America's Cup

[dr150]

Jesus, this ceremony is awful.

Haha. I thought the same thing.

Stupid rock songs during team awards. An Americas Cup sign that's way too low and obscured by the people on stage. A stage that is way too small to accommodate the teams--some Kiwis at the end were asking their buddies to scoot over in any direction for the gaggle behind them.

It was very high school amateur.

Looks like Ellison and the City of SF had to scrimp and save somewhere.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Wow, decisive victory for Team Oracle. Awesome series though! Glad to see the America's Cup back in America!

 

[SolMiester]

oh you mean Emirates TNZ's cache of corporate sponsers aren't completely loaded with money?

Thats right, they are not....Im actually quite unhappy that Ellison is his money are allowed to change their foil for an automated one half way through the series after copying ETNZ....They bought over 10 design and tech staff after they play the postponement card...

Still, its done a lot for our boat building prowess, just gutted we got timed out on the race several days ago...should of been ours....

 

[Nox51]

Thats right, they are not....Im actually quite unhappy that Ellison is his money are allowed to change their foil for an automated one half way through the series after copying ETNZ....They bought over 10 design and tech staff after they play the postponement card...

Still, its done a lot for our boat building prowess, just gutted we got timed out on the race several days ago...should of been ours....

1km ahead of Oracle, on the last leg and it gets timed out. They got lucky, no doubt about that.

 

[Slew Foot]

Thats right, America rules, the rest of the world is full of pussy-ass losers.

 

[RabidMongoose]

That was a pretty pathetic showing by New Zealand. The greatest choke job in all of sports history.

 

[SolMiester]

That was a pretty pathetic showing by New Zealand. The greatest choke job in all of sports history.

WOW, that's a bad troll from a lifer bro.....especially when you consider that it was really a Kiwi boat v a Kiwi boat racing, one with a Aussie skipper and one with a Kiwi one...LOL

 

[TheMantis]

That was a pretty pathetic showing by New Zealand. The greatest choke job in all of sports history.

You're confused. It wasn't a team representing NZ, merely a team from an NZ yacht club. The AC is really just rich boys playing with their toys. Although Oracle was representing an American yacht club there was barely an American on the boat, it was mostly sheep shaggers from NZ, thieving convicts from Australia, and whinging Poms.

All that said though, the NZ team suffered probably the biggest choke in sporting history. Oracle just had too much money and resources, and with all the delays they were provided the time necessary to make the best use of those resources.

 

[Blitzvogel]

With such high speed sail boats, glitz, etc, we may see sailing take off as a mainstream sport. Also with the advances of telecasting on screen telemetry, viewers can really understand the race and how competitors really are doing. IIRC this was the first America's Cup with hydrofoils and it's pretty obvious they are freaky fast. In two years, I expect the boats in the next America's Cup to be lighter, probably a bit smaller, but definitely faster.

 

[Nox51]

You're assuming they'll have someone to race with, particularly if they keep going with the large cats. Rumour is Team NZ is thinking of pulling the plug. Luna Rossa was design sharing the boat with Team NZ and Artemis was not much of a competition. The Louis Vuitton cup was a one man race. In truth if Oracle put on the performance they did at the beginning of the Cup they would have stood a good chance to be eliminated in the Louis Vuitton.

If Team NZ leaves I don't see a competitive challenger at all.

 

[Blackjack200]

With such high speed sail boats, glitz, etc, we may see sailing take off as a mainstream sport. Also with the advances of telecasting on screen telemetry, viewers can really understand the race and how competitors really are doing. IIRC this was the first America's Cup with hydrofoils and it's pretty obvious they are freaky fast. In two years, I expect the boats in the next America's Cup to be lighter, probably a bit smaller, but definitely faster.

I'm not so sure about that. The type of racing that we saw in the AC (foiling multihulls) is prohibitively expensive, even on a smaller scale. Typical recreational sailboat racing involves 7-12 meter monohull sloops moving at about 1/8 the speed of the AC-72s.

If people think that sailing is not fun unless it's happening at 46 MPH, they won't get involved. That's part of what I didn't like about the AC. Yes, it was amazing and exciting, but I just don't see how it can generate interest in the kind of racing that's accessable to the average Joe.

 

[Anubis]

That was a pretty pathetic showing by New Zealand. The greatest choke job in all of sports history.

sorry but the NY Yankees choke job in 2004 is still the biggest in history

 

[SolMiester]

Here's the latest info....

A contact of Duncan Garner's in San Francisco sent this email our way:

"OK here is the oil. [Larry] Ellison paid 10 expert composite boatbuilders to fly from NZ 10 days ago.
He gave them each $250,000 to get on the plane and a guarantee of another $250,000 if they win. They effectively rebuilt the boat. They also installed a device that up until then was just being trialled.
Nothing to lose. It is an analogue dial that is connected to sensors that indicates the best foil positions for the current conditions. Speed, pressure force, aspect etc. all the guys on the boat need to do is to match the position of a matching dial pointer by using the hydraulic pressure pumps (handles) and match the two pointers up. Very fast adjustment for every condition.
Team NZ need to trial and adjust and see how the boat responds then go again. All trial and error.
Oracle have streamlined with stunning results with the rebuild.
Barker is gutted, down as and states they just can't find another 2 to 3 knots of boat speed required in the time available to do the job. They just don't have the funds or ability at this time.
Ellison has bought the cup. It will now die. Nobody will play anymore.
Sport destroying via money. We did our best.
Expect a Oracle Team USA win."
So, there it is.

 

[RabidMongoose]

New Zealand seems really desperate to try to make excuses for being the greatest choke artists in all of sports history. Their own government pumped in millions of dollars in a boat race and got nothing out of it except for national humiliation.

The NZ conspiracy theories are also great.