Last start at 1505

Wow, great start and first turn! Coutts just inside.

Coutts extended around us first time up.

Mike

They just extended us to he south, past the stake boats, got a C2 out here with us...

Mike

+1 for Stank. Ding to serve.

USC beats LRS.

KOR vs USS up next at 1525 (ignore my last post about final race).

Mike

KOR and USS tied 1-1, just started last race, KOR OCS...

Mike

Spithill walking away, 1 lap to go.

Mike

Game over Spithill wins

Lots of activity in the ETNZ tent tonight. Four wing panels are off, and they are grinding a fifth. Plenty of honeycomb damage. They are already dismantling the spare Red Bull wing to salvage parts.

Mike

how did they flip?

Slow-motion capsize at the top gate, they had split, rounding behind Luna Rossa. They nearly landed the wing on the left mark boat's mast and cabin.

could have used Jeremy today. We had three photogs on our boat, but not one of them was facing the right way, and didn't hear me or the driver yelling at them to turn around until the wing was in the drink.

Mike

I think Team NZ has got a mark boat vendetta this regatta.

The wing damage came from the attempts at righting. The wing extentions "aren't meant to be capsized" and are not watertight. Go figure...

Mike

How are they righting these boats now? I remember seeing Energy Team righting their boat by just towing it forward into the wind and which generated enough airflow on the wing to have the wing right the boat. I've wondered if they all took cues from that.

I spoke with someone as high up (or higher) than you can imagine tonight who told me "the problem is fixed."

Personally, I don't see this as a good thing for Joe Six Pack, nor the cat-nay-sayers. Cats flip, that should be expected and easily fixed. Having a team be out for more than the one race can't be good in the big picture.

On the plus side, reportedly 50 youth teams have expressed interest in the Red Bull event.

Mike

Got the impression that there is no standard procedure to right the cats once they go over.
They just seem to hold onto whatever it is they where holding on to and wait for the support RIB to come save them.

This is how the French did it in Plymouth, they went over a few minutes before the start sequence and still made it (fast forward to 2:26!):

I've seen the various ways you guys mentioned from the prior events. It's hard to say which is best, whatever gets it up quickest, I guess.

They tried just about everything. They pulled it sideways, had it bows-up at one point, etc. We thought they were trying to ground it on Rose Island at a different point as well. Not sure how that may have helped, unless they were just going to start removing parts right there?

Anyway, the problem is that the wing extention is not water tight (by design) and fills with water quickly. That is a massive amount of weight exactly where it hurts the most, at the tip of the mast.

Later start time today, around 1400 EDT.

Mike

Photos of wing repairs
here....
and here.

yes, I recall distinctly almost running him over at C gate during T-winds. Seems his crew tossed him overboard?