Geologyinc
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Feb 16, 2010, 5:21 AM
Post #11 of 66
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Re: [EaglesPDX] 34th Cup in SF in Multihulls
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I would prefer to see the 34th AC challenge take place without the acrimonious litigation that so soured the 33rd AC challenge. The litigious court antics were an embarrassment to the sailing community and very regrettable. Litigation should not be what sailboat match racing is about.
As for monohulls versus multihulls, I would prefer to defer to a 'consensus' opinion of the top echelon members of the sailing community on that, if it is possible, but more likely it will have to be based upon a majority opinion. While I am a classical, one-design mono-hull sailor, this multihull AC challenge presented an advancement in the sport of match sailing which allowed for new technologies and science to be introduced and incorporated into the sport. Racing of one-design mono-hulls may not be the most effective way to allow for such new developments and advancements of in the use of materials and designs. On the other hand, just allowing an 'anything goes' environment to rule the roost is not an effective means for match racing either.
In my personal opinion, "Match Racing" should be intended to represent the best in sailing skills which may be drawn from the crew, navigator, and helmsman of the competing boats, assuming that the boats are relatively equal in design. In "match racing", technology and science should be used to "tweak" the best performance out of two similarly designed vessels, but it should not become the dominant, over-riding factor in match racing competition so that you have lop-sided victories which can be so dull and uninteresting.
So there must be a final decision that should be made soon. Will the 34th AC Challenge be conducted in mono-hulls, bi-hulls, or tri-hulls? Not a mix. Pick one style of hull class and stick to it through-out the match racing challenge series.
However, whatever hull style is selected, the vessels must be able to demonstrate that they can be safely sailed in both light-air (greater than 5-knots) and heavy air (up to 20-knots with gusts to 27-knots) conditions on the open ocean. The BS about the Swiss boat being unable to sail in seas in excess of 1-meter meant to me that it was a vessel which was not intended for ocean-sailing conditions. In my opinion, these match racing boats should be of sea-worthy condition and safe in seas up to 3-meters.
Also, I would prefer seeing a best of 4 wins out of a 7-match race series. What a disappointment the 33rd AC challenge was by being restricted to the best two wins out of three match races was. You never got to see what the boats really could do under differing wind and sea conditions. It seemed to be over before it ever got started.
Water-line length: Clearly there were some shenanigans going on on what truly represented the Water Line Length of the Swiss boat depending upon whether she pumped on water to re-ballast the vessel or not. There needs to be a clearly defined rule to address this issue. Personally, I think that a boat must have a fixed "ballast" at the time she is measured with all the equipment that she may use in a race already on board which can not be transferred off in the future prior to a race. The only exception might be the crew. Although perhaps there might be be a maximum/minimum crew size number or total combined crew weight range that could be designated.
As for the Venue, as an Easterner, I once might have had a bias towards Newport, RI. However, my real preference is to have the venue sailed in an area where there are steady, reliable wind conditions and the home port of the venue has deep water with sufficient housing and training facilities to support many competing teams, their supporters and the large body of spectators who hopefully will come to watch. The venue home port should have a good public transportation infrastructure (airports, buses, trains, interstate highways, etc) which will allow easy access to and from it. It preferably should be located near a large metropolitan areas that may help to attract and support a large spectator body.
Those are my peronal thoughts and comments for what they may be worth.
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