BURT AND ERNIE

Thanks to bangin’ the corners.

Today two races are scheduled, the prediction is for the wind to be near the limit. Could get exciting.

UPDATE: 0840 hours

Today in America’s Cup history
September 14 is notable for two instances in America’s Cup history:

1967, Race 3, Dame Pattie (AUS) v. Intrepid (USA) – Intrepid won by 4:41. Named for the wife of long-serving Australian Prime Minister Menzies, Dame Pattie was denied access to American-made Dacron sail cloth. That forced the Aussies to use a substitute, inferior sail cloth made in Australia.
1983, Race 1, Australia II (AUS) v. Liberty (USA) – First race of the match that would go down in the history books as one of the most dramatic contests ever.Liberty wins by 1:10 after taking the lead with better downwind tactics on the first run. Australia II’s steering gear failed as she threatened to retake the lead on the second downwind leg, losing all hope of winning the first race.

ORACLE TEAM USA Crew List
Skipper: Jimmy Spithill (9), Tactician: Ben Ainslie (12), Strategist: Tom Slingsby (10), Wing trimmer: Kyle Langford (8), Jib trimmer: Joe Newton (5), Off-side trimmer: Rome Kirby (4), Grinders: Shannon Falcone (1), Joe Spooner (2), Jono MacBeth (3), Gillo Nobili (6), Simeon Tienpont (7)

Emirates Team New Zealand Crew List
Skipper/helmsman: Dean Barker (14), Tactician: Ray Davies (10), Wing Trimmer: Glenn Ashby (3), Trimmer: James Dagg (9), Bow: Adam Beashel (2), Pit: Jeremy Lomas (8), Pedestal 1: Chris Ward (7), Pedestal 2: Rob Waddell (11), Pedestal 3: Race 8 – Winston MacFarlane (4), Race 9 – Grant Dalton (6), Pedestal 4: Chris McAsey (5), Float/Grinder: Derek Saward (12)

WHY COVERING WON’T WORK

BY CAROL CRONIN

America’s Cup 2013: Why Covering Won’t Work

It’s bigger, better, and faster than any other racing, but being slow still hurts just as much.

I’ve been watching the America’s Cup races live, and each start brings on a mixture of emotions. Amazement at how quickly I’ve gotten used to the speeds (I actually said out loud during race 6, “Only 21 knots?”). Awe at the graphics that make it so easy to appreciate the chess game. A little bit of eye-rolling at some of the filler commentary, which is totally unfair because commentators Kenny, Gary, and Todd are providing great information even once the racing goes Groundhog Day.

Design decisions made long ago by Team Oracle USA are making it hard for the sailors.

But my strongest emotion is total and utter sympathy for the guys on Oracle Team USA.

This Cup may not look like any other, but the “heads you win, tails I lose” situation for the Oracle sailors is quite familiar. With only one small boathandling mistake they could lose the regatta, but the winning was done long before they entered the starting box. The America’s Cup is a design game, a money game, a how-to-best-use-the-time-left game. And in that, the Kiwis have clearly already won.

I’ve sailed regattas that no one watched and been slower than the competition, and it’s gut-wrenchingly mortifying. I can only imagine how awful it is for eleven guys who know we’re all watching their every move. Yes, they can put their heads down and do their job, but they still have to live through losing sailboat races when they’re used to being winners. And then the Monday morning quarterbacks step in for the slaughter. People still ask me why Dennis Conner didn’t cover, on that September afternoon thirty years ago…

Tactician John Kostecki, left, was replaced by Ben Ainslie after race 5.

Here’s the reason: when you’re slow, textbook percentage moves like staying between your opponent and the next mark don’t work. Because the textbooks make one basic assumption: equal boatspeed. So the tactician on the slower boat tries something else, which usually doesn’t work either, and the second guessing begins. Speed kills, whether racing at 4 knots or 40.

Only one thing is going to happen too slowly in this Cup: the very public humiliation of some great sailors, who will all be trying to spit out the bitter taste of slow for a long time to come.

So for the next few afternoons you’ll find me glued to a screen, working through a thicker cocktail of feelings than I ever thought this crazy money-fest would inspire: Amazement. Awe. Eye-rolling. And most of all, sympathy for a bunch of guys who are doing a fantastic job, not covering.

FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH

This is a promotional video for GO Pro. I use one and could not be more happy with the result.

Today is a layday for the America’s Cup teams. Friday the thirteenth. If New Zealand wins two races Saturday and the first one on Sunday. That is the end of the story here in San Franisco, and a new beginning for the Cup.

THIS DOG DOESN’T HUNT

1) I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A STATEMENT: JOHN KOSTECKI SHOULD FEEL VINDICATED. YOU CANNOT FIX A SLOW BOAT.

2) ORACLE IS NOT WINNING STARTS, NEW ZEALAND IS LETTING THEM GO. WHY WOULD THEY RISK A FOUL OR DAMAGE ? ( remember Intrepid in 1967?)

On a race course like this, if the boats were equal, winning the start would almost assure a victory. There are very few passing lanes. New Zealand’s tacks are better, their jibes are better.

The bows on Oracle are too fine. There is no displacement. It is proving to be a mistake.

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.

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.