Wind 240 at 17.0 kts, 18.7 kts peak

We should get the race in.

Dammit

X2

We are done today

Stay tuned for the press conference on YouTube. I will not be able to give notice to live broadcast this afternoon.

Next race will be tomorrow starting at 1:15pm PT.

Awesome flyby:

Wow ! what a great race --nice start .

"However, a confident looking Ainslie never appeared phased by the steady gains the New Zealand boat made on the early part of the beat. Crouched in the middle of the platform between the two hulls, he never took his eyes of the Kiwis; calling for foiling when required and timing his cover tacks to perfection. "

Defiant Oracle Team USA delay Kiwi party with stunning win in Race 12.

It's too bad they waited so long to get aggressive (and better at boat handling), the odds are still way against them not losing one before winning it all...

Mike

I think its clear now that its Oracle that has found the extra gear upwind. When they get up on foils they are a good 2 to 3 knots faster than ETNZ in the same patch of water.

I too wish that Oracle has figured this out sooner. The in-house two boat testing obviously wasn't competitive enough and it took a desperate motivation to squeeze the performance out of the boat.

Those tacks today were nearly all flawless. I mean it was like they did a wheelie then settled down on the new tack on the new leward hull already drawing air in the wing... incredible.

I think they're doing something weird when foiling upwind. They don't seem to want to do it all the time. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the wind pressure, wind angle, and/or current. I understood that Ainsley was calling for foiling and not foiling on the upwind leg.

It's still very much about the start. NZ was still knocking on the door upwind and Oracle had to play it just right. Man, it's fun watching them turn and burn around the top of the course.

I kinda wish they had kept the course more like a conventional course, with an upwind start and at least two upwind legs, two downwind, then turn and burn around a downwind mark to the offset finish line as they do now, but with more upwind work.

I realize they were trying to keep it right up close to the city front for the spectators, which is excellent and unprecedented, but a little more 'tactical' start and course would have been nice too. As it is now, you know they are both going to try to run off on starboard from the start for that short blast reach to the first mark, then it's a drag race with the lead boat getting very far ahead right away.

I'd have them start at the bottom, like a normal race, and have the entire upwind leg to swap tacks and places, before they turn downwind and separate.

Still, it is very much more exciting than any of the five previous America's Cup races I've seen...they were like watching paint dry becuase once one boat got in front, it was all over.

Not so with these boats, one bad tack or gybe is really going to hurt when the other guy is going 30-40 knots!

I think the most exciting cup before this was the last time it was in NZ. No comparison, of course.

Mike

Interesting take on the wind limit debacle...

http://sailinganarchy.com/2013/09/19/safety-dancespeed-kills/

Totally forgot about the 50 knot barrier.

This video make me regret not having gone:

O removed the sprint off the front of the boat. Wonder how long it will take to reinstall if there is a light wind race?

nice to have a video of the flyby. I had only seen pictures.

Tony you really should have made the trip... it truly is awesome to be there. I went in with mixed expectations and was totally blown away by the setup and the execution of the operation there on the ground in SF.

Behind the Scenes