I'm not sure Oracle would have recovered with their lower bow volume.
See I had the opposite opinion.
I see a boat with huge bows stuffing it and stopping. This is ok on our small beach cats when all we need to do is let go of every sheet on the boat to unload the rig, but on a wing sailed boat controlled by hydraulics I think its a problem. Remember how when the Extreme 40's used to pitchpole every other minute? Speaking to the sailors on those boats, it was because to sheet the main on those things you had to pump a handle and to let it out you hit a big red button... and it let the main out SLOOOOOW ressulting in pitchpoles that to us look completely avoidable.
On Oracle, the hulls will certainly drag the boat but I don't think you'd see the same kind of dead-stop you saw on the ETNZ boat.
I could be wrong, but after sailing a boat with big bows now for a couple years I can tell you that they help, and hurt.
I don't know...That was a serious auger in. I don't think Oracle would have fared any better in that situation. The bows likely would have gone in deeper. That was pretty messed up. Frankly, I'm glad they didn't wreck worse than they did. It will be interesting to see how much of it they get put back together today.
As a side note; can you IMAGINE the strain put on that rigging to hold up that 13 story wing as the boat went from 40 to 5 in about 1.5 seconds? I think one of the saving graces is that they trim so close when they are going downwind. If the sail had been trimmed more loosely it would have become a barn door when the wind quickly shifted aft and would have increased the pitching moment.
I was watching the broadcast on dvd and after the first race they showed both Oracle boats doing a practice race when the LV race was canceled because too much wind. Looks like ETNZ could have used the bigger rudder elevators that they protested.
The Oracle practice race was run before the LV finals and broadcast on Youtube live. Pretty smart of them to do that to have filler for postponements and such. First broadcast race and exactly what people complained about, happened. Big delays ,then cancellation.
"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"
The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea Isak Dinesen If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most. E. B. White
