I liked the discussion on the fleet race regarding how hard the "slam dunk" maneuver is for multihulls and how Artemis got spit out the back on that one tack.

Given the slow turns, should they be pulling up the boards sooner to expedite? Are they not hauling in the jib fast enough? What else could they do?

On the speed trial, the fast boat did 500 meters in 39 seconds, so...what's that in Knots?

Anybody got a calculator handy? Why don't they display the actual GPS speeds somewhere on the screen?

Artemis had a gear failure, that's why the passes looked so dramatic. They pulled the plug right then.
The speeds they are going and the height gained from the apparent wind makes the slam dunk with gains close to impossible.

I think this is the deal.
They are short a winch on those boats so when it comes time to Hoist( I think that's the task) the gennaker they blow off the jib sheet which has a line tied to the clew that limits the ease while they are hoisting the gennaker. That way it's not just flogging but still powering along a bit. problem comes when you need to ease past that point.

I hear what you're saying (and you're probably close), but I know I saw at least one boat raising the kite manually (same as on a F18, but with two guys pulling the halyard from the base of the mast). I was quite startled by this, and commented to my wife while we were watching: "Why are they doing that? They have winches on these boats!"

I didn't get anything from that clip above to explain the hobble...

EDIT: I just looked at dictionary.com, and while they don't list a sailing definition, the common definition (noun) has a variant that makes some sense in light of where you're going.

I'm sure they've be revisiting this as a good idea going forward...

As for the speed runs, I agree that it's awkward that they don't give a real-time speed, as well as max and average speeds at the end of the run. Not important to the goal, but fun nonetheless, and it's not like they have a shortage of instruments or data! I did like the red line showing the leader's pace as each successive boat went through the run.

Mike

What's the "hobble" on the jib? The announcers kept referring to that as one of the reason several boats went over, or at least nearly over (the boats that flipped weren't able to release the jib because it was in the "hobble").

Again, the onboard mics were great. In the one capsize where they nearly saved it (except for the jib stuck in the "hobble"), you could hear someone on the boat saying, "We're OK, we're OK" as the bows came up and the boat rounded to weather. Of course, with the jib not being blown, it was only a matter of time before they went over...

As for their boat-on-boat tactics, it still amazes me that they even try for leebows or slam dunks. Especially after the completely disastrous "gybe to cover" in Portugal, you would think they would have realized by now that the speed of these boats is just not going to allow those sorts of maneuvers to pay, especially in the open water at the middle of the course. Maybe near a mark rounding. Maybe...

Mike