we're going to need a rule in here about spoiler alerts for those of us that are at work and haven't had a chance to watch today's recording ;-)

Agree! Hard to watch during the day so I was up late watching replays last night and haven't seen any today.

But don't want to spoil the conversation, better for us that can't watch right away to be careful what we read. :-)

Today's presser

Yes, but you DON'T HAVE TO OPEN THIS THREAD!!!

I was lucky to catch on TV and stream. Stream feed is about 2 minutes delayed from TV (not that it matters, but you can watch the stream while the TV has commercials and vice versa)

I am starting to wonder if SWE is USA kryptonite. SWE is blazing fast in moderate conditions (12-16kts TWS), and JPN had trouble pacing. I think JPN is the sister-ship of USA, so when Barker chose not to split on SWE, I wondered if the USA shore teams were eating up that data on the two two boats and their setup/speed/angle and other variables.

NZL seems to have the most consistent ride of the bunch, and it's a thrill to see Burling whip that 50' boat around a tack in less than a boatlength at 28 knots! Talk about some G-force

I also think I see some "pumping" by SWE and NZL which I would consider more "sawing the main" than pumping/kinetics.

Did anyone notice SWE wing control winch sounds like a playing card in a kid's bicycle spokes? And their foils make a hell of a racket? You would think that noise = drag but with their downwind speed it's probably a motivator for the crew to keep as fast as possible to get away from that screetch...

Sad to see Cammas so far back, but he's a distance guy anyway... and the team is underfunded. But that's about the only team with several nationals on it, right? I think I saw 2 or 3 Frenchmen on that team.

JPN has one native... Not sure if SWE has any.



I didn't read the DOG, but did I hear from the talking heads that NZL gets to pick who they sail against in the semi-finals? If so, I'd be looking really hard at the forecast... Not sure I'd want to tangle with SWE in heavy air, and I think JPN would be tough in the light since Barker is pretty good on tactics. GBR is the total wild-card since I never can tell what Ben's going to do. Maybe I'd pick them since Burling seems to have a way about getting into people's head and messing with them.

Must have something to do with his "old school" zinc oxide war paint

And when this is all over, I'd love to see the comparison on the actual energy output of the pedal vs. coffee grinder stations. I suspect NZL is doing a sh*t-ton more adjusting with Ashby(?) and his little Playstation handset... and the little twisting (rudder elevator?) on the helm...

Based on the results Saturday, Oracle could win the point, or tie, or lose the point. So it will be either NZ or Oracle who picks. We're not there yet. Saturday's first race is a big one.

14:08 Bermuda
USA vs NZL

14:37 Bermuda
JPN vs GBR

15:06 Bermuda
FRA vs SWE

15:35 Bermuda
GBR vs USA

Video snapshot of Oracle rudder swap

I was wrong, Oracle can still win the point but they will not compete in the playoffs. After Saturday we will not see Oracle until the Match.

Today, if Oracle beats NZ, and BAR beats Oracle, then Oracle and NZ are tied. Then, Oracle will win the tie breaker because of their placement (2nd, BAR was 1st)) in the ACWS, and take the coveted point into the match.

So we will find out in the presser who NZ picks to go up against.

Next races are the beginning of the semi finals with 4 races/day.

Presser

NZ has chosen BAR

Racing today

14:08 Bermuda
NZL vs GBR (R1)

14:37 Bermuda
SWE vs JPN (R1)

15:06 Bermuda
GBR vs NZL (R2)

15:35 Bermuda
JPN vs SWE (R2)

I didn't get to watch yesterday, but skimmed through the replay footage last night. It looked like they used a different course configuration, mid-course single mark leading to the final reaching finish leg?

Did they discuss why they used this (breeze/other), and if they'll use this for the remainder of the racing?

I can see pros and cons, but am just curious.

Mike

It's going to be interesting to see if the challengers make some improvements over Oracle now that the US team is not racing head to head anymore. I was not aware that the teams are using two different sized foils, one for light air, one for heavy, or that ETNZ had modified their boards with that kink in the middle.

Really? The boards are pretty much the only thing (design-wise) that Kenny and company have discussed. I've been pretty disappointed with the lack of technical discussion about the wings and other aspects, but they may not have that info due to the competition.

One thing that Kenny said surprised me: The headsails are one-design? Does he mean spinnakers and jibs? I swear one of the boats had a shorter/fatter jib.

Mike

I haven't been watching/listening to Kenny (Read?) much but back when the A cats started foiling, I posted thoughts that if this foiling thing catches on, it's going to render our 'Box Rules' based on hull length, weight, sail area pretty much useless.

Who wins the race is going to come down to who has the best foils and has the skill to keep their boat up on the foils the longest. The richest guys in foiling A cats could have multiple sets of foils, one for each increase in wind strength.

If foiling migrates to the other classes (F18/F16) the same issue will migrate too. Foiling renders our box rules pretty much obsolete, as long as you have the money for the best foils and you know how to use them.

When I look around the regattas however, I see the old school Hobie 16 is still one of the most popular in terms of numbers of boats out on the course at most mixed class regattas, so perhaps the F18/F16 classes won't go down the foiling route, which might scare off more people than it attracts, due to expensive foils..

Or maybe there should just be a single 'Foiling Class' for everything that foils, no matter what type of cat the foils are on, and let evolution do it's thing, to eventually produce the fastest foiling cat, be it an A, F16 or F18.

Yes, Kenny is Ken Read.

The box rules themselves aren't the problem. It's trying to say that foiling boats can race head-to-head against floaters. It's like adding a spinnaker to a Hobie 16 and letting them race against a stock boat. Just ridiculous, except in conditions when the foils (or spinnakers) can't be used, when they become extra weight and drag.

Mike

BTW, all races postponed today, and no one mentions that? Hopefully it's because you were all also on the water this weekend!

Mike

Couldn't watch today (Sunday) was racing cancelled?

The other day when they were racing at the lower limit of wind speed I got really annoyed the way the announcers kept talking about how slow the boats were moving and how boring the racing was.

The wind was about 6 knots and the boats were still foiling and racing at over 20 knots, to me that is more impressive than the 45 knots on windy days.