America's Cup Finals today!

[collins_dan]

Having seen various sailing references on the site in the past and being an international forum with a taste for speed, today is the final race of the America's Cup. It has been an incredible series of races and New Zealand and USA are now tied 8 races each. Whoever wins today, wins the cup.
PS. These boats go twice the speed of the wind and cross each others path multiple times throughout each race. Very fun to watch even for non-sailors.

HOW TO FOLLOW today?s deciding race of the 34th America?s Cup

Watch: From 1:00pm PT on NBC Sports Network (USA) or YouTube.com/Americascup (international, subject to territorial restrictions)
Updates: Here at americascup.com or download the America?s Cup App for live video, text updates, audio streams

[stugilmour]

Thanks very very much for posting! I was trying to get an update last night and couldn't find it. Those boats are so absolutely cool. I am hoping for the Kiwi's, but what an achievement by the US team! This could be the biggest sports comeback in years.

If you have not been watching, you aboslutely have to see these baby's go at 30 knots on full foils.

Cheers!

[elancoupe]

Those boats are like the F1 cars of sailing, incredibly fast. They are reaching more than 40 knots.

Amazing!

[stugilmour]

Congrats to Team USA. Absolutely amazing comeback. The boat speed gain over the Cup final is an incredible story. It's like a race car hitting the pits, taking on a wing & tire adjustment and gaining 5 seconds a lap.

Cheers and thanks again for the link. It actually worked for the whole race, just got jumpy after the finish.

[trw99]

Well done Oracle Team USA! A fantastic comeback from 8-1 down to win. All thanks to Sir Ben Ainslie and his brilliant tactics. That man can out sail any boat, boat on boat, with the most incredible natural talent.

By the way, Team USA - 7 nationalities on board (out of 11), not one American! Not that that has much to do with this major sporting achievement. Very exciting viewing - or at least it was for this yacht racing household.

Tim

[rgh0]

yes its really Australia versus NZ despite the Team USA logo !!!

cheers
Rohan

[collins_dan]

HIs wife is American, doesn't that count? Amazing sailors all around and amazing boat technology. How does one get a boat to move twice as fast as the wind? Not sure what to say to my sister-in-law, the kiwi, who has had bubbly on ice since NZ was up 8 to 1. Cheers, Dan

[AHM]

not one American!

Rome Kirby!

my sister-in-law, the kiwi, who has had bubbly on ice since NZ was up 8 to 1.

Just Like 1987 when they were so confident that they were going to win, and didn't even get to challenge. Went off in a huff and went the courts for the next challenge - then lost again!

[elanner]

Well, I guess it's bragging rights time, but I can't resist.......

I work in the IT industry and have been attending Oracle's big annual user conference in San Francisco this week, along with 60,000 IT geeks. The weather has been exquisite in the way that San Francisco can be when it's not being rainy and foggy. So I goofed off from the conference to watch the final race live - clearly the right decision.

I went with a local lady who decided that we should watch from shore in front of the Presidio, near the Golden Gate Bridge. It's where the start line is, and the last big turnaround is almost at the bridge itself. We got there a few minutes before the start. Larry's vast yacht was lying out in the bay. Blue, picture perfect, cloudless sky, good breeze.

It's really hard to describe the boats aside from the fact that they are huge and appear impossibly cumbersome. But then they suddenly accelerate from nothing to flying in a blink of an eye. I'm an infrequent sailor but know a jibe from a tack - but these things are in a totally different universe. We see the impressive numbers for knots and mph, but they don't convey how these are weapons grade machines that are moving VERY quickly.

The start was right in front of us, with the boats heading laterally across the bay and then immediately turning to run along the San Francisco waterfront toward Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge. The Oracle team slightly fluffed things, with one bow burying itself in the water, and the Kiwis heading off into the lead. The boats accelerated quickly and ran down past Alcatraz and around the corner, further into the bay, and out of sight. All went quiet as we listened to the radios that people had brought with them.

Some time later the Kiwi boat re-appeared, about 1 minute before the US boat came into view, just beside Alcatraz. This was a tacking run, and the boats were on different tacks, so it was tough to gauge who was in the lead. But as they got nearer to us it was clear that the Oracle boat had a significant lead. Both boats flew up to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Oracle boat made a very quick turn, while the NZ boat made a much wider and perhaps slower turn about 15-20 seconds later (at least that's how it looked). Then it was a jibing run back down the bay to the finish line, out of sight around the corner. Barring a blunder it all looked sealed up and, of course, that was the case. But it was obvious that a blunder would be very easy and that people could get hurt quickly and badly. Being on the boats is clearly not for the faint hearted.

It was all over remarkably quickly and from a technical viewpoint probably better watched on TV, like so many sports these days. But being there was an unexpected thrill.

Nick

[stugilmour]

I did hear about only one American on Oracle Team USA. But what about the shore team? I don't know, just asking. The TV commentator was saying the tactics of both boats were very good, but NZ just couldn't answer to Oracle Team USA's boat speed improvement over the series. I imagine at this level the second team is constantly fettling the boat between races; anyway the commentator credited the shore team but didn't mention any names.

Stu

[Galwaylotus]

Not sure what to say to my sister-in-law, the kiwi, who has had bubbly on ice since NZ was up 8 to 1. Cheers, Dan

Tell her it's time to open it and she can celebrate with you.

[collins_dan]

I'm not sure who was on the winning boat, but earlier in the series (when they were losing), an American was tactician, but they swapped him out for a Brit. Not sure if this was the change that made all the difference, i suspect that some boat changes or boat tactic changes were made that resulted in their significantly improved performance. The skipper was flawless at keeping the boat up on its foils at all times. I loved every minute of it. Dan

[RotoFlexible]

Larry is my boss (through four intermediaries). I have attended Oracle Open World on behalf of Oracle in past years, but not this year.

The current Cup boats are like the F1 cars of today, all technology, aerodynamics, and fantastic performance. Back when we first owned the Elan in the '60's, we lived in Connecticut with a view of Stamford harbor. One summer, two 12-meter boats - would-be Cup defenders - were based there. They were towed out in the morning for trials and towed back in the evening - we never saw them under sail, but even so, they were beautiful in a way the current boats can't match. They were graceful as the (pre-wing) F1 cars of the day were graceful. I would love to see them return to the Cup, but that's about as likely as F1 returning to the pre-aero days.

Today's F1 cars and tracks are much safer than in the '60's. The reverse seems to be true of the America's Cup boats, as was sadly proven earlier this year.

[DJ908]

Ahem!

As a New Zealander am I entitled to make a comment?

A question which could/should be asked is where was the Oracle boat built?

Indeed one of the gripes down here is that some of the Air New Zealand (Auckland?) facilities were used in the manufacture of elements of the Oracle boat. The same facilities were denied the Team New Zealand boat constructors for one of the principal Team New Zealand sponsors was Emirates and Air New Zealand did not take too kindly to helping what they saw as their opposition!!

The best team and certainly the best resourced team did indeed win. Yes, a fantastic result to be down 8 to 1 with the New Zealanders only ever needing one additional win to clinch the series. It takes real committment when your opposition is holding 7 match points to come from that far behind and win.

But can New Zealand afford to mount another challenge? It is a question which cannot be answered right now for the cost was huge and the money invested in this challenge would have gone a long way to rehousing those thousands of poor Christchurch home owners who three years after the earthquakes destroyed their city are still waiting for their insurers to agree to settle and allow them to repair and or rebuild their homes.

We in this country, applaud the Oracle victory. Yes a fantastic result. Well done.

(I am not sure that we see it as an Aussie victory or an Australian versus New Zealand thing though for there were more New Zealanders in the Oracle crew than Australians).

Also the head of the Oracle team, Russell Coutts, is a New Zealander. Sensible lad - his services went to the highest bidder for this and two (I think) of the previous successful campaigns. Before that he had previously headed a successful New Zealand America's cup campaign.

[AHM]

Ahem!

Since you called!

As a New Zealander am I entitled to make a comment?

As a New Zealander you were going to make one anyway

Air New Zealand (Auckland?) facilities were used in the manufacture of elements of the Oracle boat.

Just a question of capability and capacity - Everything in America and Europe is full-up with bits for aircraft and fast cars......Now let me see Air NZ would have helped Emirates, had it not been for Oracle...

But can New Zealand afford to mount another challenge?

Last time I looked Emirates was Arab - That is money coming in - if you hadn't done it there would have been less tax $ to rebuild Christchurch.

Pick yourselves up and have another go (but don't expect to win) The Americas Cup is one area where NZ lead even if they don't win.

This is the America's Cup it is all about the losing!