfare).
so, Shosholoosa could build a 115' x 115' cat with a mast on each hull to meet the 2 mast requirement? Kind of like that one "the Race" boat that looked so cool until it broke up.
You know, the one with the dual unstayed masts that rotated 360 degrees?
Well...not quite. First - unless there is mutual consent to have other challengers or defenders, there is only one challenger and defender. Second, there is some debate whether the Deed indicates that the defender's boat should fall within the maximums and rig type of the challenger's challenge. Some say they could build a 115' boat with an itty-bitty second mast (flagpole) to challenge the american's 90' single masted boat - the wording in the Deed seems clear to me that it implies that the boats must be of the same rig type but a significant number of people see it differently...it's a complicated issue and one wrought with emotion. I think what we'll see from both sides are 110 or 115' boats that sit a little bow or stern high in the water and measure 90' on the waterline...maybe. There's still no precise information on how long CZ (A5) or DZ (USA90) is exactly NOR is there any indication from either side that the boats we see today are the ones they will be racing for the cup.
