The other 'wing foilers' - the America's Cup in NZ

[Wetstuff]

We who get entertainment via satellite, usually miss major sections of The Tour, Dakar, and the Am's Cup.  BUT - Youtube to the rescue.  You can get the cliff notes version in 33min or the FULL, 3hr race. Hot C'hit!   Download time...



Jim

[Admin]

So cool.

[clay]

Wow those boats are so trippy looking, the panning shots show how fast they are going.

Refreshing to see the crowd of spectators living like humans.

[Beasho]

The boats were going 45 knots in 15 knots of wind.  Crazy.

The Kiwis crushed the Italians.  Beat them by several minutes, miles whatever.   

When looking at their foils I am not wondering why.  The Kiwis are using FLAT high aspect wings where the Italians had anhedral wings.  They said they get 6 sets of wings.  But as we have learned FLAT is fast.  Maybe it doesn't turn well but in this race it is all about speed. 

They said the teams can reconfigure.  We'll see what the Italians do next.

New Zealand on the Left.  Italy on the Right.

[Wetstuff]

Ya, Clay..  The enthusiasm was positively infectious. 

Oh'—but that's right—it's NZ.  The country is running about 3-10 new cases a day for the last month or so.  We're 'living free' and still #1  ....at 3,000 deaths per day!  We are on schedule to catching the 'horse-and-buggy' Spanish Flu which lasted two years. Can you imagine what the history books/tablets will look like? 

Jim

[VB_Foil]

I've been following the Prada Cup a bit.  Poor England is struggling!  Just can't keep it up on foil.  They have the largest chord on their foil, and largest flap.  They seem to have their balance off with their 'stab'. 

The races are decided by who stays on foil the most.  One small mistake on a gybe/tack and off foil they go and it takes time (more for some teams than others) to regain the forward speed to get up on foil.  They are saying they need around 14 knots (going off memory) to get up on foil.  If one team falls off foil, the lead jumps to hundreds of yards in seconds.  The ones that are close are exciting for sure. 

[surfcowboy]

I've never cared about sailing myself but I've been watching these races and love it. The weird flat turns are amazing and seeing the foils hold in the water on the inside of a turn is fascinating once you catch what's going on.

Do you guys know if the foil pilot (yeah, there is one, why are we all controlling our own foils and trying to steer? 😂) is dropping the angle of attack to hold them in when they are jibing with the foil on the inside?