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We begin with the current Americas Cup
Friday February 12th 2010 Race One finally happened.
Monday no wind Wednesday too rough. Friday 8-10 knots wind 1.3m swell we got a race as it is best of three there may only be one more.
14:29
Getting ready for entry to the start box at 5 mins, timing is crucial. Alinghi at 23 knots USA making 17 knots at the gun.
14:30
Alinghi cannot cross and USA take the immediate advantage, USA force penalty on Alinghi for failing to keep clear.
14:33
USA to the right and both boats are above the start line, Alinghi have the penalty. USA have stalled, flat footed and are stuck, Alinghi win the start and USA are all but stopped on the wrong side of the line
14:36
USA have not yet started and it is about 1 minute 45 seconds after the gun that the challenger gets back to the start line.
14:38
Alinghi lead by about 650 metres, boat speeds are roughly even around 18 knots. USA are now catching a little less than five minutes into Race 1. USA look to be sailing a few degrees higher but they are in slightly different pressure.
14:45
And USA are closing in to Alinghi now there is 235 metres between the two, but of course Alinghi have their penalty to unload. But there is really little difference in speed, USA maybe has the small edge.
14:49
USA appear to have their weather hull flying higher consistently and are sailing at a very slightly higher angle to the breeze. 180 degrees at the windward mark, eight knots.
14:51
So at around 15 minutes after the start USA overhaul Alinghi and make good that initial deficit of around 650 metres when they got across the start line. Both making between 17 and 19 knots in 6-7 knots.
14:55
USA have now rolled away their jib and are flying wing only, no jib and are expected to point a little higher, now making consistently 19 knots plus and hit 20 knots boat speed.
14:57
And USA sitting consistently higher and faster, wing only. Dirk De Ridder (NED) trimming the wing, very experienced sailor on his second America's Cup, won the round the world race with USA tactician John Kostecki and trimmer Ross Halcrow.
15:03
Alinghi catching, now 140 metres or so behind when they were 440 metres behind.
15:06
So certainly much closer than most expected, really not much between them in terms of boat speed. Speculation had the crossover between the two around 8-9 knots wind speed perhaps and we are pretty close to that. At the top mark we hear the wind is lighter, maybe 5.5 to 6 knots. About half way up the 20 miles beat now. Really very close, despite the huge differences in design philosophy. Perhaps the design teams taking a quiet sigh of relief, but huge credit is due to both design and build teams.... and those who have put in the hundreds of thousands of man hours of labour to get here. Fantastic match so far.....
15:24
Alinghi tack but so far no response from USA. Alinghi's speed only dropped to 10 knots through the tack and they looked pretty slick. USA tacks now.
15:31
So USA lead now by 730 metres and as the breeze decreases we see Alinghi shedding some water ballast. Breeze at the weather mark is around seven knots at 165 degrees.
15:35
Around six miles to the windward mark, one hour and two minutes into the whole 40 miles race. BMW ORACLE Racing leading by something like 1260 metres.
15:41
The question is when Alinghi will do their penalty, they must do a gybe if they are going upwind or a tack if they are going downwind. Breeze has picked up to around 10 knots at the windward mark. USA are setting up their giant gennaker for the downwind leg.
15:46
So downwind there is very little difference between the apparent wind angle generated to that upwind, only five or six degrees. Breeze has dropped a little for both as they approach the port lay line. The wind is between 160 degrees at 10 knots at the windward mark.
15:55
USA now approaching the port tack layline, an hour and 21 minutes after the start, their speed dropping to 6.5 knots as they tack. Speed building on port tack now. Alinghi still to tack. Will they take their penalty before the turn, or hang on?
Still Ernesto Bertarelli steering Alinghi, just getting a little marginal to keep the weather hull flying on Alinghi. USA have unrolled an upwind headsail to apply a little more power, anticipating the softening of the breeze as they approach the windward mark.
15:58
Alinghi tacking now on to port for their approach to mark 1, navigator Juan Vila (ESP) calling the time to the top mark to helm Bertarelli, tactician Brad Butterworth, strategist Murray Jones, all, of course, America's Cup winners. Bow and mast crew are preparing the downwind headsail, as they are on USA. Advantage to USA about 1400 metres or so.
16:04
And at an hour and a half after the start USA bear away at the windward mark first, unrolling their huge downwind headsail, breeze is about seven knots.
16:06
Wind looks a little lighter but Alinghi marginal for flying a hull on approach to the turning mark, they go around 3 minutes 21 seconds - we believe - behind USA
16:11
So net on that upwind leg BMW Oracle pulled back something around 5 minutes on Alinghi, including that initial deficit.
16:13
And USA peak speed there is around 25 knots as they spear deeper and faster 'downind' than Alinghi in a puff, and as soon as they get their bow lower and sail faster than Alinghi for any length of time then their gains multiply. Now over 2000 metres of lead to USA. Big changes in course as the apparent wind builds and the leader powers up, Jimmy Spithill USA helmsman bringing the bow down and sailing deep and fast. Alinghi pressing well too.
16:24
Alinghi gybe first, USA respond almost immediately. USA leading by 2980 metres or so.
16:26
So USA is making 26 knots downwind and seem to consistently be able to fly their windward hulls for longer, peaking now at 28.5 knots of boat speed. Wind speed at the finish is eight knots at 160 degrees. And great work from Harold Bennett and his crew getting this race away, a great spectacle.
16:37
USA extending all the time, sailing deeper and faster all the time than Alinghi who are now 3440 metres behind. Certainly the consensus at the moment is that the power and efficiency of the BMW ORACLE Racing Team wing is actually more telling downwind.
16:46
Hard to judge what the delta will be, but the biggest recent Cup Match margins were in the 27th America's Cup in 1988, the Deed of Gift 'mis-match', when USA's Stars and Stripes consecutively defeated New Zealand's KZ1 by 18 minutes and 15 seconds and then 21 minutes and 10 seconds.
16:53
Alinghi shedding some water ballast again trying to keep the power on in the lighter conditions. Something like 10 minutes to the finish line.
17:08
And USA cross the finish line to provisionally win Race 1 of the 33rd America's Cup. Delight for the American team and certain vindication in these conditions for the concept of the solid wing sail and the trimaran platform.
17:22
An extraordinary race, no one expected to be this close as USA approach the windward mark, nearly one hour since the start. USA lead at the mark.
17:24
USA timed, unofficially, at 28 seconds ahead at WW1 and surge immediately close to 30 knots of boat speed as they accelerate. Alinghi give chase.Alinghi appear not to have completed their penalty properly and so the final delta is 15 minutes and 28 seconds.
17:27
USA has a little more speed, peaking again there at 30 knots in around 8 knots of true wind speed.
17:29
24 seconds was the delta at the start for USA when they lead Alinghi 5 off the line, and at WW1, the windward mark, the delta was 28 seconds when the BMW ORACLE Racing Team trimaran lead around the top mark. USA now extended to 740 metres after about eight minutes of this first reach. USA hits 30 knots again.
17:35
So the wing weapon and tri platform does seem to be stronger on this reach, gaining to 1145 metres of lead over Alinghi 5 after about 13 minutes, or half of this first reach.
17:44
USA now over 1700 metres ahead of Alinghi 5 down the first reach, and about six minutes to the gybe mark.
17:47
Alinghi preparing to hoist a gennaker at the gybe mark, USA hits 33 knots.
17:55
At Mark 2 the leader's delta is 2 minutes and 44 seconds and so USA have gained 2 minutes and 16 seconds on Alinghi 5 this 13 miles reach.
18:02
USA changed their mind at the gybe mark, choosing not to go with the bigger gennaker but to stay conservative, perhaps. USA lead by over 2000 metres.
18:05
Just over 8 miles to go to the finish for USA and what is increasingly looking like a second win for BMW ORACLE Racing.
18:07
A remarkable spectacle as USA stretch towards the finish line of Race 2, towards overall victory. An American team have not won the America's Cup since 1992 when America3 defeated Il Moro 4-1 in San Diego.
18:13
USA making a gybe to lay the finish and are back up to 18-19 knots after encountering a spell of lighter winds.
18:32
USA cross the finish line first and should lift the America's Cup subject to any protest. The crew look delighted. It is the first time that a challenger has won a Deed of Gift match. USA win 2-0. Coutts remains unbeaten in the America's Cup match, winning 15 Cup match races on board.
18:37 Alinghi cross the finish line 5 minutes and 26 seconds after USA. The Swiss team were 24 seconds behind off the start line, 28 seconds behind at WW 1 mark, 2mins 44 secs behind at the gybe mark, Mark 2.
18:43
Confirmed then, no protest, so BMW ORACLE Racing win the 33rd America's Cup match for the USA. A fantastic finale to this historic match.
What did we learn?
Well even in light winds a solid wing will fly down wind - this is really the first time we have seen a solid wing with a kite and wow did it go! The main racing of winged multihulls has been the Class C but with the limit of 300 sq m sail - all that area has been put into the main.
The only other multihull with a soild sail was Dennis Conners America Cup boat which raced a monohull - Dennis ran away with it. But when raced in a Multihull race against other Catamarans I believe - from memory - a class C cat beat it on the water. It certainly lost on handicap.
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