I think they got rattled when they missed spotting the leeward(?) mark and never got back on their A game.Then the lack of a cover after they were passed let Artemis get by. Seems Deano is on his A game, with more boatspeed, no matter what. It's pretty obvious they will be a major threat in the big game.

NZ showed some real muscle this last week. I bet we see Oracle with some new head sails soon....but yeah, JK nailed it a couple of times and then not-so-much. It's easy to look at the helicopter views and sail from the arm chair though....but NZ seemed to really be in phase with the pressure and shirts almost every race.

What puzzles me is OR-S had a commanding lead,
These guys have tons of match racing experience and failed to cover (spend some lead)?

Stay in between the next mark and your competitor, keep leverage to a minimum,
and spend some of that lead to maintain cover (Match Racing 101).

Perhaps the pressure / speed intoxicated them or got rattled as mention above?
How many times have you failed to cover and lost?

How about throwing the race. How unexciting would it be if Jmmy wins all the time. They don't want to kill the contest.

And ETNZ needs sponsors,but with the ETNZ boycott of the AC website I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be the team du jour if the AC management was crazy enough to try and get away with that.

From what I saw, it was so puffy and shifty, I think they were more focused on finding the next puff and staying in it than covering the guys behind them...

Been there, done that, every year at Wildcat and last year at Tradewinds there were a lot of puffs/shifts that would draw you away from covering.

It is possible to have too much of a lead. If boat speed isn't a problem, like someone mentioned earlier, cash in a little of that lead to cover cover cover so you can stay near the same wind system of your competition. Whether you cross the line with a 3 minute or a 3 second lead, it's still a win.

That gybe by Spithill (who was on starboard) to try and blanket NZ when NZ first got the lead baffled me. Even if they pulled that off and were able to blanket them, they wouldn't have been able to pass them since NZ was lower down the course and NZ would still have the inside track to get back to the mark. I believe they would have been better served to make NZ duck and carry that gybe out a short distance toward the middle and make the call for the gybe back for the layline (and hope to cross) or based on the available pressure / angle. NZ made a huge gain on that side so it shouldn't have been a horrible idea to go that way and hope you gained a couple of boat lengths.

I like these boats in and of themselves. I know the 72s are supposed to be the ultimate, but I hope these boats catch on as a class.

Some sad news for beachcat sailors

Mitch Booth leaves China Team
China Team, the Chinese challenger for the 34th America’s Cup, has decided to part ways with its skipper Mitch Booth after the first AC World Series in Cascais, Portugal, last week. China Team started the week on a strong note with many good results, notably coming third in the speed trial, and had some of the most magic moments of the event. China Team is in the process of finalizing the recruitment of another skipper to be announced shortly.
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?Nid=87434&refre=y&ntid=118&rid=6

I'm not too surprised and suspect there will be more changes before it's all over.

The replacement should be interesting. Wonder if they'll bump Charlie up? Mitch had some great starts,more time in the boat would have certainly helped.

Regarding Newport in 2012:



No matter what you do, you want to book now. While that week is just before peak season starts (July 4 weekend is the real start of the crazy season), this event will most likely blow the doors off like a Jazz Festival or Tall Ships weekend (they call in the National Guard to help control traffic, all over the city, not just downtown).

Best option is probably to rent a house or apartment for the week, and bring lots of “relatives” to help split the cost. Technically, there are laws/ordinances that you need to consider. They frown on you putting 20 guys in a two-bedroom apartment, but unless you have a difficult neighbor, and/or are making a ton of noise, no one will likely notice.

There are also options for RVs: Fort Getty in Jamestown, and Paradise Park in Middletown (there is also a park over by Second Beach in Middletown).

Hope this helps.

Mike

Thanks.