Not your daddy's America's Cup (1 Viewer)

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lancer

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Trying to watch the current America's Cup races in Bermuda and I have the same problems with these catamarans that I always have, they are not the traditional yachts I grew up watching. It is no longer a rather leisurely watch as these boats are getting up to 45 mph in mere 11 knot winds. I don't know what you call them but they are not sail boats, despite strict definitions. Used to be a race could take hours, and now they take about 15-20 minutes, start to finish. Also, there appear to be bicycles in place of traditional grinders. My whole impression is why not just stick a sail on cigarette boats and be done with it? Change is not necessarily a good thing for what should be a centuries old skill and tradition. -- Al
 
lancer said:
Trying to watch the current America's Cup races in Bermuda and I have the same problems with these catamarans that I always have, they are not the traditional yachts I grew up watching. It is no longer a rather leisurely watch as these boats are getting up to 45 mph in mere 11 knot winds. I don't know what you call them but they are not sail boats, despite strict definitions. Used to be a race could take hours, and now they take about 15-20 minutes, start to finish. Also, there appear to be bicycles in place of traditional grinders. My whole impression is why not just stick a sail on cigarette boats and be done with it? Change is not necessarily a good thing for what should be a centuries old skill and tradition. -- Al
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Would have to agree AL 100%, but the defenders (Team Oracle or Team USA) call the shots and have pushed the Cup in this direction and ultimately dictate the rules and regulations from start to finish. The whole thing has become absolutely ridiculous and stacked in the defenders favour to the point that Team Oracle has even bullied other challenge syndicates to sign a framework agreement to bind all challengers to a definitive future regatta format which clearly favours the Defender. Only team NZ refused to sign it and it's come at a huge cost with other challenging syndicates actively working against team NZ even after it won the right to challenge and is currently 4/nil up.

A perfect example of how Team Oracle have staked the regatta is this stand down of 5x days after Team NZ won the last four races. Oracles skipper has made no secret of how they will completely re-configure their boat during this 5x days off and can pretty much add whatever they like to it. Unbelievable!

It's hardly sporting and goes against the principals and tradition of the cup. For the sake of the Cup I truly hope Team NZ do the David and Goliath thing and win and return to mono-hauls as they have always wanted.
 
Desertkiwi said:
Would have to agree AL 100%, but the defenders (Team Oracle or Team USA) call the shots and have pushed the Cup in this direction and ultimately dictate the rules and regulations from start to finish. The whole thing has become absolutely ridiculous and stacked in the defenders favour to the point that Team Oracle has even bullied other challenge syndicates to sign a framework agreement to bind all challengers to a definitive future regatta format which clearly favours the Defender. Only team NZ refused to sign it and it's come at a huge cost with other challenging syndicates actively working against team NZ even after it won the right to challenge and is currently 4/nil up.

A perfect example of how Team Oracle have staked the regatta is this stand down of 5x days after Team NZ won the last four races. Oracles skipper has made no secret of how they will completely re-configure their boat during this 5x days off and can pretty much add whatever they like to it. Unbelievable!

It's hardly sporting and goes against the principals and tradition of the cup. For the sake of the Cup I truly hope Team NZ do the David and Goliath thing and win and return to mono-hauls as they have always wanted.
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I just miss the old racing yachts, how elegant they were under full sail, heeled over in the breeze, the crews all hanging over the side, the guy that had to climb the mast if a sail hung up or ripped, and the skipper at the wheel, reading the wind as the tactician called for a tacking duel. Just miss it. No interest in these multi-hulled jet planes up on their 2 or 3 blades. I hope your boys win it, take the cup home, and return to some real sailboat racing. -- Al
 
Al, funny you started this thread after I visited the Mariner's Musuem in Newport News this past THursday. They had a large display area dedicated to the America's Cup 2013 race in which Team USA won the last 8 events to win the cup. Was thinking how much the race had changed with catamarans as opposed to yachts, as you mentioned. Agree, this has nothing to do with yacht racing anymore, sadly.

BTW, the museum addmission is priced at a $1 (normally $13) thru the summer. Great chance to the see the USS Monitor artifacts being restored (turret, part of engine, guns) and a full sized replica, as well as many other nautical exhibits. Chris
 
The rules are set by the competitors not the fans. They are interested in racing and technology.
The NFL has rules also, but they are concerned with ticket sales. The America's Cup not so
much.

There are plenty of Classic Regattas to watch. I believe one is schedule late August in Newport.
They have a different set of rules.
 
BLReed said:
The rules are set by the competitors not the fans. They are interested in racing and technology.
The NFL has rules also, but they are concerned with ticket sales. The America's Cup not so
much.

There are plenty of Classic Regattas to watch. I believe one is schedule late August in Newport.
They have a different set of rules.
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Maybe so, but I don't have to like it. It's like watching if an NFL game was played with a basketball. Might be the new rules, but still sucks. Chris
 
Never been the same since the day we popped over and snatched it ^&grin^&grin

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BLReed said:
The rules are set by the competitors not the fans. They are interested in racing and technology.
The NFL has rules also, but they are concerned with ticket sales. The America's Cup not so
much.

There are plenty of Classic Regattas to watch. I believe one is schedule late August in Newport.
They have a different set of rules.
Click to expand...

Actually the rules aren't set by the competitors, they are set by the 'Defender' Team Oracle as I mentioned in my previous post. There is some negotiation, but Oracle has the final say, and calls the shots and dictates the format. This is why so many previous Challengers have pulled out of the Cup and why they are racing flying boats instead of yachts.
 
lancer said:
Congratulations, now it belongs to the Kiwis, so do the right thing and go back to real sailboats, please. -- Al
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Cheers Al, huge celebrations going on down here in NZ today! This is a massive achievement against the odds, so loads of happy Kiwi's dancing about today.^&grin
 
Wan't it the NZ team that originally went from single to triple hull boats that ushered in the whole catamaran design? Chris
 
Terp152 said:
Wan't it the NZ team that originally went from single to triple hull boats that ushered in the whole catamaran design? Chris
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Sorry Chris but that was all Oracles doing back in 2010, when they demolished Alinghi's catamaran using a trimaran during the 33rd Americas Cup. This was a complete mis-match similar to what took place in 1988 when Team NZ challenged 'Stars & Strips' skippered by Dennis Conner in a massive carbon fibre mono-hull KZ1 and the Stars and Strips showed up in a huge Cat instead.

Oracles 2010 win signaled the future direction of the cup, hence the multi-hull format. In-fact Team NZ, like most other future challengers had to go back to the drawing board. This is when they recruited Aussie Glenn Ashby as a coach back in 2002/3 to help the Kiwi's transition to multi-hulls as he was considered one of the top multi-hull racer's at the time.

You may find the attached link useful as gives more details.

Cheers!

http://emirates-team-new-zealand.americascup.com/en/history.html
 
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