February 6, 2010
… we are going to see some racing in the America’s Cup.
With a couple of court cases still pending next week’s one on one showdown between Alinghi and BMW Oracle may not bring an end to the whole sorry saga, but make no mistake – this is progress. For the challengers like Team New Zealand it finally gives them some sort of certainty – they know there’s going to be a race and they can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Of course if Alinghi wins BMW Oracle will have them back in court, and probably the other way around as well. But even that aside, it’s no longer years away, it’s now months away that the likes of Grant Dalton will have something to aim at, and I think that’s important.
The bitter legal wrangles between Alinghi and BMW Oracle over the past few years has been undoubtedly the bleakest period in the long history of the America’s Cup. And for those that are passionate about the sport it’s absolutely gutting that there hasn’t been an opportunity for the challengers. But history also tells us there just may be a positive to all of this.
If we look back to the 1988 Big Boat Challenge, which like this current situation, was an absolute mess, but from that transpired the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) rule. That came about after all the syndicates and designers of that time got together once the dust had settled and developed some parameters and rules that will serve the America’s Cup well. That lasted very well for the class right through to 2007 and had 20 years of perhaps the best America’s Cup yachting there had ever been with an open challenger series.
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Posted by peterlester
June 28, 2007
Team New Zealand now have belief, they know they can compete and they know they are fast enough.
Alinghi went into the America’s Cup believing they were going to blow away the challenger. It is not the case.
Alinghi will now know they are in for a scrap, which will be different for the Kiwis on Alinghi who have always been on a faster boat.
We have now seen some chinks in Alinghi’s armour, namely their decision-making and the design of their spinnakers which has shown a few flaws.
For Team New Zealand, their defeats in the challenger series have made them stronger and were probably good for them.
Alinghi are not used to losing and I have no doubt they will come back. But if the wind continues to be a bit fluky, the Kiwis are match-hardened and ready.
Alinghi are now looking over their shoulders. When New Zealand got that wind shift up the first beat yesterday Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird looked over his shoulder and went “Oh f***”. You know that is a negative thought, you know that it is affecting them.
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Posted by peterlester
June 25, 2007
Well Valencia was pumping with excited Kiwis today.
The wool shed, packed to the rim, was going off (pics here).
It was a great start. Barker was brilliant. He was really strong at the start. Team New Zealand wanted to start on the right and Alinghi wanted to start on the left.
On that first beat Alinghi got ahead through speed and a bit of pressure to leeward. Alinghi might have a had little click of speed upwind but nothing major.
Team New Zealand’s come back came in the second beat. If Alinghi had not made a mistake they probably would not have got past but they got themselves in a position where they were close enough to pounce if Alinghi slipped up.
How it unfolded was that Alinghi were sailing quite loose. When you are fast you do tend to be a little bit loose and a little bit casual.
At the bottom gate the teams went around different marks. The Kiwis took a little gain from doing that. When they came back together Team New Zealand had come back to within a length of the Swiss.
Alinghi then tacked to leeward. When Ed Baird did the tack it was a bit of spinning tack, it wasn’t a smooth tack and as a result it slowed the boat down. That opened up a very small opportunity and the New Zealanders took it.
So it’s 1-all. There is now a lay day before race three on Tuesday night NZT.
102 Comments | Alinghi, America's Cup Teams, Americas Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand, New Zealand, Newspaper Stories, Sailing, Spain, Sports, Valencia, Yachting | Permalink
Posted by peterlester
June 16, 2007
I don’t buy into the theory that Alinghi are going to go out and blow Team New Zealand out of the water. That has been conveniently placed by Alinghi – and by the European media – because they want the cup to stay in Europe. It is not what I have observed.
The New Zealanders will be competitive. How competitive? We’ll just have to wait and see.
There has been a lot of discussion about whether Team New Zealand have saved some gear for the final.
I am not sure. You may see some new little things, like the winch pods we saw in the Louis Vuitton final, but they will be looking to refine things. And if they do bring some new stuff, it will be very subtle.
It looks to me that the big bits were probably locked in place before the team left Auckland.
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Posted by peterlester
June 15, 2007
By Julie Ash and Peter Lester – NZ Herald
This was never going to be a mission for the faint-hearted. In a game where secrecy is everything, we knew it could get dirty.
Nevertheless, it was our duty to find out what Team New Zealand are up against in SUI100.
Locating the Alinghi boats through the thick haze off the Valencia coast nearly thwarted the spying mission before it began.
You’d think it impossible to lose two giant 24-metre America’s Cup yachts with mainsails the size of jumbo jets’ wings. Well, think again.
But the haze had its advantages. “We’ll use it as camouflage,” the Maxwell Smart impersonator said. The mission started like a trip down memory lane.
With a 12-metre regatta taking place in Valencia, there was dear old KZ7, the boat that got New Zealand through to the challenger series final in 1987. Not far away was Freedom, the 1980 America’s Cup winner. It was all quite moving.
Anyway, no time for reminiscing, we were on a very important mission.
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Posted by peterlester
