What did you think of the America's Cup?

[Wetstuff]

I am usually pretty quick with the 'Thumbs Up' ..or, Down, but this series has me puzzled. Setting aside 'the rich played' while the Capitol is attacked and 400,000 died while Trump twittered .. not to mention Brazil, Italy, and deaths elsewhere.  There was something structurally wrong when basically an entire 6-legged race hinges on the start, or a structural breakdown. 

I fricking loved watching those boat round a mark! The complexity of the boats and the crewmanship was superb. The idea of only the mast and foil legs being single-sourced was excellent.  Just confining enough without appearing to let 'the largest budget win'. I thought the Cats in San Francisco were good - these are better.

As for a change.. I would either make it a three-boat series or have them start 'dead in the water' X100 meters from the starting line.  I would prefer the complexity of 3-boats, but something has to replace; 'He who wins the start..." 

I would also not allow 'paid guns'.  There is time to pick a home-grown crew. (Maybe not from Turkey or El Salvador... but then they're not likely to race anyway?!).   

I loved it, but it was like hollow calories.

Jim

[Caribsurf]

Politics aside, I enjoyed watching it once I figured out what channel it was on , what day it was on and what time...I missed the first 2 days of racing.

I marveled at the speed of those boats even in marginal winds.  Really thrilling watching from inside the cockpit too and the drone footage was great.   The technology is over the top, and it isn't even sailing anymore. Those things are rocket ships. 

I found the start of each race pretty interesting too, and most times, if you didn't get off the line 1st, the boat would lose the race it was that critical.

I totally agree the crew should be home grown and not "paid guns".  If Prada had won with a boat full of Kiwis...that would be wrong.

[Solent Foiler]

As for a change.. I would either make it a three-boat series or have them start 'dead in the water' X100 meters from the starting line.  I would prefer the complexity of 3-boats, but something has to replace; 'He who wins the start..."

I get where you're coming from but you can't have the America's Cup with more than one challenger. It's a fundamental part of the event - a match race is always between two boats, and the whole race and tactics are based on a boat on boat battle. Think of it like comparing singles vs doubles tennis - they are different flavours of the same sport, but they are fundamentally different.

I think rather than having the boats start dead in the water, the pre start should be made longer so there in more time for the battle to unfold. The prestart in 'normal' match racing is 5 minutes, and often being on the line at the gun is irrelevant if the battle for dominance has raged far away from the start line.

The weather conditions didn't really help showcase the racing for the AC series (different to the Prada Cup series) as it was predominantly light and the wind very stable. This meant that the advantage was heavily biased towards the leading boat due to the large projected wind shadow and lack of wind randomness which is always a feature of sailboat racing, and managing it a key skill. It's why there are so many races in a series, so that the randomness gets evened out, and the best boat wins.

The racing on the 'stadium' course which did have more wind variability did lead to more race lead changes, an outstanding race between Ineos and Luna Rossa had nine lead changes.

Winning the start has always been a critical part of match racing, so is not unusual that it is such a determinant factor but there should be opportunities for boats to pass after that, which didn't really happen often in this AC.

[Caribsurf]

It’s funny because I was living in Perth, Western Australia after the Aussies won the America’s Cup in Newport and brought it back to Fremantle.  Seeing the boats they sail now and the technology, it’s hard to believe their mysterious winged keel was at the time such a technological marvel.   

[Wetstuff]

Solent...  You are clearly a lot more sensible than I am. With all the history, sailing precedents, etc...  My instinct is to 'just fix it'. I like your keeping them in the starting box a LOT longer—a hard, tight race within.  Maybe even making 12kt avg winds the minimum ...or bring them out of those 'stadiums' where there may be a seaway - ' then pissoff the spectators.  I imagine it looked much like a video game, tho' I have never played one.

There was also the stoopid sound during the replays - they kept nearly the same level for both the commentators and the cockpit?  (' think they could have culled the 'hydraulic groaning' ya? It drove my wife nuts.)  In one race, the cockpit voices blanketed the commentators 80/20.  I thought that would be fixable in post-production?  ...for all the $$$ the teams spent—you'd think they would demand better.

Carib.. flagged another issue—'Where? When?'  One Youtube, it said; 'Not available in your country.' (America's Cup?!). The postings even within the specific AC channel were haphazzard and disorganized.  I got a better selection with a VPN pretending I was in DK.  For some races there were full replays ...others - not?

NZ won it ..and congrats, but I seem to have a little Italian in me, as they put a lot in it besides technics and muscle. Italy winning might have attracted some other Continentals to step up.  The Germans certainly know how to sail...  Or a consortium of Baltic States. (ya right..)  But, just the time zone travel alone must be buku bucks.

Jim