America's Cup

[deadmeatwalking]

Another strong race by Team NZ, now 5-1. They'll well on their way to taking on USA in the America's cup.

inbeforecourtcase

[varkk]

So now TeamNZ hold the Luis Vuitton cup (again) and will now take on Oracle to get the Auld Mug.
Personally while I like the idea of the new super fast boats and the extreme high-tech which goes in to them. I think the extreme cost which goes along with it which has deterred a lot of groups from taking part has really cost the competition. I think the racing would hae been more exciting if the boats were slower but actually closer together and if there had been a good pool of challengers fighting it out. as it stands it seems most of the race is decided before they get out on the water. Team NZ beat Luna Rossa and Artemis months ago during the development. Of course we don't really know how they will do head to head with Oracle until they race each other but even a small difference in boat performance will take a lot of tactics and on water skill out of play.
Next time I would like to see them bring the costs down and get a good challenger's series happening with a wide range of groups fighting it out for the right to challenge for the cup. That would only happen if we can win it off Oracle and bring it back to Auckland and then set the terms for the next event.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Agreed varkk, having only 3 teams in the challenger's series was a bit disappointing. The round robins were almost irrelevant since all the boats were in the semi-finals anyway.


Next America's cup will be awesome if 1. A lot more teams compete, and 2. it's held here in NZ.

[Bounty Hunter]

Agreed varkk, having only 3 teams in the challenger's series was a bit disappointing. The round robins were almost irrelevant since all the boats were in the semi-finals anyway.


Next America's cup will be awesome if 1. A lot more teams compete, and 2. it's held here in NZ.

3. they keep the AC72's

fuck the costs, this is international match racing, we're not here to fuck spiders, this shit costs a lot of money. In modern sports shit has to cost a lot of money otherwise it isn't technically awesome enough for anyone to care. You can hardly expect people to race shit that it's at least 10x more extreme than their cellphone can you? "yeah since they introduced the no carbon fibre rule in the americas cup it's been ok I guess.....definitly not as cool as my oct-core cellphone..."

see what I mean? I've got to go out now, but ill build on this later....

[BerG]

3. they keep the AC72's

fuck the costs, this is international match racing, we're not here to fuck spiders, this shit costs a lot of money. In modern sports shit has to cost a lot of money otherwise it isn't technically awesome enough for anyone to care. You can hardly expect people to race shit that it's at least 10x more extreme than their cellphone can you? "yeah since they introduced the no carbon fibre rule in the americas cup it's been ok I guess.....definitly not as cool as my oct-core cellphone..."

see what I mean? I've got to go out now, but ill build on this later....

I dont know what you mean, but I agree with you.

[Bounty Hunter]

3. they keep the AC72's

fuck the costs, this is international match racing, we're not here to fuck spiders, this shit costs a lot of money. In modern sports shit has to cost a lot of money otherwise it isn't technically awesome enough for anyone to care. You can hardly expect people to race shit that it's at least 10x more extreme than their cellphone can you? "yeah since they introduced the no carbon fibre rule in the americas cup it's been ok I guess.....definitly not as cool as my oct-core cellphone..."

see what I mean? I've got to go out now, but ill build on this later....

I dont know what you mean, but I agree with you.

Haha...ok so ~30 years ago formula 1, motocycle racing, and yachting compared to their modern form, were all fairly low tech, but wrist watches had a digital display! so cool things like "plastic" were still pretty neat and people watched. Now the wrist watch has been amped up, it has a high definition screen and probably 14 million cores and is so high tech it can display an analogue watch digitally. But lets say match racing was still only as cool as a digital wrist watch....you'd think "fuck this I'm gonna play angry birds instead" why would you watch something that when compared to your wrist watch came off second best?

[Retardobot]

wot

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Bounty Hunter must be drunk.

But the boats are super cool,

[varkk]

Yeah the boats are super cool, but so damn fragile. A match race should have two fast boats facing off against each other, each with different strengths/weaknesses (Maybe one is faster upwind but the other can fly past downwind). Where are the tricky sail changes as they round a mark, where are the downwind runs with massive spinnakers flying only to have someone dip it in the water as they round the bottom mark and have it slow the boat down as they frantically try to retrieve it.
The big issue with these new boats is the cost is keeping competitors from entering. How many syndicates had to pull out from this series as the cost just kept climbing and they couldn't bring in enough sponsorship to keep going? I feel a good challenger series needs at least 8 teams with it being a fairly even battle for the top 3 or 4.

[BerG]

Haha...ok so ~30 years ago formula 1, motocycle racing, and yachting compared to their modern form, were all fairly low tech, but wrist watches had a digital display! so cool things like "plastic" were still pretty neat and people watched. Now the wrist watch has been amped up, it has a high definition screen and probably 14 million cores and is so high tech it can display an analogue watch digitally. But lets say match racing was still only as cool as a digital wrist watch....you'd think "fuck this I'm gonna play angry birds instead" why would you watch something that when compared to your wrist watch came off second best?

 

Yeah the boats are super cool, but so damn fragile. A match race should have two fast boats facing off against each other, each with different strengths/weaknesses (Maybe one is faster upwind but the other can fly past downwind). \

Dont know if thats possible at this level. I'm sure every single piece of physics would have been computer modeled the fuck out of to get the most efficiency from every single component.

What you end up with is almost identical boats.

[BerG]

Haha...ok so ~30 years ago formula 1, motocycle racing, and yachting compared to their modern form, were all fairly low tech, but wrist watches had a digital display! so cool things like "plastic" were still pretty neat and people watched. Now the wrist watch has been amped up, it has a high definition screen and probably 14 million cores and is so high tech it can display an analogue watch digitally. But lets say match racing was still only as cool as a digital wrist watch....you'd think "fuck this I'm gonna play angry birds instead" why would you watch something that when compared to your wrist watch came off second best?

 

Yeah the boats are super cool, but so damn fragile. A match race should have two fast boats facing off against each other, each with different strengths/weaknesses (Maybe one is faster upwind but the other can fly past downwind). \

Dont know if thats possible at this level. I'm sure every single piece of physics would have been computer modeled the fuck out of to get the most efficiency from every single component.

What you end up with is almost identical boats.

[frankytanky]

The big issue with these new boats is the cost is keeping competitors from entering. How many syndicates had to pull out from this series as the cost just kept climbing and they couldn't bring in enough sponsorship to keep going? I feel a good challenger series needs at least 8 teams with it being a fairly even battle for the top 3 or 4.

Lucky our Govt props this up as it is very important govt work.

The boats are fricken awesome but the regatta needs more handlebar moustache and red sox tbh

[Growler]

NZ already said if they win it will be raced on a hydrofoil 8 man tri hull pedal boat.

Or maybe it was normal single hull boats....

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/9123659/Severe-penalties-for-cheating-Oracle

Oracle has been docked two race points.

On one hand, it's good for Team NZ, they only have to win 9 races to 11 for Oracle, gives them a great advantage.

On the other hand, It's might not be as fun to watch when one team has such an advantage, I prefer very close matches, more exciting.

On my third hand, if Team NZ loses despite have such an advantage, it will be lame.

[SteddieEddie]

The great unknown is are the boats competitive, guess we will find out Sunday, then we will know how much of an advantage the 2 points are.

I hope the boats are evenly matched and we get to see some passing, tacking duels and the like.

Does anyone believe Coutts when he has placed ALL the blame on the sailors penalised. You can't seriously expect anyone to believe that the management had no idea the boat had been fiddled with. The amount of data they get back off those boats is mind boggling.

I thought it was really poor form for him to come out and say they/he had no knowledge of them cheating and it was all them. Shows the character of they guy and no I wasn't part of the anti Coutts brigade when he left Team NZ, as far as I'm concerned a sportsman can sell his skills to the highest bidder and so he should, it is a small window when you are at the top of any sport and make hay

This guy sums it all up well

"There is no way you can get match racing as you need to have in these boats. They are speed machines - but that's not what the Cup is about. The Cup is about duelling to a certain extent.
"This isn't yacht racing; this is display racing for television. It was made for television and declared made for television. If I have to give a man of the match award I give it to [graphics guru] Stan Honey for what he has done on the electronics because they are absolutely stupendous. Anyone can follow it, but what are we following?"

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/9121857/Americas-Cup-veteran-blasts-farcical-regatta

[Retardobot]

So, has this event become a laughing stock yet?

What about now?

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

What about now?

Nope. Because now we have a higher chance of winning it.

[Retardobot]

Ah, I see.

But not really though.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Ah, I see.

But not really though.

Surely the other team having to win two more races then us is a disadvantage to them?

[Retardobot]

If they win it will be an empty victory.

Racing against handicapped cheaters in an event shrouded in criticism and controversy.

[Slingshot]

In what way R?

The series will be won 9 - 1 either way.

I doubt the boats will be competitively matched. Just like with Luna Rossa it will be a clean sweep (apart from gear failure).

The only question is who has the faster boat.

[Bounty Hunter]

Can Oracle get it up and keep it up yet?

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Sailing is awesome.

And it's more awesome that NZ does so well in it. Looking forward to watching it.

[SteddieEddie]

Me to but it is not really sailing just a drag to the first mark then protect your lead on such a tight course.

I hope we bring it home then set some realistic rule changes and get more countries involved

The boats do look awesome tho

[Growler]

FUCK YEAH!