America's Cup

2blue

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3 COVID cases in NZ, lockdown now putting a delay into the schedule.
3 cases!!!...... cause delay?
Mind you I remember in 1980, when teaching in S Christchurch I was delayed for School due to an Elephant seal blocking the road..... hahah... the staff just said, "How big?" ....... & it was ruddy huge.
 

backwoodsman

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Prada didn’t put a foot wrong all day. Two mistakes pre start made it easy for Prada. They were gifted covering positions on rectangular racecourse, with the boats being so close in speed it was going to take a huge effort to overtake.
In your opinion, are there any signs that Ineos have much chance of coming back at them? Ok, I know there were x2 starting cock-ups for Ineos, but it seems that they've been outsailed in all 4 races so far. Which seems a surprise given Ineos' performance in the round robins.
 

SteveW86

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In your opinion, are there any signs that Ineos have much chance of coming back at them? Ok, I know there were x2 starting cock-ups for Ineos, but it seems that they've been outsailed in all 4 races so far. Which seems a surprise given Ineos' performance in the round robins.

Whilst Ineos performed very well in the round robins, dont forget that their performance there was actually a very big surprise given how all of the racing pre Christmas had gone. In all of the racing so far, they have still only won 4 races.

4-0 down is certainly not where they would want to be, but in my opinion yes they still have a chance of coming back. Teams have come back from worse positions. Whether they are able to is another story though.
 

2blue

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Game over for Ineos.

7-1 loss to the Italians
Yeah... very convincing, I must say. Like their cars, (Alpha's, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Lancia, Fiat Abarth etc) Italian design is impeccable but in the case of this boat, rather more reliable as well!! :rolleyes::rolleyes: So far!!
Yes, it's an absolute belter looks-wise & here's hoping it continues to perform against NZ.
It never ceases to amaze me how such a small Nation like NZ that actually makes nothing of any real significance, industry-wise, can be so innovative in boat design & development. Mind you, unless things have changed significantly since I lived there in 1980, the number of them who are building or have built their own boat of one size or another is incredible. I must have been there for only a couple of weeks before I was helping a guy with a 40ft home build of a wooden boat in a 'section' near the School I worked at. There were several others at the same place, either abandoned or 'resting' 'till enthusiasm returned,
I think the resourcefulness of the old 'pioneer' spirit lives on as well as their willingness to share knowledge.
An incredible people who I think I'll be rooting for in the Final.
I enjoyed the fact that GB had a boat contesting it, though, even as an island Nation, we take little interest. In contrast NZ's first involvement was building back in the 80's & was supported by 'public subscription' from ordinary people putting their hands in their pockets. I guess they didn't think they were going to get ripped-off.
So for me, it's GO.. NZ... GO!! ......... though sounds a bit anti-EU does that. :oops::oops:
 

backwoodsman

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Disappointing that we got away first in both races today and still lost both. Even more disappointing that we lost by a 7:1 margin. But cant get away from fact we were out-sailed throughout. Looking forward to the main Cup now. I shall be rooting for the Italians - nothing against the Kiwis, but when there's no personal nationalistic interest, I tend to root for the challenger rather than the holder
 

SteveW86

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from a sailors point of view it has been an interesting watch, it has been a bit of a spectacle.

The Americas Cup is an interesting concept, 1 team (challenger of record) challenges the defender and those two teams go on to write the rules and the design parameters of the boats before releasing to other teams who want to get involved so they usually have a good advantage in terms of the design. Think of it like the reigning F1 winning team gets to write the rules for next year for the design of the car and they get a 6 months to work on it before releasing the rules to all the other teams.

I think what we saw just before and after Christmas was proof of how little racing had been done due to COVID, we were seeing lots of mistakes being made when the teams were under pressure which made for some exciting racing and lots of place changing. Gradually though the teams were sailing the boats better and making less mistakes. Whilst I think the Italian boat was just that bit better, I think the extra races helped them. The plain boat speed between the two was very close, but the Italians had a better mode in both upwind and downwind, giving them an extra knot or two on VMG. They were able to just gradually increase a lead and almost sail around Ineos when they needed to in the final race today.

Looking ahead is interesting, the Kiwis have been training hard and will no doubt we quicker than they were before Christmas, but will they make mistakes in the races when put under pressure. How much better are the Italians now than they were 2 months ago, a bit hard to tell as we have seen them racing against an improving Ineos team. The Kiwis have a much smaller set of foils, so it could depend a lot on the conditions we have. The smaller foils should be faster in heavier airs due to less drag, but we have seen much lighter conditions recently.

Either way, a lot will be revealed in the first race and a lot more questions asked too.
 

2blue

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It continues to be a great spectacle.
Both boats appear to be very well matched & are being sailed equally well. Gonna be about who makes the least errors. ⛵..... ⛵
 
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