DESPERATE MEASURES?

All modern sailboats have large mainsails, the mainsail trimmer is the single individual who is really driving the boat. He controls the horsepower. No less on a solid winged catamaran. Glen Ashby is starting to be recognized as the pivotal crew member he is.

Ben Ainslie will likely be aboard Oracle, replacing John Kostecki, who has become the sacrifical lamb for a boat with the “slows”

After Tuesday’s abbreviated race program, initiated by ORACLE TEAM USA playing its one and only “postponement card,” the 34th America’s Cup resumes today with Races 6 and 7.

ORACLE TEAM USA played its postponement card after losing Race 5 by 1:05, a stunning defeat that saw the defender leading at the leeward gate by 8 seconds.But Emirates Team New Zealand showed some serious wheels on the upwind leg and completed the 3-nautical-mile beat 85 seconds quicker than ORACLE TEAM USA.That turnaround clearly rattled an already shaken defender and led to the postponement card.

Yesterday in practice, ORACLE TEAM USA had four-time Olympic gold medalist on board filling the role of tactician John Kostecki, who has come under fire for the team’s perceived tactical errors. Kostecki isn’t solely responsible for the team being down 4-0 on the scoreboard and 4-to-minus 1 in the win column, but if Ainslie is aboard today (the crew lists are usually issued around 0900 PT) it will signal that ORACLE TEAM USA feels a shake-up is needed.

For Emirates Team New Zealand, the path forward remains simple. Gain at least a split of each day and in time it will reach its goal of winning the America’s Cup. The Kiwis need to win five races to ORACLE TEAM USA’s 10 to win the Cup.

“We go out there with the same approach every race, trying to win one race at a time,” said Kiwi skipper Dean Barker at Tuesday’s press conference. “There are no easy races. It’s full on. The guys did an incredible job getting the boat around the course. The temperament was fantastic onboard; we were behind around Mark 1 and stayed in the race, which is very promising.”

Although the Kiwis spent yesterday ashore, they no doubt reviewed videotape of ways to get off the start line better. ORACLE TEAM USA has won four consecutive starts, so Barker will be looking to improve on that today. And if he does, his “cool cat” status will increase triple-fold.

Today in America’s Cup history

September 12 is notable in America’s Cup history for five instances, including Race 3 of the 9th America’s Cup Match:

1895, Race 3, Valkyrie III (GBR) vs. Defender (USA): Lord Dunraven’s Valkyrie IIIdeclines to race the third race of the match and is labeled a “quitter” by the American Press. Valkyrie III crossed the start line, struck her racing colors and sailed for New York Harbor while Defender sailed the course to win the race and the match. Dunraven cited interference by spectator craft and dissatisfaction with the manner in which the New York Yacht Club was conducting the match for not continuing. It later emerged that Dunraven and his afterguard believed Defenderwas illegally ballasted. The NYYC held a hearing in December that year attended by Dunraven and his English Counsel, which exonerated Defender. One of the last surviving crew of Defender later disclosed in a recorded interview in 1974 thatDefender had pumped in and out illegal water ballast. (Mark J. Gabrielson, “Deer Isle’s Undefeated America’s Cup Crews,” History Press, Charleston, 2013, p109.)
1967, Race 1, Dame Pattie (AUS) vs. Intrepid (USA): Intrepid wins by 5:58.
1974: Race 2, Southern Cross (AUS) vs. Courageous (USA): Courageous wins by :51.
1983: Australia II (AUS) vs. Liberty (USA): The New York Yacht Club America’s Cup Committee votes 5-4 to not cancel the 25th America’s Cup Match in their belief that the winged-keel on Australia II had not been designed by an Australian national but by Dutch nationals at a Dutch tow tank used to test models for the Australian challenge, which was hotly disputed by the Australian challenger.
2004: After the conclusion of the first America’s Cup Act in Marseille, France, a storm producing winds in excess of 65 knots hits the boatyard where the ACC sloops are stored in cradles awaiting de-rigging for shipping to the next event. The storm blew over Alinghi’s, BMW Oracle’s and Team New Zealand’s IACC yachts, damaging all three yachts with Team New Zealand’s yacht suffering the worse damage.

NATIONAL HEIRLOOM EXPOSITION

While Oracle is searching for answers. ( It is hard to overcome a slow boat, but easy to blame the tactician)

I was at the National Heirloom Exposition with my grandson. Dedicated to non GMO foods. a fascinating festival.

TENSION AT ORACLE

Are John Kostecki’s days numbered at the 34th America’s Cup?

11 Sep 2013

After some more poor tactical decisions aboard the America’s Cup defender Oracle Team USA, questions are being asked about whether tactician John Kostecki will pay the price for Oracle’s failures.

In the second race of the regatta, Oracle had Emirates Team New Zealand under control upind before Kostecki took the boat to the wrong side of the course and allowed the Kiwis to gain the dominant position.

In Race Five today Oracle had a commanding lead as they approached the bottom mark. Kostecki called for a foiling tack, a difficult procedure in the strong winds at the time. His objective was obviously to get into the cone of current relief under Alcatraz but the manoeuvre basically involved doing a 180 degree turn and heading back the way they had come.

The turn was badly executed, Oracle went dead in the water and ETNZ swept across their stern at speed and were back in touch. They dipped Oracle’s transom in the next cross and headed to the favoured side of the course. When they came back on starboard they had a clear lead and were never headed. Extending at every tack it was obvious that Ray Davies was calling the wind shifts correctly on ETNZ and Kostecki was out-of-phase on Oracle.

At the media conference after the race, Kostecki was not present for the first time since racing began. Instead strategist Tom Slingsby was at the table with skipper Jimmy Spithill and when asked if the tack was the wrong call, Slingsby was characteristically honest and said “yes”.

The decision was put into further bad light when Davies said that had Oracle gone left up the beat, he would have called for a tack on the mark to get separation. Kostecki had not only sent his own boat the wrong way, he had left the door open for his opponents to go the right way.

Asked twice whether Kostecki would be on the boat on Thursday, Spithill tried to be diplomatic but did not emphatically say “yes” at either opportunity.

Oracle has two very strong options if they decide to replace Kostecki. Sir Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time with four golds and a silver medal. He has been steering Oracle’s second boat in intra-team racing and could step straight into the position.

The other option is also an Olympic gold medallist. Tom Slingsby is one of the best readers of a race course in world sailing and instead of grinding looking backwards he could turn around and look forwards.

Kostecki was chosen supposedly because of his knowledge of San Francisco Bay, of which he is a native. But before the Cup began rumours cirulated among the Australian and New Zealand camps that the only reason he was on the boat was because he had an American passport – he is one of only two Americans in the team.

Oracle are not at the point of no return – yet – but the fact that they played their postponement card today indicates they are close to it. It will be a long night of analysis and if the concensus is that too many tactical decisions have gone wrong, we could seea change in the crew list for Thursday.

Everyone wants an edge. In sailing it is having a faster boat. this allows you the possibility of making up for errors. Oracle appears to be a little slower, the crew work not a sharp; leaving the tactician at a disadvantage. It is very hard to beat a faster boat; particularly on such a short course, which leaves no room to work.

I would add that the crew of Team New Zealand are very good at execution. I would point at Glen Ashby trimming the wing. This is the horsepower. New Zealand gets the acceleration when they need it.

HIGHER AND FASTER

The New Zealand team upwind was simply higher and faster upwind. pointing higher and sailing faster. I believe Team Oracle does not know what to change to go faster. The score is 4 to 1 in favor of Team New Zealand. Their performance today reminded me of Intrepid in 1967. Bus Mosbacher was without question the best match racer of his time. At the wheel of Intrepid he had to hold back, the boat was so much faster they never wanted to jeopardize getting into foul trouble.

Jimmy Spithill uttered: “You can be a rooster one day, and a feather duster the next.”

ALL THE KING'S HORSES — ALL THE KING’S HORSES

PRE-START ONLY TIME THEY WERE IN THE SAME FRAME

DAY 3 AND THE FUTURE OF SAILING

FOILING

Sailing’s Sacred Monster Roars Again
There’s one heck of a difference between tests and trials, and defender and challenger selections. All we know is that two 72ft catamarans will be pushed to the limit, and the rest of the world will briefly pay attention to our sport of sailing, mainly in the hope of seeing a spectacular and very expensive crash before dinner.

But for sailing enthusiasts, mixed feelings only begins to describe it. Horrified and slightly guilty fascination is probably the most general reaction. Not to worry, folks. It has always been that way. The America’s Cup is indeed sailing’s sacred monster. But it’s undoubtedly our monster. And it’s just about the only way the general public connect with sailing. So we have to live with it with the best grace we can manage, for it’s completely pointless trying to assert that it has nothing whatever to do with us.

It’s grand guignol goes afloat. And it’s the apogee of the times in which we live, for it’s now way beyond the international. It’s beyond the supra-national. It’s globalisation par excellence. It may in theory be New Zealand challenging America. But the multiple-nationality mixes in the crews have made traditional concepts of sailing for your own country irrelevant. So it’s completely appropriate that it’s taking place in sailing waters off the world capital of electronic technological development in the American state which is home to the world headquarters of the entertainment industry.

If this all seems way over the top, worry not – be of good cheer. For just about every staging of the America’s Cup has provided some of the most over-the-top events of its era. Larger than life characters. Spectacular and often dangerous maritime technology. And expenditure that does nothing whatever to reduce the popular perception that sailing is basically a rich man’s sport. — WM Nixon watching in “horrified fascination” at the America’s Cup in Afloat magazine:

The Question has been, even more than who will win, what next? Will the America’s Cup return to monohulls? In a word: the cat is out of the bag. I do not see how we can turn back time. Foiling is a fact of life, a rather normal one now. The “C” class championship starting in two weeks in Falmouth England will be won by the boat that foils best. If you don’t foil you will not be in the hunt.

I predict that in two Olympics from now there will be at least one foiling class. I think that for any 20 or 30 year old foiling is a completely normal idea. I think despite the problems the America’s Cup has had, the flintstone generation is indeed that, extinct.

Image credit: RICARDO PINTO/America’s Cup.

Barker and Davies outsmart Spithill and Kostecki on exciting America’s Cup opening day.

September 7, 2013

The much anticipated opening race of the 34th America’s Cup did not disappoint in any way shape or form with the two AC72 crews hurling themselves at each other like heavyweight prize fighters for the entire five leg, 25-minute race.

With virtually no discernible difference in boatspeed the race was ultimately decided on the skills of the respective tacticians and the nerve of the two helmsmen with the Dean Barker/Ray Davies combo performing better when it counted to overpower Spithill/Kostecki to take the win.

After a quiet prestart in which Dean Barker lined up to windward and slightly bow forward the two teams had to burn off time in the final 30 seconds to the gun. Barker’s time on distance was better and he pulled the trigger at ten seconds to go to power forward and cross the line a quarter of a length ahead of Spithill.

Overlapped to leeward at the three boat length zone of the first turning mark, Spithill tried a spectacular high speed luff on Barker as he set up for the bear away. Kicking up clouds of spray, Oracle’s bows swung perilously close across the Kiwi’s stern but the umpires quickly rejected Spithill’s penalty request.

ETNZ were the first to gybe on the run leaving the American team to power down parallel to the left hand boundary of the course off the San Francisco city front for another 20 seconds before also gybing.

When the first cross came shortly after the Kiwis squeaked across ahead, but by only 50 metres.

When the pair gybed again around a minute and a half later the second cross was down to what looked like just a few metres – an impression magnified by a big bow up movement from Spithill to try to illicit a penalty for Barker. Seconds later however the umpires rejected this one too.

Oracle pushed on all the way to the port layline for the right hand leeward gate and the Kiwis had to pull off a perfect gybe directly in their path to cut them off. This left just a few feet between the boats as they rounded the gate mark and with Oracle steaming in the fastest a bow to stern collision looked inevitable as Spithill tried once more to give Barker a penalty.

As Oracle tore through to leeward less than 10 feet away from the ETNZ boat, Barker was forced to tack away towards the city front. This left Spithill clear to sail on closer to the Alcatraz cone of tidal relief before tacking to towards the shore. When they tacked the advantage line to Barker was just 35 metres.

Spithill steadily ground down that advantage so that when Barker was forced to tack at the left hand boundary the two boats were bow to bow and the Kiwis had to concede the lead with a bear away around the American boat’s stern.

A few minutes later however the roles were reversed when Spithill tacked at the boundary and had to take Barker’s stern on port tack. This proved to be the turning point in the race as Kiwi tactician Ray Davies now had total control over his opposite number local boy John Kostecki. So much so in fact that when Davies called a pinpoint accurate tack on the port layline to the right hand buoy of the windward gate, all Kostecki could do was to tack in the Kiwi’s wake and trail the New Zealander’s by 25 seconds at the top of the final run.

Barker and Davies didn’t put a foot wrong on the penultimate leg and despite Spithill sailing what looked like a better VMG course for much of it, they were well ahead at the final turning mark and went on to a 36 second win.

After the heart stoping thrills and spills of the first race, the second match up was a more sedate affair with the only excitement a collision in the prestart when Spithill came in from behind and to leeward to try and hook the Kiwis outside the starboard end start mark.

The umpires quickly dismissed this however and Barker pulled off another inch perfect start, leading over the line and pulling ahead of the American boat on the first reach. Their lead at the first turning mark was just two seconds.

From then on the Kiwis always in control with Davies nailing all his laylines Barker able to match any mode Spithill tried to put his boat in to try to get past.

The delta at the finish – 52 seconds to Emirates Team New Zealand.

Without a doubt this was the best action we have seen in the America’s Cup so far and by by a long long way. Were the boats equal or did the Kiwis have a slight advantage around the course? Hard to say even now but for sure there was never a point where the Kiwis looked slower. Add to that some superior tactical decisions and slicker crew work by Barkers crew and there you have the story of the day.

Emirates Team New Zealand now lead the series by two races to zero in the potentially 19 race series. A two point penalty handed down by the international jury last week after Oracle Team USA were found guilty of rule breaking in the America’s Cup World Series means that they need to score 11 race wins while ETNZ need just nine race wins.

Races three and four of the America’s Cup Final are scheduled for tomorrow starting at 13.10 local time.

I think the crew work on team New Zealand was a little smoother all the way around the racecourse; giving the impression that the New Zealanders have a faster boat; which may be the case.

PHOTOS FROM TODAY: HERE

Month: September 2013

DESPERATE MEASURES?

NATIONAL HEIRLOOM EXPOSITION

TENSION AT ORACLE

Are John Kostecki’s days numbered at the 34th America’s Cup?

HIGHER AND FASTER

DAY 3 AND THE FUTURE OF SAILING

LAY DAY

3 TO 1; I MEAN 3 TO NONE

TODAY IS DAY TWO

TWO UP

Barker and Davies outsmart Spithill and Kostecki on exciting America’s Cup opening day.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013 RACE 1