TED HOOD 1927-2013

A twilight sun cuts though the clouds,
Shining down on wind swept seas,
Where one man forever longs to be,
Facing the wind and sailing free.

But he settles not for meaningless miles,
Fast through the waves, to his face brings a smile,
So down on his knees, to work and to sweat,
To try and to test, new ideas to perfect.

From all of this came a bird swiftly flying,
Or a fish gently gliding, and a man who belongs,
In the hearts of us all, especially mine,
For he somehow found time, to bring me along.

The sport of sailing, and the boating world at large, lost an icon over the weekend with the passing of Frederick E. “Ted” Hood on June 28. Hood, who was born in Beverly, Mass., on May 5, 1927, was a longtime member of the New York Yacht Club, joining in 1960. He was 86 years old. [Please note memorial information below]

“Ted was such an important part of the heritage of the New York Yacht Club,” said New York Yacht Club Commodore Thomas Harrington, “And he’ll be sorely missed.”

Hood, who grew up in Marblehead, Mass., was a complete sailor. He started his career as a sailmaker, and when he couldn’t find sailcloth to his standards, he built a loom and started making his own. He then branched out into yacht design and construction. He was also a remarkable innovator when it came to sailing gear and technique. He is credited with the grooved headstay, roller furling, and the dip-pole jibe, among other things. And, of course, through it all, he was a superlative skipper. His signature performance on the water was a 4-0 win in the 1974 America’s Cup, driving Courageous. But he was a dominant force in ocean racing for decades, winning races from the SORC to Marblehead Halifax, usually at the helm of one of his many boats namedRobin. His record puts him on par with any of the top skippers of his generation, or any generation. His understated, gentlemanly manner may have contributed to his accomplishments being overshadowed by those of more outspoken sailors.

“Ted Hood lived in a time when specialties were not the norm,” said New York Yacht Club Vice Commodore Rives Potts, a veteran of the 12-Metre era of the America’s Cup. “He was the most forward-thinking, the most complete yachtsman of that generation, and maybe of generations to come. Nowadays, we have guys who are excellent helmsmen, or tacticians, or bowmen or are good yacht designers or sailmakers. Or maybe a good yard manager. Ted Hood was all of those and more.”

In the mid-1980s, Hood sold his sailmaking business and focused on boat design and construction. He purchased the Melville Boat Basin, in Portsmouth, R.I., from the government and built the Ted Hood Marine Complex. Little Harbor Yachts, which he started in the 1960s, was initially a sailboat company. But as the market for sailboats softened and the demand for powerboats increased, he shifted his focus. He was among the first to embrace jet drive propulsion for power boats. He sold the company to Hinckley Yachts in 1999. Soon after he started Ted Hood Yachts, which has a broad line of ocean-going poweryachts and motorsailers.

According to a biography posted at tedhood.com, he was refining and improving his designs right into his last days.

Memorial information: In honor of Frederick E. “Ted” Hood (May 5, 1927 – June 28, 2013), the Hood family cordially invites all he has touched to a celebration of his life to be held at New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court, Newport, RI on Friday, September 20 at 11 a.m. Parking at the Club may be limited; overflow parking will be available on Wellington Ave. Carpooling where possible is encouraged, as is arriving early. All are welcome to stay for refreshments and to share stories following the service.

IT’S RAINING HERE AND THE CUP ISN’T OVER

Day 12 Preview: What’s gonna happen today?

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013

Day 10 of the Final Match at 34th America's Cup

Through the first 11 days of racing the 34th America’s Cup has delivered it all: close wins, large wins, light winds, strong winds, tacking duels, jibing duels and penalties to boot. It’s all added up to be one of the most fascinating Cup matches in history, and one that makes everyone wonder: What’s gonna happen today?

Emirates Team New Zealand remains on match point after narrowly missing a chance to wrap the series yesterday. The Kiwis were about 1 nautical mile from the finish line of Race 13 – and nearly 1 nautical mile ahead of the defender – when it was abandoned because the 40-minute time limit expired.

When it was re-sailed, ORACLE TEAM USA made a nice passing move on the first downwind leg, gaining a penalty on the Kiwis in the process, and sped away to a 1:24 victory, the largest of this series.

“We felt very lucky, but also felt for the Kiwi guys,” said ORACLE TEAM USA tactician Ben Ainslie. “We’ve all been in a position where you have a hand on the trophy and have to come back and do it all again. We felt fortunate. We’ve had a rough time so we’ll ride our luck with that one.”

“Luck’s a great thing. Luck beats skill every time,” said Emirates Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies at yesterday afternoon’s press conference. “The odds are firmly in our favor at the moment. We have to go and execute like the first race (yesterday). We have to go out with the same sort of thinking.”

Races 14 and 15 (if necessary) are scheduled for 1315 and 1415. In the U.S., the America’s Cup Finals will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network. Replays will be available on the America’s Cup YouTube channel.

Internationally, the America’s Cup Final can be viewed in more than 170 territories. All racing is also live on America’s Cup YouTube channel (subject to territorial restrictions).

DAY 10, RACE 13

Time limits and wind limits, this could go on for awhile. The score is 8 to 2 in favor of the New Zealand team. Match point and deuce.

WIND LIMITS

Today a cold front is headed towards San Francisco, It certainly looked this morning that is was moving faster than forecast. I do not believe that any races will be sailed today. The following is an interesting explanation as to why the wind limits are in place.

Today

UPDATE: 1130 hours

Races 13 and 14 are on the slate today, scheduled to start at 1315 and 1415 respectively. With a cold front approaching the Northern California region today’s weather is a bit unstable. The front was forecast to increase winds tonight, but that build has started earlier than expected.

The original forecast called for winds of 10 to 15 knots with clouds increasing throughout the afternoon. But Regatta Director Iain Murray says the wind is already building.

“It’s getting windier than that on racecourse. Already it’s blowing 15-18 knots at Anita Rock, in the sheltered part of San Francisco Bay, and more than that on Treasure Island,” said Murray.

High tide in San Francisco is scheduled for 1249, which means there’ll be a slight increase in the base 23-knot wind limit for Race 13 (23.3 knots) and then a decrease for Race 14 (21.3 knots).

“Were expecting the breeze to build all day and be very windy tonight,” Murray said. “We were confident of getting some races in on the earlier forecast, but the reality of what we see out there on the racecourse, it is windier – and this is pre-frontal as front comes through – we’ll have to play it by ear.”

As for the teams, ORACLE TEAM USA was issued another certificate again this morning, its 13th in 13 races. A new certificate has to be issued for the slightest of changes, such as moving the rudderhead 10 millimeters, so it’s not surprising that the defender has constantly changed its boat in the search for the perfect setup. Today, the most notable change was the addition of the bowsprit, perhaps due to the original light-wind forecast.

Emirates Team New Zealand will have port tack in the Race 13 pre-start and ORACLE TEAM USA will be on port in Race 14.

FROM SAILING ANARCHY:

I cracked the books a bit and ran some numbers yesterday. I think I have a good reason for the wind speed limit being set where it is. Wow was I wrong. The boats ended up being faster than they predicted, i.e. the designs were too good. :-) This put them dangerously close to putting the foils into cavitation speeds (~50+) that could have lead to real control problems.

Basically they want to limit boat speed to under 50 knots to stay safely out of foil cavitation speeds. The boats can sail over 2x wind speed and in some ranges are close to or at 3x wind speed the TWS needed to keep them below 50 knots is in the 22-24 knot range.

The wind limit for safety was not a reaction to the Artemis disaster as I assumed incorrectly. I had assumed the limit was for structural concerns not an unforeseen design challenge.

If they want higher wind speed limits they have to lose the foiling to remove the “50 knot barrier” or they can lose the wing to reduce the top speed of the boats to under 3x wind speed.

If they want to keep the full foiling and hard wings they are stuck with a low wind speed limit until they solve the cavitation issue. Sort of ironic that the faster the boat is relative to wind speed the lower the safe wind speed becomes. If indeed the wind limit was lowered due to concerns about foil cavitation then they got it right and the engineering math supports it.

It is not about being pansies, or poor design, or reaction to the Artemis disaster. It is about unforeseen design success.

Stop bitching about the boats being to fragile to sail in 30+
Start celebrating that they are too fast to sail in over 25.

I’m surprised that none of the SA techies from AC33 had done the figures to reach this conclusion.

Cheers,

THERE IS NO TOMORROW

Yesterday’s start should not have surprised anyone. Team New Zealand did not want to get into foul trouble so they may have been over cautious. Oracle had nothing to lose (still don’t). There only hope was reckless abandon (still is). They must approach each race as if there is no tomorrow. This seems to fit Jimmy Spithill’s personality.

ONE MORE RACE DAY AND EXPLORING THE COAST

marin headlands 9 19 13 201939 - Version 3 — POINT BONITA

Oracle won the only race of the day and will live to sail another race. It is in Oracle’s interest that the series last as long as possible.

We went to the Marin headlands and continued west and north to Stimson Beach and Bolinas.

IS LARRY OUT OF PHASE WITH THE MOON? DAY 9

Could it be that the Oracle Team is out of phase with the moon? Should Larry have hired an astrologist as a consultant for the America’s Cup?

Day 9 preview: No margin for error

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE TEAM USA return to the racecourse today for Races 12 and 13 of the 34th America’s Cup. If the Kiwis can win either race, the series will end with the tiny island nation in the South Pacific the new America’s Cup champions.Emirates Team New Zealand enters the day leading the series 8-1 and needs just one more victory to hoist the Auld Mug for the third time (1995, 2000). ORACLE TEAM USA needs to win eight consecutive races to stave off the Kiwis’ charge and retain the trophy it won in 2010.

Rival skippers Dean Barker and Jimmy Spithill have wheeled around their AC72s like singlehanded dinghies in the pre-start. Each has spoken of the closeness of the boats despite the different design approaches. Races 4 (ORACLE TEAM USA by 8 seconds), 10 (Emirates Team New Zealand by 16 seconds) and 11 (Kiwis by 15 seconds) all rank in the top-10 closest races in America’s Cup Match history. The Kiwis have won two of those three, which has enabled them to open a nearly insurmountable lead.

“It’s hard to believe that the match would’ve been this close between two teams with different design concepts,” said Barker. “Both teams have reacted very well to what they’ve observed of the other team, and the boats have come together in terms of performance and strengths and weaknesses. It’s quite unbelievable that the two boats are so close in performance across a wide range f conditions.”

Race 12 is scheduled to start at 1:15 pm PT, followed by Race 13 (if necessary) at 2:15 pm PT. The wind is forecast to be similar to today, light to moderate for the first race and building for the second race.

In the U.S., the America’s Cup Finals will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network. Replays will be available on the America’s Cup YouTube channel.

Internationally, the America’s Cup Final can be viewed in more than 170 territories. All racing is also live on America’s Cup YouTube channel (subject to territorial restrictions).

You can also follow racing with America’s Cup App for android and iOS devices.

ONE AND DONE?

Emirates Team New Zealand on precipice of winning 34th America’s Cup

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

View Photo

Emirates Team New Zealand’s wire-to-wire win in Race 11 moved the challenger to match point in the 34th America’s Cup against defender ORACLE TEAM USA.

About 38 minutes later, as the two crews were jockeying for position on the start line of Race 12, the race committee postponed the sequence because the wind strength had exceeded the prescribed 20-knot limit, forcing the Kiwis to wait until tomorrow for a chance to close out the series.

Emirates Team New Zealand leads ORACLE TEAM USA 8-1 on the scoreboard, with the winner the first to score 9 points. The Kiwis need just one more victory to win the America’s Cup for the third time (1995, 2000), while ORACLE TEAM USA needs to win eight consecutive races to defend the trophy it won in 2010.

“It’s not over; it’s a long way from over,” said ORACLE TEAM USA skipper Jimmy Spithill. “Both teams would’ve liked to sail the second race, but Iain (Murray, Regatta Director) has to stick by the limits that are set.”

Race 11 didn’t feature the breathtaking back-and-forth lead changes that were a hallmark of Sunday’s Race 10, but it was every bit as exciting for the close-quarter action. Emirates Team New Zealand led at all four mark roundings – by 3, 6, 17 and 18 seconds – before settling for a 15-second victory.

Barker did a good job in the pre-start, setting up to leeward of ORACLE TEAM USA. Both crews were late to the start line, mainly because Barker was holding the match up, slowing the defender until he was ready to rip onto the racecourse.

The 3-nautical-mile upwind leg again proved pivotal to the match. The Kiwis began the leg with a 6-second advantage, but ORACLE TEAM USA once again attacked. The two crews traded 10 tacks on the leg, but the Kiwis fended off every advance with covering tactics and solid boatspeed.

On the run to the final turning mark ORACLE TEAM USA closed up to Emirates Team New Zealand’s transom, but the Kiwis were able to sail a low course to round the mark, albeit at very slow speeds, while the defender had to put in two maneuvers to get around the mark. That gave the challenger enough breathing room on the final leg to the finish.

“Every win here is so hard, they’re monumental battles, so you’re thankful for every win you get,” said Barker. “We had a bit of an idea how to attack it and it worked out as well as it could have. We had a nice little jump, sailed a good first run, at the bottom mark another split and backwards and forwards after that. We were happy to sneak away with another win.”

Emirates Team New Zealand gets two chances tomorrow to close out the series. Race 12 is scheduled to start at 1:15 pm PT, followed by Race 13 (if necessary) at 2:15 pm PT. The wind is forecast to be similar to today, light to moderate for the first race and building for the second race. The lighter conditions seem to suit the Kiwis more than ORACLE TEAM USA.

“The boat seems to go well in a breeze, that’s obvious,” said Spithill. “But I think we can still win races in the light stuff. We’re looking hard every night at what we can do. We’d love to get on with the racing, but we’ve got those wind limits and have to obey them. Whatever the conditions are we’ll go into it 100 percent.”

In the U.S., the America’s Cup Finals will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network. Replays will be available on the America’s Cup YouTube channel.

Internationally, the America’s Cup Final can be viewed in more than 170 territories. All racing is also live on America’s Cup YouTube channel (subject to territorial restrictions).

You can also follow racing with America’s Cup App for android and iOS devices.

—Sean McNeill

34th America’s Cup Standings (first to 9 points wins)

Emirates Team New Zealand – 8
ORACLE TEAM USA – 1

Race 11 Performance Data

Course: 5 Legs/10.16 nautical miles
Elapsed Time: ETNZ – 23:41, OTUSA – 23:56
Delta: ETNZ +:15
Total distance sailed: ETNZ – 11.7 NM, OTUSA – 11.5 NM
Average Speed: ETNZ – 29.88 knots (34 mph), OTUSA – 29.04 knots (33 mph)
Top Speed: ETNZ – 44.57 knots (51 mph), OTUSA – 42.70 knots (49 mph)
Windspeed: Average – 15.4 knots, Peak – 18.0 knots
Number of Tacks/Jibes: ETNZ – 10/6, OTUSA – 10/8

Upcoming America’s Cup Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 19: Race 12 (1:15 pm PT), Race 13* (2:15 pm PT)
Friday, Sept. 20: Race 14* (1:15 pm PT), Race 15* (2:15 pm PT)
Saturday, Sept. 21: Race 16* (1:15 pm PT), Race 17* (2:15 pm PT)
Sunday, Sept. 22: Race 18* (1:15 pm PT), Race 19* (2:15 pm PT)
(*If necessary)

WEDNESDAY COULD BE THE DAY?

Preview: Wednesday could be the day

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

15/09/2013 - San Francisco (USA,CA) - 34th America's Cup - Final Match, Day 6

After today’s postponement the wind conditions look to be lighter for Wednesday and should allow for racing to begin as scheduled at 1:15 pm PT. Races 11 and 12 are on the docket and if Emirates Team New Zealand sweeps both it’ll win the America’s Cup for a third time.

The Kiwis lead the America’s Cup Finals 7-1 over ORACLE TEAM USA. The first team to reach 9 points will hoist the Cup.

The forecast is for winds between 14 and 17 knots, potentially gusting higher later in the afternoon. That could be the lightest average wind in this final series, and might produce different results.

“At the moment we look good in higher winds and maybe they look better in lower winds, but that might change in the next few days,” said ORACLE TEAM USA designer Dirk Kramers, at a media briefing following the postponement.

The defender looks better in higher winds due in part to the series of modifications it undertook last Friday in the quest to improve upwind performance.

Kramers was coy in his explanation of the improvements. “The obvious changes were we went to the short spine (bowsprit). There were probably four or five more changes, all visible to the naked eye. So I challenge you to find them.”

Emirates Team New Zealand designer Nick Holroyd picked up the conversation from there. “I think there’s been some rake change in the wing, beyond that where they’ve taken the spine structure away saves you a bunch of weight, which opens up opportunities to do things elsewhere. But I’ll go back and terrorize the recon department to find more,” said Holroyd.

A strong ebb (outgoing) tide will lower the wind limits to 21 knots for the first race on Wednesday and 20 knots for the second race. Although the low limits were a hindrance to racing on Tuesday, the ebb tide serves to open up the racecourse, and if the wind is as forecast, shouldn’t cause a postponement.

“We’ve seen the game change drastically from very one-sided track in flood (incoming) tides with good control to having an open racecourse,” said Holroyd. “The way the guys are thinking on the boat has to change quickly.”

The two designers spoke this afternoon following the postponement of racing. They both agree that working on the AC72 design development has been the most fun challenge they’ve undertaken.

“Essentially we’ve taken a two-dimensional sport and made it three dimensional, and it’s pretty fun,” said Holroyd.

“Something similar to this is the future,” said Kramers. “As far as pure spectacle this is great, and we might not see it again.”

I agree that the spectacle is unprecedented. From what I have seen during the races, Until two days ago I felt Oracle was faster in light air. Without a doubt Oracle upped their game during races 9 & 10.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES?

Opportunity lost by America’s Cup Defender

With four races scheduled last weekend, America’s Cup challenger Emirates Team New Zealand was expected to seal their victory of the 34th Match. What happened instead was that defender Oracle Team USA won two of three (fourth race was abandoned due to wind limit), but the American team could have arguably won all three. Here’s the set-up:

On the upwind leg of Race 10, the challenger was on the left side of the course, already on port tack and on layline to the north (right) gate. The defender was on the right side of the course, had just tacked to starboard and were on layline to the south (left) gate. The teams were even; the challenger would have to duck.

Here is the broadcast commentary from the video replay (at around 1:41:20):

Ken Read: “Emirates Team New Zealand is going high and slow right now, looking for a dip at the last second. They want to dip and still be able to lay this gate.”

Gary Jobson: “With that tactic, Oracle needs to slow down.”

But Oracle didn’t slow down. They allowed the Kiwis an easy dip, and both teams then rounded the opposite gates at near the same time. The Kiwis went on to win the race.

Ron Young, who was General Manager of the Golden Gate Challenge for America’s Cup 1987, points out the mistake. “Had Oracle done something similar to tactically slow their starboard tack ‘right-of-way’ course, New Zealand (on port tack and thus burdened to ‘keep clear’) would have had no choice but to duck behind Oracle while she was in the ‘circle’ and blocking the north end of the gate. This maneuver would have forced the Kiwi’s north of the gate. Once north of (and missing) the gate, New Zealand would’ve had to tack (or possibly gybe) to follow Oracle around the south end of the gate – likely over than five boat lengths behind Oracle.”

Another option was for Oracle to bear away and aim at the Kiwis, which would have also led to the challenger falling below layline. But this action would have been limited by the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing – America’s Cup Edition. In Rule 16 (Changing Course), it states that “When sailing to a mark that is to windward, a starboard-tack yacht shall not bear away to a course that is below her proper course and more than 60 degrees from the true wind direction if at that moment the port-tack yacht that is keeping clear by sailing a course to pass astern of her has to immediately change course to continue keeping clear.”

Other options include how Oracle could have tacked in front of New Zealand, which they were entitled to do under the America’s Cup Racing Rules, because they were the inside boat and entitled to sail their proper course around the mark. They also may have been stronger if they were on the starboard layline to the north (right) mark.

The other thought in this is that Oracle had chosen to round the south (left) gate mark, so this discussion is premised on the fact that in hindsight the north (right) mark was preferred, which is often the case due to more breeze offshore, better apparent wind speed due to sailing into the ebb which increases the boatspeed more than the adverse affect of the current, and of course, the starboard advantage if there were a close crossing downwind, as there was.

Bottom line is the defender had the starboard advantage, but did nothing with it.

FROM SCUTTLEBUTT