Thread: Aussie & Brit . draw even with Kiwis in Americas Cup, for the USA

Amazing comeback from 8-1 down, but the Kiwis were up against a formidable team, Sir Ben Ainslie, UK's 4 time Olympic Champion, Aussies James Spithill, Skipper, & Tom Slingsby, strategist, not to mention a top crew. Pity there can only be one winner, Bob

<u>34th America's Cup

• Venue: San Francisco

Sir Ben Ainslie's Oracle Team USA sealed one of sport's greatest comebacks when they overhauled an 8-1 deficit to beat Team New Zealand in the America's Cup decider in San Francisco.

The holders won eight straight races to triumph 9-8 after being docked two points for cheating in the build-up.

Oracle surged to victory by 44 seconds to retain the Cup they won in 2010.

The Kiwis won four of the first five races, making Oracle modify their boat and call Ainslie from the warm-up crew.

The British sailing legend, 36, a four-time Olympic champion, was drafted in as tactician in place of American veteran John Kostecki and was instrumental in the US outfit's resurgence.

Ainslie combined superbly with Oracle's Australian skipper James Spithill, and strategist Tom Slingsby, another Australian who won Laser gold at London 2012, to drag the syndicate back from the brink in the most remarkable turnaround in the event's 162-year history.

Recent America's Cup winners

• 2013 Oracle (US) bt Team NZ 9-8
• 2010: Oracle (US) bt Alinghi (Swi) 2-0
• 2007: Alinghi (Swi) bt Team NZ 5-2
• 2003: Alinghi (Swi) bt Team NZ 5-0
• 2000: Team NZ bt Luna Rossa (Ita) 5-0
• 1995: Team NZ bt Young America (US) 5-0

The New Zealanders, with impressive early pace upwind and slicker boat handling, advanced the score to 6-1 as Oracle's crew and equipment changes took effect.

But the US outfit, bankrolled by software billionaire Larry Ellison, were soon up to speed and they won 10 of the next 12 races to lift the oldest trophy in international sport, known affectionately as the "Auld Mug".

The Kiwis, led by skipper Dean Barker, reached 8-1 last Wednesday but were stuck on match point by a series of race postponements owing to strong winds, coupled with the start of Oracle's comeback.

Barker's crew came within two minutes of glory in Friday's race 13 in uncharacteristic light winds before organisers abandoned the race because the 40-minute time limit had elapsed.

Continue reading the main story

“When you're sailing a boat going that fast it's very hard to swallow”

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker


In the decider in fresh breeze and sunshine on San Francisco Bay, Team New Zealand edged a tight start and beat Oracle to the first mark. The Kiwis stayed clear around the second mark but lost the lead to the Americans early on the upwind leg. After briefly retaking the advantage, the Kiwis then watched as Oracle stormed ahead with remarkable upwind pace and remained clear for a comfortable win.

"What a race it had everything," said Spithill, 34, after only the third winner-takes-all final in the event. "Man, these guys just showed so much heart.

"On your own you're nothing, but a team like this can make you look great. We were facing the barrel of a gun at 8-1 and the guys didn't even flinch. Thanks to San Francisco, this is one hell of a day."

The 41-year-old Barker said: "It's obviously very hard to fathom. We went out there to give it our absolute best shot. We felt we didn't leave anything on the table. When you're sailing against boat going that fast it's very hard to swallow. Its very frustrating. The gains they've made are phenomenal.

"I'm incredibly proud of our team and what they've achieved but I'm gutted we didn't get the last win we needed to take the Cup back to New Zealand."

As winners, Oracle will decide on the format, venue and timing of the 35th America's Cup.

America's Cup explained

• First staged in 1851 off the Isle of Wight in England. Won by US yacht America.
• Racing is boat-on-boat, called match-racing.
• The event begins with a challenger series - the Louis Vuitton Cup - to decide who gets to take on the defender in the America's Cup.
• The winner decides the format and venue of the next event. It takes place roughly every 3-5 years but one-off challenges - to do with complicated court proceedings - also occur.
• As holders Oracle chose 72ft catamarans with rigid wing sails. Foils were pioneered by New Zealand. The high-speed boats were initially criticised over safety, particularly after Andrew Simpson's death in May, but thrilling racing suggests multihulls could remain for next event, though possibly smaller.
• Oracle also brought racing close to the shore and ushered in a new era of TV production with on-screen graphics to help simplify the sport, a development likely to remain.
• No British team has ever won it, but Sir Ben Ainslie has already launched Ben Ainslie Racing with a view to changing that.

The US syndicate first won the Cup in 2010 when they beat holders Alinghi of Switzerland in a one-off match in huge multihulls following protracted legal wrangling.

Ellison and Oracle Team USA boss Russell Coutts, who had won the Cup for New Zealand in 1995 and 2000 before defecting to Alinghi for 2003, devised a new concept for the 2013 competition.

They opted for revolutionary 72ft catamarans with rigid wing sails - and foiling daggerboards later pioneered by the Kiwis - which allowed the boats to reach startling speeds of more than 50mph.

Races were brought inshore to make it more accessible for fans and cutting-edge TV production with on-screen graphics were introduced to make it more appealing for a new audience of TV viewers.

But the format was controversial and designs untested, and critics feared for the safety of sailors. Oracle capsized last year, but it was the death of British Olympian Andrew Simpson in a training accident in May that prompted wide-ranging safety measures including upper wind-speed limits and personal breathing apparatus.

Critics also pointed to spiralling costs, with only three teams - Artemis Racing of Sweden, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy - emerging to compete in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series for the right to take on Oracle.

Artemis were unable to mount a meaningful campaign after Simpson's death, as Team New Zealand outclassed Luna Rossa in a one-sided Louis Vuitton Cup final.

But the America's Cup, despite Team New Zealand's early stranglehold and a number of races postponed because of unfavourable winds, showed that match-racing in giant catamarans could be hugely exciting and is likely to be the future of the event.

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terryo terryo where art thou?.

the american boat just had so much extra speed up wind it was impressive to watch.
maybe next time they should nominate laser dingys and give some other countries a crack.

I think that's one of the major issues in sailing at the moment - between them, Larry Ellison and Ernesto bertarelli have ruined the America's Cup.

I mean really, how dare LE call his boat Team USA. There's only one Seppo on board....it's ridiculous. The boats are prohibitively expensive, thus guaranteeing a greater likelihood of retainig the cup through reduction of competitors - it's not about sportsmanship for these people, it's just about winning, they're like children in a playground. It rather disgusts me that people think all sailing is like this.

Next AC simply must have cheaper boats. Probably still wing sails and probably still foiling cats as they are the future, but it's got to be more accessible to other counries as Yorkie rightly says. in addition, smaller boats will see lower speed differentials which makes for closer racing.
All things considered though, I'd rather see the teams on monhulls in a variety of conditions - short offshore, long ocean passage, inshore etc

And the teams should be at least 75% citizens of the same country....that's what the AC was all about.

Rant over. Very disappointed that the cheats won. Credit to their boat design and handling and their astonishing improvements in crew work and tactics (Well played, Sir Ben), but they're a dishonest team....the cup should not be theirs.

Perhaps select an ocean racing class of boat, have Yacht clubs from countries interested race each other, the winners from each Country then race in selected Ocean races [ Sydney to Hobart, Fastnet] the top 2 at the end then race an offshore course nominated by the holder of the Cup. Similar to the Admirals Cup, but different. Bob

RORC Admiral's Cup


www.admiralscup.org/‎

• Cached
• Similar

The Admiral's Cup, the Royal Ocean Racing Club's unofficial World Championship of Ocean Racing.

I always liked the tale of The Bluenose when I was a kid. A working fishing schooner that raced in the off season. My grandfather would tell me about it while watching the sail boats out in Lake Ontario

Originally Posted by The Cone of Silence

I
Next AC simply must have cheaper boats. Probably still wing sails and probably still foiling cats as they are the future, but it's got to be more accessible to other counries as Yorkie rightly says. in addition, smaller boats will see lower speed differentials which makes for closer racing.
All things considered though, .

This is a slightly smaller boat and it goes faster!!!
Technology says that even if you reduce the length they will find a way to go faster.
Foiling moths have clocked 32 knots and they are only 3300mm long.
One of the problems with sailing on foils is that if you can foil even 1 second quicker than the other boat the gab opens up very quickly and hard to put a cover on the other boat. The shorter format is fantastic for the sport but these boats need to do a few more mark roundings and extend the time to say 60 mins. as the other boat doesn't get much time to get back into the race as if it happens halfway through then you have about 15 minutes at most to regain some ground lost.

Check this boat out then.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eJgsiS3xH8]Hydrofoil : world speed sailing record for Hydroptere at 51.36 knots - YouTube[/ame]

Yeah, Trog, they were working boats, for sure. Bob

The Queen of the Grand Banks Schooners - YouTube

Originally Posted by bob10

Yeah, Trog, they were working boats, for sure. Bob

The Queen of the Grand Banks Schooners - YouTube

They have beautiful lines those schooners'. If I bought a yatch, I'd want one that looked like that.
A few years ago, I couldn't decide if I wanted a bus or a boat, but all the boats I looked at were similar.

Of course, the bus ended up winning ,, well, I need something half decent to base myself from when exploring inland Aus, and its a little easier to tow the car with too