What a start by ETNZ. USA looked to almost spear the nose and pitch pole it.

What the hell were NZ doing tacking before that cross on Leg3

two extra tacks. race over?

that magical 120m lead....again!!!

At least they're moving fast, and I won't have to explain why I am late for work again.

What have USA changed? Physical adjustments to boat, or just learnt to handle the boat better?

Almost 1 minute, 1000m loss on one leg. No contest.

What were they thinking at the bottom mark...Massive tactical stuff up from ETNZ. OTUSA are faster, crew work is better, tactically way superior, I'd go as far to say the cup is their's unless they break their boat. Shame.

Conspiracy theory time.....USA have always had a faster boat and knew it, but TV advertising dictates that they drag it all out over two weeks. Can you imagine the advertising income from tomorrow mornings race!

I reckon the two seminal turning points were USA calling a postponement and NZ almost capsizing it in R8

sausage said..

I reckon the two seminal turning points were USA calling a postponement and NZ almost capsizing it in R8

how about when we were smashing them by over 2 mins and the race was called off or the two starts that we dominated before the races were cancelled due to high winds....and since that moment they have found a truck load of upwind speed from somewhere. To be honest there have been many turning points and harry hindsight was a very wealthy man - the great thing is that we have witnessed an incredible sporting event. A shame we will lose it after getting so close but we have lost to a better skipper and a faster boat - so its hard to complain really. Thats sport sadly but its also why we love the theatre of it.

I'm on the edge of my seat - wind forecast looks to be fairly strong tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the race in before it hits the limit.

Does anyone know who has port entry tomorrow? I can't find it anywhere.

What Oracle may did to improve their performance so dramatically just in matter of few days ?
IMO there are two main components: foils and wing.
Maybe they managed to do what we did say before ? Tilt a wing sail towards the wind by tension windward steel cables ( or twist a wing at the top)?
That is what we do on windsurfing instinctively.
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis


another improvement could be wiglets at the top to release turbulence. Introduced not long ago to commercial aeronautics give several percent improvements..




If that works for gliders and sailplanes - must work for AC72 also

Macroscien said..
What Oracle may did to improve their performance so dramatically just in matter of few days ?

I just assumed you sold them some of your lithium batteries and electric motor.

So what are the tricks to getting it to work live. If I click on that youtube link now I'm one of one of 45 AC fans watching a clock on a black screen clicking down from 15 hours 9 min 12 seconds. When 50,000 are watching i can't get through. Do I watch that clock all night to preserve my place in the queue or what?
The commentary on Kiwi radio is entertaining though



.

Macroscien said..
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis

I agree with Macro. : \

Oracle is heeling significantly less than Team NZ. Especially upwind.
Watch closely.

evlPanda said..

Macroscien said..
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis

I agree with Macro. : \

Oracle is heeling significantly less than Team NZ. Especially upwind.
Watch closely.

Evil & Macro,
Hey you may be right - my theory is that as NZ has much deeper hulls than oracle they have to sail windward hull higher out of the water for clearance.

Nice graphic Panda - Imagine coming together at 44 knots...ouch

I can't quite believe it's going to be all over tomorrow too. Can't get enough of the AC and am dreading going cold turkey on Friday morning. Maybe I'll just watch the replays starting at R1 again What's quite enjoyable is reading this thread again from the start and seeing how the sentiment has changed day to day (sorry Ted) - much more enjoyable than the 9/11 thread anyway

(hopefully last post for today)

Dean Barker admits he should've capsized the boat when he had the chance

Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker has admitted that his crew made a crucial mistake in race eight of the America's Cup last week when they did not allow their multi-hundred-million-dollar yacht to capsize in the San Francisco Bay...

www.thecivilian.co.nz/dean-barker-admits-he-shouldve-capsized-the-boat-when-he-had-the-chance/

What did Oracle do to improve their performance.

They haven't done just one big thing. According to Spithill, they have been making incremental changes every night. This makes sence as the performance has improved with each race. Remember they lost 2 and were significantly behind in 2 cancelled races after the first changes were made.

They also changed their tactician . In addition, their afterguard is working better, they have confidence because they are winning and they are not making mistakes.

The Kiwis are making a lot of mistakes. Going by the Kiwi performance today, they haven't got a hope tomorrow or whenever the last race is sailed (the forecast for tomorrow is +30kts). Their only chance is for the race to be sailed in marginal conditions, similar to the race they were infront when the time limit expired.