America's Cup.... the next generation

In reply to 914Driver :

Yup, but bigger thanks to the size of the sails, and more extreme based on the boat speed relative to the wind speed.  It's basically impossible to pass unless the speed difference is huge.

After a day off, got two more interesting races.  Both had passes!

Race one was very head to head, and NZ managed to round the end of leg 2 in a position to pretty much force a split, where they were able to use their superior boat speed to pass Italy.  Not being a sailor, I'm not sure if Italy should have force a cover right away or not...

Race 2 was very much about the elements- Italy got a HUGE lead (I saw over 2km at one point) only to have the weather drop off.  Somehow, NZ managed to get up on their foils when Italy could not, so the 2km deficit turned into a pretty massive win.

5-3 New Zealand at this point.  The Kiwis are in a pretty strong position, as a split over the next two days would give them the Cup.

Definitely better racing to watch last night.

The first race NZ made the better sail call but LR had the better start, I'm glad that was the case otherwise it would have been another boring race watching one team sail away from the other. 

The second race was also very interesting, it looked like LR larger jib choice would pay off as the winds died down but NZ kept it close. NZ then made a mistake trying to get by LR and splashed down, race over is what it looked like. Fortunately for them there was enough wind to get the boat going again but they had a massive deficit. LR then made an error of their on a tack in really light air and really struggled to get going again eventually sailing well off the course to build enough speed to get back up on the foils, by then NZ was long gone after pulling off some very tricky tacks in very light air to keep the boat moving.

Still hoping for some heavy breezes but I doubt we will get to see them at this point.

One good race where Prada did a darned good tactical job keeping NZ behind them, until the last downwind leg.

And then the weather turned weak.

New Zealand is ahead 6-3, and given the last three races, it looks really unlikely that Italy can pull this out.  My gut suggests the Cup will be won on the next full day of racing.

Race 9 is worth watching in full if you can, lots of tight tactical racing with LR finally let down by the wind at the top of the fifth leg before going back to the finish. It's a bit like F1, there isn't always passing and tight battles but when there are they are hard to beat.

Haha, beat Alfadriver.

It's all over, the winds were on the lighter side again and the race start was delayed while they adjusted the course. New Zealand got aggressive in the start box and was able to cross the line heading towards the better side of the course. Luna Rossa kept it close through the first two legs but finishing the second had to sail through NZ's dirty air through the gate and they lost a hundred meters or so. At that point New Zealand stretched out for the win in front of the home crowd.

I believe it is all but confirmed that coming into the America's cup both New Zealand and the Italians had agreed on following the same set of rules for the next cup so we will see these boats again in the future.

In reply to adam525i (Forum Supporter) :

I normally wait to see the highlights of the race- but they were not posted on YT- just declarations of NZ winning and supposed videos of the celebration.

NZ was much like Oracle a few cups ago, where the experienced gained from actual racing made them better- and that showed every race.

Considering the racing, meh.  But the real question is if any other syndicates decide to try.  If it ends up being the same teams, then I would see the formula being a failure.  The foiling cats had 3 challengers in 2013 and 5 in '17.  Then they changed to this new one.  The speed is cool and impressive, and short races is nice.  Just that the racing was mostly meh.