America's Cup- Fast foils-a conversation with Paul Bieker, part I

Great interview revealing a lot of great stuff. Don't miss it.

"Bieker is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost foil-design experts, and while he wisely tries to dodge the limelight, Oracle Team USA has again tapped Bieker for AC35, this time in the role of lead design engineer."

Here is the second part of the interview:
Fast foils-a conversation with Paul Bieker, part two

ORACLE TEAM USA introduces sailing crew

This was posted awhile back, but a nice refresher regarding Paul Bieker:
Bieker's Cavitation Fix

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...o-cut-costs-as-safety-becomes-issue.html

Looks like we're looking at 60 footers with rudder elevator controls.

I thought accumulators were used in the 72s, is that not correct?

I thought so too - but the Melvin interview I listened too from A-cat worlds seemed like he indicated that they did not.

No accumulators in AC34. The safety interest with the accumulators now are the result of the near capsize of NZ when they had no pressure to correct trim during that brief pivotal moment.

There were small accumulators in AC34 - just not enough to really do anything substantial.

Oh my . . .
Honolulu for AC35?

"Ellison sees the Atlantic Division championship regatta being held in the Port of Rome and the Pacific Division championship in Shanghai. A couple of months later, the Atlantic and Pacific division winners will race their AC60s off Honolulu for the Louis Vuitton Cup. The Louis Vuitton winner would stay in Hawaii to race their AC60 against Oracle Team USA in the 35th America's Cup."

Page 2

"This time, the AC45 racing would be more than a pretty preseason show leading up to the America's Cup. Each AC45 race would determine whether you qualify for the division championship in AC60s in 2017."

"So the next America's Cup actually begins with the AC45 racing in 2015," Ellison said. "Every race is important - just like Formula One."

I like the sound of all of that EXCEPT the whole "racing in hawaii" part. San Francisco was pretty much perfect to watch the racing from and I can't imagine accomodations as such could be found in Hawaii (Of course, I could be totally incorrect on that account)

What are the odds that he is bluffing to get a better deal from San Francisco?

-Rob V.
Panama City

The vibe I got in SF from the locals is that they'd rather not have the ACup come back.

In case you've forgotten AC34, go back and watch Race 18. Leg 3 is epic.
If you're watching at work don't give yourself away by yelling at the screen.

AC34 - Race 17 & 18

Somebody here pointed out that Hawaii would be more accessible to Australia, New Zealand, and Asian countries which makes it seem a little more possible.

As far as a bluff / leverage to San Fransisco - yes. I think that's definitely part of point. However, the two parties are pretty far apart on the negotiations...so who knows? The America's Cup needs to get the city nailed down pretty soon and it looks less likely to be San Fran as more time passes with no news.

What that from the articles or you talking to people on the streets?

I'm thinking it will wind up in SF again. I'm not sure that I buy the idea of HI being any more accessible to over seas teams. I think the transportation costs difference would be insignificant.

I almost forgot the awesomeness of those boats....

That they sailed at speeds over the posted speed limit on the GG bridge is huge-a.

My money is on San Francisco. Of course, I all but bet a kidney that the Olympics would never toss the keelboats...

Don't forget, Uncle Larry bought a house in Newport last time, and was bidding Newport against San Francisco. But, last time I checked, GGYC is still in SF...

I was in Newport this weekend. There are people who actually wanted NZ to win, based upon some comments about the "final" race that got pulled from NZ due to the time limit. One valid point, how can you kill a race when the boats are flying hulls and expect to be taken seriously? I think they learned that one the hard way, and upped the lower wind limit to avoid that issue again.

Mike

I got this from my Uncle who is an investigative reporter for KGO who had his ear to the ground on a lot of the "behind the scenes" stuff that happened with the America's Cup in SF.