2013 America's Cup, Oracle Wins 7 In A Row, Make that 8!!

[Serious News]

Four teams – ORACLE TEAM USA, Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge – have their bows aimed at the ultimate prize: the America’s Cup, the trophy first awarded in 1851.

The America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport and the hardest to win. Only four countries – the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland – have experienced the euphoria of winning the “Auld Mug,” and only seven cities have hosted the competition before San Francisco.

The 34th edition of the America’s Cup marks a transformation for the oldest trophy in international sport as new boats, cutting-edge technology, and a close-to-shore venue mean that this summer’s America’s Cup will be unlike anything that’s preceded it. The 2013 America’s Cup is features notable firsts:
- First time racing is inshore not offshore
- First time all teams are racing wing sail catamarans
- First time the AC72 “50 mph flying boats” foil above the water
- First time there is a new pathway series for youth sailors, the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup
- First time the America’s Cup has been held in the United States since 1995

The History

First contested in 1851, the America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport, pre-dating the modern Olympics by 45 years, and is yachting’s biggest prize.
The trophy’s roots date back to when a syndicate of businessmen from New York sailed the schooner America across the Atlantic Ocean to represent the United States at the World’s Fair in England. The schooner won a race around the Isle of Wight and, with it, a trophy called the £100 Cup. (It was subsequently inscribed, incorrectly, as the 100 Guineas Cup.)

After winning the trophy, the United States embarked on what would become the longest winning streak in the history of sport, a 132-year stretch of domination that saw boats representing the country successfully defend the trophy 24 times from 1870 through 1980—until 1983, when Australia II became the first successful challenger.
Throughout its history, the America’s Cup has bedazzled a worldwide roster of business and industry tycoons such as fashion magnate Patrizio Bertelli, brewing and real estate mogul Alan Bond, tea merchant Sir Thomas Lipton, aviation pioneer Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, the Aga Khan, media mogul Ted Turner, and Harold S. Vanderbilt, an American railroad executive who won the America’s Cup three times and also helped author the original racing rules of sailing. It’s also attracted larger-than-life sailing figures such as Tom Blackaller, Peter Blake, Paul Cayard, Dennis Conner, Russell Coutts, and Grant Dalton.

[Serious News]

U.S. America's Cup team, already in a hole, opens title defense

Oracle Team USA had been favored in America's Cup, but penalties imposed by race overseers have given Emirates Team New Zealand an advantage.


By David Wharton
September 6, 2013, 4:04 p.m.



SAN FRANCISCO -- The last few days have put a trace of wariness in Jimmy Spithill's voice.


Spithill is the skipper for Oracle Team USA, the racing boat that until recently had been favored to defend its America's Cup title in San Francisco this month.

Expectations have shifted since an international jury — responding to an incident during preliminary races — hit the Americans with a slew of penalties.

With the 34th America's Cup finals beginning this weekend on the bay, Oracle must win 11 races to take the regatta. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, needs only nine victories.

Even more significant, a vital Oracle crew member has been banned from the competition.

"This hasn't been the ideal preparation," Spithill said, adding: "I don't think we're the favorite going into Saturday."

At least one expert following the competition agreed.

"It's a coin toss," said Jack Griffin, who is covering the action for cupexperience.com. "We're going to learn a lot with the very first races."

The America's Cup is unlike any other major sporting event in that the defending champion gets to pick not only the site of the competition but also the type of boats to be used.

After his team won in 2010, technology billionaire Larry Ellison decided to bring the event to his current hometown and eschew traditional monohulls in favor of massive, expensive catamarans that sail at far greater speeds, with far greater risks.

The 72-foot boats are powered not by sails but by a towering rigid wing. They can accelerate to well upward of 40 knots and, at high speeds, rise out of the water on thin hydrofoils.

The controversy over Ellison's choices intensified after only three countries challenged for the Cup and a training accident this past spring claimed the life of Andrew "Bart" Simpson, who was sailing on a Swedish boat.

Heading into the competition, experts expected Oracle to have a technological advantage. But the New Zealand team looked strong while dominating the recently completed challenger series.

As New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said: "It's going to be a very, very interesting weekend to try to get a feel for how the two boats shape up."

Teamwork could prove decisive.

It was recently discovered that Oracle had added improper ballast to the smaller, 45-foot catamarans it raced in a series of pre-Cup regattas dating back to last year.

The penalties carried over to this competition. In addition to being docked two points, Oracle lost two members of its shore crew and grinder Matt Mitchell was suspended for four races. The team also must pay a $250,000 fine.

Far more costly, wing trimmer Dirk de Ridder, who has sailed beside Spithill for years, was banished. The man stepping into his spot – Kyle Langford, who was given a warning by the jury – is well-regarded but lacks experience with the skipper.

"The guy trimming the wings has the gas pedal and the skipper has the steering wheel," Griffin said. "They have to be like [conjoined] twins. They have to read each other's minds."

Their interaction is especially critical as the boat tries to maintain speed, and stay up on its hydrofoils, through downwind turns.

Each decision can be critical in races held close enough to shore that spectators can watch from grandstands. The boats have relatively scant room to maneuver.

"With the boundaries, it does make it a little bit of a tighter course," said Oracle tactician John Kostecki, who grew up sailing the bay. "But you definitely can pass."

After a tough few weeks on shore, Spithill and his crew were looking forward to leaving their troubles behind.

"It's like there is a real hunger now, and a real purpose in the team, given what has transpired," he said. "Something's clicked. The boys just cannot wait to get out there."

david.wharton@latimes.com

U.S. America's Cup team, already in a hole, opens title defense - latimes.com (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-americas-cup-advance-20130907,0,5024498.story#axzz2eDGOEygH)

[Serious News]

http://youtu.be/a49jy9ba4FQ

[Serious News]

So far, since they designed this hull type for this years races, there have been two major capsizes, one major stuff, and one American racer died ......


http://youtu.be/vVuY5BqI5qA

[Ratickle]

This may be the first interesting America's Cup in a long time. With the right wind conditions these guys can go 50mph, plus the new tight course inland......

[Serious News]

America's Cup Finals

September 7 - Races 1+2 - NBC - 4:00pm ET

September 8 - Races 3+4 - NBC - 4:00pm ET

September 10 - Races 5+6 – NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET

September 12 - Races 7+8 – NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET

September 14 - Races 9+10 - NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET

September 15 - Races 11+12 - NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET (if necessary)

September 17 - Races 13+14 - NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET (if necessary)

September 19 - Races 15+16 - NBC Sports Network- 3:30pm ET (if necessary)

September 21 - Races 17 - NBC Sports Network - 3:30pm ET (if necessary)


America's Cup 2013: Course Map, Dates, Schedule and TV Info | Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1762164-americas-cup-2013-course-map-dates-schedule-and-tv-info)

[Bobcat]

The technology is freakin awesome....Our American boys have some strange accents...must be from Kalifornia..

[Ratickle]

New Zealand sweeps opening two America's Cup races

Defending champion USA must win 11 races to retain the Cup. The Kiwis, who were awarded two wins after a cheating scandal, need only seven more to claim victory.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Emirates Team New Zealand skimmed above the waves of San Francisco Bay faster and better than defending champion Oracle Team USA on Saturday to win the first two races of the 34th America's Cup.


With low-key skipper Dean Barker at the wheel of the high-performance, 72-foot catamaran, the Kiwis lost and then regained the lead to win the opening race by 36 seconds.

Team New Zealand, showing better speed and crew work, led the whole way in the second race to win by 52 seconds on a hot, gorgeous day on San Francisco Bay.

The Kiwis need seven more wins to claim the oldest trophy in international sports for the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, which held the Auld Mug from 1995-2003.

Oracle Team USA, owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, must win 11 races to retain the Cup. An international jury docked Oracle two points in the biggest cheating scandal in the 162-year history of the America's Cup.

This was the first America's Cup contested inshore, and the first in foiling catamarans, which lift onto hydrofoils when they reach a certain speed.

Races 3 and 4 are scheduled for Sunday.

The Kiwis, representing the hopes of small, sailing-mad country, took it to the American powerhouse.

There were two lead changes in the first race, but Barker dominated the second race.

Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill was aggressive and came close to touching the Kiwi boat with his starboard hull in the prestart of the second race but no penalty was called. The boats were slow off the line before Team New Zealand accelerated and lifted onto its foils and beat the Americans across the reach to the first mark.

The Kiwis simply covered the American syndicate the rest of the way. New Zealand had a seven-second lead rounding the second mark, but Oracle crashed its starboard bow into the waves rounding the mark and lost speed.

When Barker and the Kiwis ripped around mark three and began foiling, they led by 46 seconds.

In the first race, Barker had a slight lead crossing the starting line just inside of the Golden Gate Bridge and beat Spithill to the first mark.

Barker kept the lead sailing downwind and was four seconds ahead at the second mark, but slowed down a bit shortly after turning onto the windward leg. The first time the 72-foot catamarans crossed, Spithill had sailed Oracle into the lead.

But Spithill let the Kiwis get the starboard tack advantage and they protected the favored left side of the course sailing past the cityfront. In the second lead change on the leg, Barker sailed ahead and built a safe advantage.

Oracle appeared to have some kind of damage on its 131-foot wing sail after the first race. The wing sail looks and performs like an airplane wing, including a front element and flaps.

On Tuesday, Oracle Team USA was docked two points and Dirk de Ridder, who had trimmed the wing sail, was booted from the regatta, along with two shore crew members. Additionally, grinder Matt Mitchell was barred from the first four races and the syndicate was fined $250,000.

The harshest penalties in America's Cup history were imposed for illegally modifying 45-foot catamarans in warmup regattas called the America's Cup World Series last year and earlier this year. The punishment meant that Oracle started the regatta at minus-2.

[old377guy]

Fricking fantastic!

[Ratickle]

Are you a Kiwi?????:smash:

[Serious News]

SAN FRANCISCO — Skipper Jimmy Spithill accelerated his 72-foot catamaran off the starting line and steered defending champion Oracle Team USA to its fifth straight win against Emirates Team New Zealand on Monday to stay alive in the America’s Cup.

The 34-year-old Spithill and his brain trust of Olympic gold medalists — British tactician Ben Ainslie and Australian strategist Tom Slingsby — kept the American-backed boat ahead the whole way around the five-leg course on San Francisco Bay for a 33-second victory.

Oracle’s remarkable comeback from what seemed like certain defeat has closed the Kiwis’ lead to 8-6 and no doubt has all of New Zealand on edge.

Team New Zealand has been on match point since Wednesday, only to watch Spithill and Oracle’s improved 72-foot catamaran sail ahead in a determined attempt to keep the oldest trophy in international sports.

Oracle Team USA, owned by software tycoon Larry Ellison, has won eight races. But it was docked two points for illegally modifying boats in warmup regattas called the America’s Cup World Series, so it needs three more wins to keep the Auld Mug.

The regatta would be tied if Oracle hadn’t been handed the harshest penalties in the 162-year history of the America’s Cup. Besides being docked two points, Oracle wing sail trimmer Dirk de Ridder was disqualified from the regatta and replaced by 24-year-old Kyle Langford four days before the match started.

Because Race 16 was delayed a half-hour due to light wind, Race 17 was postponed until Tuesday. That gives the Kiwis another day to ponder what they need to do to avoid a collapse, and gives Oracle more time to keep refining its fast cat.

Races 17 and 18, if necessary, are scheduled for Tuesday.

Skipper Dean Barker had Emirates Team New Zealand in the favored leeward position crossing the starting line before Spithill, an Australian, got Oracle Team USA onto its hydrofoils, with both hulls out of the water, and sped into the lead sailing across the wind in front of the Golden Gate Bridge to the first mark.

Oracle increased its lead at each turning mark on the five-leg course between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Embarcadero.

Oracle Team USA has won seven of the last nine races, and nine of 11 since Spithill replaced American tactician John Kostecki with Ainslie, who won four straight Olympic gold medals to go with his silver medal from 1996. Ainslie clearly has good communications with Slingsby, who won a gold medal at the London Olympics.

This America’s Cup stretched into its 17th day, making it the longest in history. The 2003 America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, lasted 16 days and ended with Barker and the hard-luck Kiwis losing the silver trophy to Alinghi of Switzerland.

[Serious News]

America's Cup tied, set for winner-take-all finale

SAN FRANCISCO — A week ago Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill was selling a comeback not many were buying.

Down by seven points to challenger Emirates Team New Zealand and facing near defeat, Spithill said through clenched teeth he liked his position and the chance to orchestrate "one hell of a comeback."

"I think the question is: Imagine if these guys lost from here?" he said. "What an upset that would be. They have almost got it in the bag."

Unbelievably, defender Oracle has nearly punched its way out.

With another two wins Tuesday, the Americans are not only alive. They are on the precipice of the greatest comeback in 162 years of America's Cup racing.

Trailing 8-1 in the first-to-nine series, Oracle has locked the contest at 8-8.

The U.S. team backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison has actually won nine of its last 11 races but was docked a two-race deficit at the regatta's start for cheating in a warm-up race using smaller boats.

Wednesday, winds permitting, features a winner-take-all clash on San Francisco Bay in what has become at 19 days the longest America's Cup since its inception in 1851.

"It's the most exciting day of all of our lives and we wouldn't want to be anywhere else," said a beaming Spithill, the 34-year old hard-charging Australian who has Oracle back from the brink. "Mate, bring on tomorrow."

No team has come back from match point since John Bertrand's Australia II reversed a 3-1 deficit in 1983 to win 4-3 and wrest the Cup from Dennis Conner's Liberty, ending the longest international winning streak in sports history.

In the first race, New Zealand miscalculated its position in the prestart box and twice bumped Oracle, which had the right of way. It resulted in two penalties that allowed the Americans to surge ahead to an insurmountable lead. They won by 27 seconds.

"It was just an absolute shocker," New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said on TV of his poor decision-making at the start. "We tried to make a bit of a play, mix it up but we got ourselves in a really bad spot."

In the second contest, the Kiwis won the start for the first time in several races but were overtaken due to some tactical mistakes and the suddenly superior American boat in the upwind leg, once their Achilles heel. They crossed the finish line 54 seconds in front.

Afterwards, Oracle's 11-man crew exchanged hugs, handshakes and high-fives. One even stroked the side of the 72-foot hull of the nearly 7-ton catamarans.

Barker, who sailed flawlessly as the Kiwis smoked Italian and Swedish challengers earlier in the summer, sat on back of soaring AC72 catamaran staring out at the San Francisco skyline as New Zealand general manager Grant Dalton and Ray Davies hashed out the day's losses.

Both teams face enormous pressure. Both have reason to believe they should have won the Cup by now.

Without the two-race penalty, Oracle would have clinched the Cup with its first victory Tuesday.

New Zealand led in three previous races nullified by winds, the last time when they held a massive 1-mile lead but could not complete the course in light winds under the 40-minute time limit.

The Kiwis have had seven chances to bring the Auld Mug back to Auckland. Now the battered and bruised team must mentally regroup in a scenario what was virtually unfathomable a week ago.

The unflappable but clearly dispirited Barker continued to say his team could win.

"We know that if we put the pieces together then we'll be successful," Barker said.

Asked what the Kiwis could do at this point after a complete momentum shift and what appears to be an inferior boat, he responded: "Try to be first across the finish line."

Spithill called himself the underdog as they clawed back into the contest and said Tuesday he would stick with that status.

"I'm just going to keep running with that," he said while praising his team's courage in the face of adversity.

"You can either get yourself wobbly at the knees or you can just look straight down the barrel (of a gun) and smile," he said. "That's exactly what this team has done."

A competition that witnessed more than its share of financial, legal and tragic setbacks has now reached a dream, do-or-die climax – a win-win for sailing whoever comes out on top.

"I don't know what everyone has been doing here the last couple of weeks," Glenn Ashby, the New Zealand wing trimmer, cheekily told reporters. "The regatta actually starts tomorrow."

[Ratickle]

I was talking with our two Kiwi friends from Luv My Boat in San Diego. I did not imagine this would happen. I'm sure they didn't either.....

[Serious News]

The Sydney Morning Herald is rubbing it in with this headline: "Eight wins is not enough for Team NZ to avoid punchline in list of sport's greatest chokes.":sifone:

[poncho]

And Oracle wins America's cup! Actually been watching on TV. Some pretty good racing!!

[Ratickle]

Eight in a row to keep the trophy. Wow

[poncho]

Eight in a row to keep the trophy. Wow

It was an impressive comeback. Speculation was if they didn't win, the winners would have chosen to go back to regular boats. Hope it stays the same, maybe a new venue, and I'll keep watching.

[Ratickle]

So, the biggest choke ever in sports or the biggest comeback ever in sports?

[Serious News]

America's Cup: Australian club challenges Oracle Team USA

Australia's Hamilton Island Yacht Club will act as the Challenger of Record for the 35th America's Cup.

The Queensland club issued the challenge shortly after Oracle Team USA's remarkable 9-8 comeback win against Team New Zealand.

As defenders, Oracle will choose the venue and will consult with the Australians and other challengers over dates, boats and format.

The two teams expect to announce the details of the next Cup in early 2014.

The Hamilton Island club, which is yet to announce the name of its racing syndicate, is led by Australian winemaker and sailing legend Bob Oatley, whose succession of yachts named Wild Oats have won six of the last eight Sydney-Hobart races.

"Given Australia's previous success in the America's Cup, the Admiral's Cup and Olympic yachting, and as proud Australians, we think it is time for our nation to be back in our sport's pinnacle event," said Oatley.

"The recently completed America's Cup in San Francisco has revolutionized the sport for sailors and fans, and we were excited to see how many Australians played key roles on the teams and in the regatta organization."

The challenge was filed to Oracle's host club, the Golden Gate Yacht Club, on the day of the 30th anniversary of Australia II's historic 1983 America's Cup win off Newport, Rhode Island, which ended the New York Yacht Club's 132-year reign as the Cup's defender.

Four years later, US syndicate Stars and Stripes beat Australia's Kookaburra III in Fremantle to take the Cup back to America.

An Australian entry last appeared in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series in 2000 when Oracle's victorious skipper Jimmy Spithill helmed an unsuccessful Young Australia in the round robin stage.

Britain's four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie, who as tactician was instrumental in Oracle's resurgence in San Francisco, is hoping to launch a British team for the next America's Cup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/sailing/24342956

[Serious News]

http://youtu.be/wI3dig65UtA

[Serious News]

http://youtu.be/ukY6pQk3d2k