GLEN ASHBY EXPLAINS THE NOSEDIVE

A lot has been written and expressed about the performance of the 72’s. When someone like Glen Ashby speaks, we should all listen.

Glenn Ashby explains the Emirates Team New Zealand nosedive.

August 20, 2013

The most heart stopping moment of the 34th America’s Cup action so far was the huge bear away crash which saw the Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 nosedive at the windward mark in race two. (In case you have been living up a mountain with no internet or left the planet temporarily in the last few days the video clip is at the end of this article).

So what exactly went wrong on the Kiwi boat to trigger such a spectacular nose dive that it thew the majority of the crew into a tangled heap and flicked two of them unceremoniously into San Francisco Bay.

To find out from one who would know for sure, we got Emirates Team New Zealand wing trimmer Glenn Ashby to talk us through it.

First we asked Glenn to explain what he is doing to the massive wing sail when the boat goes around the windward mark.

“The goal for me is control the angle of heel as we transition from upwind to downwind. To do that I am basically twisting the wing profile and easing sheet as we initiate the turn. You are getting more and more power as you transition through that 90 degrees until you get to a sort of neutral ground where you are really in the meat of the power zone. At that point you have a low boat speed but a huge amount of thrust.

“So as you are punching through that power zone the guys will be winding the sheet and I will be sort of fanning the sheet to try to keep that angle of heel constant through the turn.

“Once you realise that you are through the power zone I’ll be immediately trying to stand the leech up or bring the head of the wing back, because if you punch through that zone and you don’t get the sheet back on and the power back into the wing the apparent wind is basically on your bow and you will do a big windward hull touchdown.

Then, because you will have board rake on the leeward side the leeward hull will be flying, your windward hull will be stuck in the water and you will have absolutely no power to turn the wing back up to lift that windward hull back out of the water again. That can actually turn itself into a bad bow down situation quite easily.

“By being able to pace the boat up enough, put the board rake on, even pop the boat up on to the foils before you start your turn, you are not having to drag the whole hull through the water, it won’t wash off enough speed and as you pass through the power zone you don’t have to ease as much sheet because the apparent stays forward. That means you can get the sheet on again much faster and that can give you a really good slingshot or whip out of the top mark. You will often see the boatspeed go from 30 knots to 45 knots in the space of a few seconds.”

So what happened during the second race to cause such a huge crash?

“The other day we just got into a really big, right hand heading puff as we went round the mark. It probably went from 15 or 16 knots to low twenties as we went around the mark. What that did was to widen and increase the density of the pressure in that power zone as we were punching through. It got to the stage where we were half way round and I was having to ease a huge amount more wing than I normally would – just with the extra thrust that we had.

“Unfortunately it was one of those bear aways where our leeward elevator pierced the surface at one stage. Once you lose the effect of that elevator which is basically holding the boat down you are effectively into an old school multihull bow down situation. It happened in an absolute blink of an eye. We have never had it happen before but that time the stars had aligned to give us that finger of God just as we got to the top mark.

“When you go back and look at the data on the breeze that we sailed into, it was a huge shift – possibly with a lot of sheer from top to bottom too – combined with a big increase in pressure. When you are sailing through the power zone you only need a half a knot or a knot of increase in pressure to make a massive difference to the power zone. We had a good three or four knots of increase as we went around and that was enough to load everything to a point where for a standard maneuver it would have been no problem; but we recognise that we were a bit foot to the floor with that one.”

Despite having gone though a crash which would have put most of us off going afloat ever again, Ashby said instead that the incident had actually given the Kiwi crew more confidence in their boat and how hard they could push it.

“It was a good one, but it was also a good example of Team New Zealand’s design and engineering capabilities to be able to create something that us as sailors can throw that sort of punishment at it and it will just pop up with nothing but a bit of cosmetic damage to the fairings.

“The boat performed extremely well. We have designed a boat that will allow us to push it really hard and it will be forgiving and look after us. That means we can keep our foot on the throttle. It let us know that we were probably pushing a bit too hard the other day.

Ashby, like the rest of the crew – other than helmsman Dean Barker who was braced behind the wheel – was thrown on the floor of the windward hull as the boat slowed dramatically from 41 knots to 13 in the blink of an eye.

“The biggest thing that stopped us was when the front beam hit the water and that’s when I went for a little bit of a tumble. It happened quick like every down the mine episode – whether it be on a Moth, A-Class, or a 49er, you generally get a split second before hand to say to yourself “Oh bugger!” and then you know you are on your way.”

Ashby maintained that having studied the nose dive in detail and debriefed it amongst the crew, they had no plans to make changes to their bear away technique.

“At the end of the day we are not going to change anything we do. In fact if anything it gives us more inspiration to keep pushing hard and learn the limits. We are still learning about the boats the whole time and we have really good confidence that we can pull off some pretty wild maneuvers in good breeze and shifty conditions and get away with it.

“Having never had that experience with the boat before it’s good to know that the boat is safe as house and that the performance is hopefully good enough as well.”

ROGER VAUGHAN and IAIN MURRAY ON THE AMERICA’S CUP

From Roger Vaughn, Oxford, MD:
I’ve tried hard to get behind the 2013 America’s Cup. I really have. I’ve been covering this event longer than I want to admit. I’ve written three books about it, including one about about Dennis Conner’s precedent-setting multihull defense in 1988, so I understand the nature of the multihull beast. I wrote the book (as yet unpublished) about Oracle’s dramatic, nail-biting victory in 100- foot multihulls in 2010, the match that led to using multis for 2013.

Along the way I wrote scripts for the videos produced about the AC 45 World Series.Those events convinced me there really could be arresting match race competition in high-tech, winged multihulls. And I wrote the introduction to the striking new book about the 2013 Cup, Sailing on the Edge. I wrote in a positive way about it, relating how John Cox Stephens had a catamaran in 1820, and how his businessman’s smile would be broad as a Cheshire cat’s if he could watch the AC72s flying by.

But it’s time to rethink. There have been 3 matches in the Louis Vuitton final and we have yet to see a race. Three matches, three breakdowns, and one frightening bow plunge by New Zealand that was a miracle of survival. Why that boat wasn’t totalled is a mystery. Three matches without one display of tactics by either boat. Three matches with no light sail handling. How can there be light sails when the apparent wind angle on the leeward legs is 25 degrees? Gone is the compelling ballet of billowing spinnakers, the sets, the jibes, the takedowns that are the lyrical melody of sailboat racing. All we’ve got is big, hugely expensive, overpowered, dangerous machines ripping at 40 knots and more, with crews wearing body armor suits and crash helmets with oxygen bottles and commando knives strapped to their bodies just in case….

We are still calling it sailing, calling it the future. The speed and the technology is intriguing, even momentarily arresting. But is it sailboat racing? Here we are well into the Louis Vuitton final — the final! — and I have yet to see any.

Iain Murray, AC’s Cool Head In The Hot Seat

By Michelle Slade
It’s hard to say if Iain Murray, America’s Cup Race Management’s quietly spoken head honcho, will be pleased to see the end of AC34, or whether he almost wishes he could have it over again to make serious amends to a sailing event that has proven to be unpredictable. Here Murray explains how he is dealing with the daily frustrations of AC34.

How are you managing to juggle all the curveballs that must consume you on a daily basis?

IM: [Laughs] It’s just what I have to do. It’s my job to keep this show running. I’ve got a lot of good people helping me and there’s a lot of experience in the race management team. The America’s Cup has always been difficult, I think going forward it’s no less difficult. There’s been a lot of difficult instances in the past, whether it’s been wing-keels, or plastic yachts.

Is this what you expected two years ago?

IM: No, I can’t say it’s turned out quite how I expected. I think with all the action and bits and pieces, responsibility and liability has taken on a whole new level that I don’t think anyone could have anticipated.

Where and how did things start going wrong in your opinion with this event?

IM: It’s easy to sit here now, look back and say, “We should have done this or that.” I think probably the biggest disappointment to people is the fact that we’re so short on challengers, and you can ask yourself why is that so? Clearly the cost of the campaign is an issue, the complexity of the campaign is another issue. I think everyone looking forward is saying, “These boats are really cool, the guys love sailing them, we’re in the first generation of boats foiling and understanding the race formats.”

We came off something that was pretty good at the end with the AC45s and high expectations with 10 boats roaring around, a great event in Naples, great events here in San Francisco, and Newport [R.I.]. In many ways coming back to three boats has been a dip. If you look back, you can say we need more controls, we needed something more like an AC45, something that was maybe not an AC72, but not an AC45. Maybe we should have done it in an AC45—I don’t know. I think a 55- to 60-foot semi one-design boat is probably what you’ll see the teams looking toward.

I believe in November 2011 teams were given a choice to move forward with the 72, or go to another boat. A unanimous decision was required, and two teams – Artemis and ETNZ – chose not to. Can you comment?

IM: I put all the principals of the teams together in San Diego in 2011 and did ask them that question. It was clear by that time in the year what it was we were doing, and because there were challenges in the financial world post 2008 that the money wasn’t flying like it was in 2006-‘07. Getting teams to be able to step up from the ACWS to the America’s Cup was a lot more difficult than people had anticipated. The options were there and discussed. People had made commitments to designs and were well down the path of the 72 and the decision was to continue. Read On

Current LV Cup Finals Schedule

Wednesday, Aug. 21: Final Race 4 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 5 (2:10 pm PT) – ESPN3, live
Friday, Aug. 23: Final Race 6 (TBD) – ESPN3, live
Saturday, Aug. 24: Final Race 7 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 8 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 7pm ET (tape delayed)
Sunday, Aug. 25: Final Race 9 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 10 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 7pm ET (tape delayed)
Wednesday, Aug. 28: Final Race 11 (1:10 pm PT), Final Race 12 (2:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 5pm ET (tape delayed)
Friday, Aug. 30: Final Race 13 (1:10 pm PT) – NBC Sports Network, 5pm ET (tape delayed)

AN INSULT TO SAN FRANCISCO

Pichaya Viwatrujirapong | Getty Images

A homeless man holding a sign asking for a donation from bystander in San Francisco, California.

Peter Shih moved from New York City to a startup incubator in San Francisco and developed an online payment processing company called Celery.

So far, it’s your typical Silicon Valley success story.

But something happened along the way west to California’s Golden Gate. Shih decided he didn’t like the City by the Bay.

Didn’t like it at all.

Last week Shih wrote a rant called “10 Things I Hate About You: The San Francisco Edition” on a site called Medium. The original post has since been removed, but several other bay area websites have picked it up.

Play Video

California to use ’eminent domain’ to stop foreclosures: NYT

“That seems to me to violate the Constitution,” said Judd Gregg, SIFMA CEO, discussing the “Golden State’s” plans to become the first nation to use “eminent domain” as a way to stop foreclosures.

Shih’s criticisms of San Francisco include transportation: “Why the f*%^ would I want to go anywhere if I have to choose between spending an hour on a bus where homeless people publicly defecate or an equally enraging hour of circling the same 4 street blocks trying to find parking on a 45 degree hill?”

His take on the women there, whom he calls 49ers: “No, not the football team, they’re great. I’m referring to all the girls who are obviously 4’s and behave like they are 9’s. Just because San Francisco has the worst Female to Male ratio in the known universe doesn’t give you the right to be a b*tch all the time.”

On getting a taxi: “Transvestite to Taxi ratio being quite literally off the charts, it is impossible to get home safely, especially if you live far from downtown.”

On bicyclists: “Next time I see one of you f*%@ers bomb through a crosswalk and almost mow down a row of pedestrians I’m going to clothesline you.”

Then there’s the weather. Mark Twain is thought to have once said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” It’s not clear whether Twain actually said this, but anyone who knows San Francisco weather gets the joke. Shih kicks it up a notch: “I hate how the weather here is like a woman who is constantly PMSing.” Nice.

That’s when the Shih really hit the fan.

San Franciscans are up in arms that someone should call their beautiful, beloved city a toilet. Signs have popped up suggesting Shih go back to the Big Apple.

Anisse Gross wrote a counterblog on Medium called “10 Ways to Open Your Heart to San Francisco.” She suggests Shih “try walking,” and as for the weather being like a woman PMS-ing, “I’m going to put aside my entire dissertation on your hatred of women (including the fact that a uterus is the reason why you are here!)”

Folks, hold on to your uterus. Just for a moment.

As someone who has had to put up with San Francisco’s superiority complex my entire life, I am enjoying watching my northern neighbor get itself in a collective living wage wedgie because someone dared to point out the Tenderloin makes LA’s Skid Row look like Beverly Hills.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and all I ever hear from folks in the Bay Area is how great they are, and how much SoCal sucks. Yes, we in the southern part of the state steal your water. Yes, we are superficial. Yes, we have no meaningful culture center. At least we know it! People in Los Angeles look at themselves in the mirror and have no illusions—we need more Botox. On the other hand, look up the definition of “smug” in the dictionary, and you’ll see a map of San Francisco. Which you canNOT call San Fran. Or Frisco.

Don’t get me wrong. I love San Francisco, love the look of it, the restaurants, the quirkiness, the edge. But there’s a reason nearly all the big money in Silicon Valley is not in San Francisco. It’s a messy, dirty, funny, lovely, wonderful place. It’s the brother who is always the life of the party, but you’d never lend him money. L.A. is the gold digging ex-wife, but at least she knows it. And the weather’s better.

FOILING “C”

Thanks to Sailing Anarchy. This is just too cool

DAY 3 LOUIS VUITTON SERIES

I am going to make some statements.

6 races were scheduled to take place as of this afternoon.

not one race has been completed by both boats.

3 points total have been awarded all because a second boat could not complete the course.

As I stated, a war of attrition.

TODAY’S RACE:

LUNA ROSSA KICKING UP THEIR HEELS BEFORE THE START

Today I watched from the Golden Gate Bridge. A perspective I had not seen or used before. I will confess that I still have trouble without a watch and the precise start time seeing the whole picture.

While Chris Draper was credited with winning the start. I wonder. I watched Russell Coutts sailing the AC45’s always start to leeward. the “first leg” is so short if you maintain a leeward overlap you can keep the windward from bearing away downwind. Russell won almost every race this way. It is not always about winning the start, it’s about winning the race.

I thought the above images illustrate very well this maneuver.

FOILING UPWIND

The AC boats regularly foil downwind and have even stayed up during a jibe. The trick has been to be able to foil upwind. Oracle seems to have accomplished this. It may be the answer to winning the series.

SEBASTOPOL

Sebastopol is perhaps known as an artist’s town, once known for apples. not far from the pacific ocean.

MORE NEWS OF THE LOUIS VUITTON FINALS

Couldn’t resist this spoof of yesterday’s event. Today Luna Rossa gained one point because Team New Zealand had a breakdown. This could be an event won by attrition. Whoever has the fewest breakdowns. You can’t win if you don’t finish. I don’t know how to get around that thought.

Team Oracle had it’s share of problems as well with the boat Ben Ainslie was steering breaking a rudder.

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE FIRST DAY

A lot happened on day that seemed uneventful. Never much wind or current yet both boats had breakdowns and one lost two/three crew overboard.

FIRST DAY OF THE LV FINALS

I was on shore watching. I took lots of photos I have added a few, but this video footage is a much better representation of the day.
I do not see how anyone gained points. I do not think New Zealand finished within the time limit and certainly not with all crew members aboard.