Did NZ just blow boat speed trying to force the pre-start penalty?
ahhh...we have a race!!!
What a start by ETNZ. USA looked to almost spear the nose and pitch pole it.
What the hell were NZ doing tacking before that cross on Leg3
two extra tacks. race over? 
that magical 120m lead....again!!! 
At least they're moving fast, and I won't have to explain why I am late for work again.
What have USA changed? Physical adjustments to boat, or just learnt to handle the boat better?
Almost 1 minute, 1000m loss on one leg. No contest.
There boat is soo much faster upwind - goodness knows what they have done but its bloody well worked amazingly. I can not get over how much time they just made up on that upwind leg. Incredible.
What were they thinking at the bottom mark...Massive tactical stuff up from ETNZ. OTUSA are faster, crew work is better, tactically way superior, I'd go as far to say the cup is their's unless they break their boat. Shame.
Select to expand quoteTed the Kiwi said..
I am as nervous as a nervous thing right now
Geez I think I just heard a collective sigh of "argh" all the way from New Zealand
Conspiracy theory time.....USA have always had a faster boat and knew it, but TV advertising dictates that they drag it all out over two weeks. Can you imagine the advertising income from tomorrow mornings race!
It could so easily have been 9-1, and everyone would have been saying how incredible the Kiwi's were, and yet, here we are with everyone now saying that about the USA. Who'd have thought. What were Sports bet odds a week ago?
I reckon the two seminal turning points were USA calling a postponement and NZ almost capsizing it in R8
Market was closed in NZ at $10 and re-opened at $7.50 at 8-3 Yest was $2.70 I would think Oracle are closer to $1.05 now
Self Portrait
Select to expand quotesausage said..
I reckon the two seminal turning points were USA calling a postponement and NZ almost capsizing it in R8
how about when we were smashing them by over 2 mins and the race was called off or the two starts that we dominated before the races were cancelled due to high winds....and since that moment they have found a truck load of upwind speed from somewhere. To be honest there have been many turning points and harry hindsight was a very wealthy man - the great thing is that we have witnessed an incredible sporting event. A shame we will lose it after getting so close but we have lost to a better skipper and a faster boat - so its hard to complain really. Thats sport sadly but its also why we love the theatre of it.
Brilliant comment from Glen Ashby in this mornings media conference "We have been training for the last 2 weeks - the regatta starts tomorrow"
Interviewer: Dean, what do you think you will do differently tomorrow to change the result?
Dean:Try and be first across the finish line
Good to see a sense of humour still.
I'm on the edge of my seat - wind forecast looks to be fairly strong tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the race in before it hits the limit.
Does anyone know who has port entry tomorrow? I can't find it anywhere.
I watched the presser too and I have to say Dean Barker is a champion sportsman. Credit to Spithill too to come back from what seemed an Everest of a climb. Whoever wins tomorrow (and I hope it's ETNZ) this AC will be one for the ages.
When it's all washed up I will love to find out what tweaking OTUSA did to the boat after they postponed R6 and whether the information correlated with NZ's setup.
What Oracle may did to improve their performance so dramatically just in matter of few days ?
IMO there are two main components: foils and wing.
Maybe they managed to do what we did say before ? Tilt a wing sail towards the wind by tension windward steel cables ( or twist a wing at the top)?
That is what we do on windsurfing instinctively.
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis
another improvement could be wiglets at the top to release turbulence. Introduced not long ago to commercial aeronautics give several percent improvements..
If that works for gliders and sailplanes - must work for AC72 also 
Select to expand quotedigitalkiwi said..
I'm on the edge of my seat - wind forecast looks to be fairly strong tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the race in before it hits the limit.
Does anyone know who has port entry tomorrow? I can't find it anywhere.
NZ have port entry, I believe I heard the commentators say
Unbelievable match racing - still can't believe they lost 1 minute on that upwind leg
Select to expand quoteMacroscien said..
What Oracle may did to improve their performance so dramatically just in matter of few days ?
I just assumed you sold them some of your lithium batteries and electric motor. 
Select to expand quotesausage said..
...and NZ almost capsizing it in R8
They haven't been the same since (except where they nearly won three, cancelled races).
So what are the tricks to getting it to work live. If I click on that youtube link now I'm one of one of 45 AC fans watching a clock on a black screen clicking down from 15 hours 9 min 12 seconds. When 50,000 are watching i can't get through. Do I watch that clock all night to preserve my place in the queue or what?
The commentary on Kiwi radio is entertaining though
.
Select to expand quoteMacroscien said..
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis
I agree with Macro. : \
Oracle is heeling significantly less than Team NZ. Especially upwind.
Watch closely.
Select to expand quoteevlPanda said..Macroscien said..
I looks that their boat is more vertical the Kiwis
I agree with Macro. : \
Oracle is heeling significantly less than Team NZ. Especially upwind.
Watch closely.
Evil & Macro,
Hey you may be right - my theory is that as NZ has much deeper hulls than oracle they have to sail windward hull higher out of the water for clearance.
Nice graphic Panda - Imagine coming together at 44 knots...ouch 
I can't quite believe it's going to be all over tomorrow too. Can't get enough of the AC and am dreading going cold turkey on Friday morning. Maybe I'll just watch the replays starting at R1 again 
What's quite enjoyable is reading this thread again from the start and seeing how the sentiment has changed day to day (sorry Ted) - much more enjoyable than the 9/11 thread anyway 
^^^ The fleet races in the LV Cup were awesome. Imagine slightly smaller boats but a fleet of them.
Watch the replays.Select to expand quoteHarrow said..
Conspiracy theory time.....USA have always had a faster boat and knew it, but TV advertising dictates that they drag it all out over two weeks. Can you imagine the advertising income from tomorrow mornings race!
Did Team NZ throw the last race?
Why did they tack so many times? It wasn't to cover, they seemed to tack to be covered. And then for no apparent reason they tacked again. And then again. Catamarans don't tack (very well).
WTF?
(hopefully last post for today)Select to expand quote
Dean Barker admits he should've capsized the boat when he had the chance
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker has admitted that his crew made a crucial mistake in race eight of the America's Cup last week when they did not allow their multi-hundred-million-dollar yacht to capsize in the San Francisco Bay...
www.thecivilian.co.nz/dean-barker-admits-he-shouldve-capsized-the-boat-when-he-had-the-chance/
Select to expand quoteevlPanda said..
(hopefully last post for today)
Dean Barker admits he should've capsized the boat when he had the chance
Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker has admitted that his crew made a crucial mistake in race eight of the America's Cup last week when they did not allow their multi-hundred-million-dollar yacht to capsize in the San Francisco Bay...
www.thecivilian.co.nz/dean-barker-admits-he-shouldve-capsized-the-boat-when-he-had-the-chance/
Very funny. I can't wait for all the memes to come out.
What did Oracle do to improve their performance.
They haven't done just one big thing. According to Spithill, they have been making incremental changes every night. This makes sence as the performance has improved with each race. Remember they lost 2 and were significantly behind in 2 cancelled races after the first changes were made.
They also changed their tactician . In addition, their afterguard is working better, they have confidence because they are winning and they are not making mistakes.
The Kiwis are making a lot of mistakes. Going by the Kiwi performance today, they haven't got a hope tomorrow or whenever the last race is sailed (the forecast for tomorrow is +30kts). Their only chance is for the race to be sailed in marginal conditions, similar to the race they were infront when the time limit expired.
