America's Cup - 10 days to go!

(from now on, I'm just going to say BMWO and Alinghi instead of mentioning their respective yacht clubs, GGYC and SNG).

Time for another brief on the America's Cup. Much has happened since our last discussion - the biggest sticky point recently has been accusations from BMWO that Alinghi are using sails that were not constructed in Switzerland. These accusations have been ‘mumbled’ by BMWO for over a year now but they never brought it to a point. They did about three weeks ago and the teams met in Singapore to try and negotiate on several points. Many items of contention and questionable legality exist in the NOR and Sailing Instructions that have been recently published in draft form by Alinghi. Including, a wind limit of 15knots measured at 60 meters above the water, the wave limit of 1 meter (39 inches), trying to require BMWO to moore their boat inside the Valencia inner harbor (where there is not enough room for them to safely maneuver with the wing up), the effective reinsertion of rule 53 (which the courts permitted Alinghi to exclude) which means that BMWO’s newly fitted skin friction reduction system may no longer be permitted (yes, they may be ejecting a substance or fine bubbles into the water to help the hulls slip through the water more easily), among other things.

Alinghi’s sail problem is this: The Deed of Gift says



Alinghi’s sail panels are North Sails 3DL panels and the only place in the world to have them made is in the North facility in Minden, Nevada, USA where they have a custom pneumatically controlled mold where they lay out the mylar panels, lay in the reinforcement scrim in load paths, vacuum bag, and cook/cure the laminated panel together as per the customer’s design specifications. The Alinghi mainsails are seamed from two each of these custom molded panels and their genoas are made from 3 to 5 of these panels. Alinghi seamed these panels and added the corner fittings in Switzerland. Their first reaction to BMWO’s complaint was that their sails are made in Switzerland…so hush (I paraphrase). When pressed with evidence, their response was that “sails aren’t really part of the ‘yacht’ so they’re exempt from the phrase in the deed”. When pressed with the legal affidavit filed by their own team from their lead designer from the last round in the court where he said “a yacht constitutes all the parts needed to sail it including rudders and sails” (I paraphrase closely – out of time to look up the exact wording but this is extremely close), Alinghi agreed to sit and discuss it in Singapore.

With the deadline looming for BMWO to file suit against Alinghi’s sails and be heard in time before the match is to begin on Feb. 8th, they sat down in Singapore. Both sides blame the other for the implosion of the discussions and with the NDA required by Alinghi, it will be some time before we ever know exactly what happened there. What we do know is that 8 drafts of an agreement were written up by the Alinghi team. BMWO and a representative from US Sailing signed (what we believe to be) the last revision but after a call from Singapore to the Alinghi leadership, Alinghi refused to sign. Alinghi claims that it was because BMWO initiated their suit against their sails in New York. BMWO says we told them we would initiate the suit on Tuesday if an agreement wasn’t in place and it was already Wednesday. Sooooo…nothing came out of the discussions in Singapore.

The legal documents were filed by BMWO which (in my opinion) made a pretty good case that seaming custom fit panels and sewing on eyes to their corners doesn’t constitute “manufactured” when the panel was custom molded from scratch elsewhere. They also presented a good bit of America’s cup history where the origin of the sails – sometimes even the raw materials that went into them – was a big point of contention. Alinghi’s rebuttle documentation went all over the place and did little to address BMWO’s suit. They basically implied that if the court is to rule on the CiC (Constructed in Country) status of Alinghi’s sails, they should look at BMWO’s hydraulics (a club member saw a box at an Italian hydraulic manufacturer warehouse headed for BMWO), and the BMWO engine. They also argued that the case shouldn’t be heard until after a race happens. Their tactic seemed to be more of one to daze and confuse – but this is Alinghi’s newly hired law firm (their 3rd now). BMWO’s final filling blew me away – it was concise, to the point, and really seemed to drill home that yes, sails are part of a “yacht”, yes they need to be CiC, and they proceeded to shoot down Alinghi’s counter claims against their own boat going so far as to show several examples where they went to great length to ensure that their boat conformed (the Italian hydraulics were used initially but they had contracted with the American arm of the same company to have the hydraulic system remanufactured in the US once it was debugged and proven out…all the Italian components were replaced). Coutts has actually said in some interviews that even the oil from which the carbon fibers were derived came from US soil.

The commodore of SNG (Alinghi’s club) Fred, stated that if “BMWO was successful in DSQ’ing their yacht in the courts, there would be no match”. Many were on pins and needles wondering if this thing would actually happen…and we began wondering what the fallout would be after all this money has been spent if they pulled the plug in such a manner. (note, however, BMWO wasn’t trying to DSQ Alinghi – they were just trying to prevent them from using US constructed sails….on multiple occasions they offered Alinghi time to build sails that conform to the CiC clause in the Deed).

Meanwhile, in Valencia Spain, the teams have been getting some practice in. The America’s Cup Race Committee set a test course yesterday so they could get some practice as well – and they offered it up to the two teams to get some practice as well. With 7 knots of wind (and the water barely disturbed) USA-17 (BMWO) approached the start line with the wing dialed in, and flying two hulls. At some point, we have a report of USA-17 being measured making 28 knots in these conditions. A “bang” was heard by the observers at the race committee and USA-17 returned to base to repair a reportedly minor failure with some of the flap rigging on the wing. They repaired their boat this afternoon and went out for a test sail at around 4pm. Alinghi also performed some test sailing yesterday and were out a day break this morning to do more testing.

This afternoon, after the courts had an opportunity to read the fillings, a conference call was had between the judge and representatives of both teams. We don’t yet know details, but the court case will not be heard until March. The court says “go race first and then we’ll sort it out”. So it’s game on now. 10 days and counting.

There will be internet coverage from various sources (possibly even an online site of ESPN). Sailing Anarchy says they’ll have an announcement on Monday about something they are working on as well. Racing will start at around 4:30am Eastern Standard time…I’ll be at my computer on Monday Feb. 8th at that time – will you?

UGH! I have to be in Raleigh in my office!!!

I might have to play hooky.

Is that start time GMT -5hrs? Hope my calculations are right - that's Monday 7.30pm where I am - sweet.

Thanks Jake... I was just thinking I needed to go through a bunch of sites trying to catch up... and I saw your condensed post..

Bjorn

Jake:

Maybe you could refer to it with it's new name USA17.

Dan

Or perhaps more accurately NZL/AUS/NED17

Dan - I thought I did.

Ace - yup...that's GMT-5...you dog.

check out the latest BMWO video...it's a nice moderately informative video - but the last 10 seconds are pretty darn cool (crank up the volume...the music is understated - but key).

And let me apologize for being a little biased in that summary...I try to be relatively neutral in those but I was short on time and as things are drawing tighter, my bias is becoming stronger as I grow impatient with what I feel are poor decisions by Alinghi/SNG that not only put the America's Cup in jeopardy but really detract from the event and will potentially leave us in court for an extended period after the event is concluded.

No need to apologize for the bias. It just so happens that our team is rooted in sound basis of fact and the other is ... well, shall we say, "fantasy".

Sails not part of a yacht.... bwhahaha

Seeing how you are living in the good ol' USA I don't see any need for you to not to be biased. They may both be a couple of pain in the a$$ whiny rich guys(one definitively worse than the other), but I'll still root for the home team.

Some training footage from this morning.





Also noteworthy that Alinghi was towed out of site before they hoisted any sails - and they came back in at the end of the day with their sails lowered and stowed in bags. Do they have a different set that are CiC? What might they be hiding?

Yesterday a tarp showed up covering the center of the rear beam and the stern of the central hull on USA-17. Nobody seems to know what's under there...graphics? some new secret? Maybe something like "Eat this Alinghi!". who knows?

Cool video but that engine is LOUD.

some great aerial shots from today's training

http://bmor-photo.com/_quot_USA_quot__pedal_down________aerials_--370--1-en-f.html

Friday, 1/29/10 - Justice Kornreich of the New York Supreme Court informed the America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève, and the challenging Golden Gate Yacht Club today via telephone conference that she will not hear the American challenger's complaint regarding the 'constructed in country' requirement of the Deed of Gift before the 33rd America's Cup Match which is scheduled to begin on February 8th.

This means the 33rd America's Cup is free to proceed as ordered by previous New York rulings: in Valencia on the 8, 10 and 12 February.

"This is excellent news. We are delighted that BMW Oracle's attempts to disqualify Alinghi and to win the America's Cup in court have been denied. We look forward to meeting them on the start line here in Valencia on February 8th to race for the Cup; something they can no longer try to avoid," said Ernesto Bertarelli.

The spin machine is on full speed now. BMWO did not attempt to "DSQ" Alinghi...they were merely trying to get them to conform their sail inventory to the CiC clause in the Deed of Gift - and even offered time to allow them to remake sails to meet the requirement.

Alinghi NOT addressing this now leaves them susceptible to yet another way they may lose the cup should they manage to win on the water (albeit with illegal sails). It's like showing up to a Hobie regatta with a mylar Glen Ashby mainsail on your Hobie 16 but then publicly chastising anyone that protests you.

Exactly 1 week to race 1 start
If I have got my timings right;

6knots offshore dropping to 2knots variable

Race abandoned?

From the video BMW ORACLE Racing : Making of USA -
"Using the most advanced materials and technology TO CREATE THE FASTEST SAILBOAT THAT`S EVER BEEN BUILT".....
Perhaps BMWO should be expecting a letter from Hydroptere`s legal team.

Mate i dont think Hydroptere would see which way that weapon went around a DOG course. If its not the officially the fastest, its definitely the Coolest.

Woohoo

I'm warming the computer and cooling the tinnies already. Leave all the legal b@#&sh^* behind and let's get on with the sailing - even if it is almost NZL vs NZL!

It is only the fastest officially recorded sailboat over both on the 500 mtr stretch and the nautical mile and I REALLY don't see BMWO do 51.36 and 50.17 knots EVER.

It has beaten all other competitors, including the kiteboarders on this.

It the Hydropthere team didn't need a court room "in the process".

http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/500-metre-records.html
http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/nautical-mile-records.html


Some respect by the court warriors may be warranted here

Wouter

Like most here, I`m also madly in love with this boat, can watch the videos of it all day long. (Hmm, wonder why my work is suffering?).
My point was just that they shouldn`t make claims that are untrue, it is misleading and misinforming the general public who don`t know the truth. Perhaps their claim should be qualified by "in light to medium winds" - That would bring it closer to the truth. Not taking anything away from them, that machine is totally awesome.

Its also faster in a wider range of conditions. 28 knots in as little as 7 knots of breeze has been reported. Any video you see hydroptere in - its blowin stink.

After the cup, there's going to use DZ for speed attempt records.

First, we don't know what the top speed of USA-17 is....but I've heard (from some sources that have proven to be rather reliable) rumors that put USA-17 in Hydroptere category. Besides, Hydroptere is only fast on deep reaches and when the wind is just right...it goes upwind like a three toed sloth and can hardly move in anything under 18 knots.



While I do agree it's a bit presumptuous for them to make a wide blanket statement like that, in general and in the majority conditions and points of sail, I would say that USA-17 is faster than Hydroptere.

new video this morning

Jake,

Thanks for taking the time to keep us all updated on what's happening with this event. If it weren't for you I would probably know very little about the details of what is going on. After reading your first post on this thread I am baffled as to why you aren't writing for some top sailing magazine. Keep it up if you can. I really appreciate being able to get all of my info from this site.

Is this the verbiage you're looking for? "fastest course racing boats ever built." From "T minus 7" on SA's front page.

I'm leaving for Valencia on Sunday and will try to post some pics, by the looks of it I will be on a spectator boat for the starts.

So the UAE was safe to go sail in eh?

According to the UK Guardian - the US administration TODAY is deploying 2 patriot missile batteries to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and.... *gasp* UAE.

Safe indeed Bertarelli!! You would have had Patriot Missile batteries protecting your little boat race that could have been anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere but you fucked up and went with the "Walden Pond" choice.

Hahaha.

Wow! That is a lot of anger no offset boy. It is Monday though... carry on.

Huh!

What did I say....?

Thanks Jake for your great summaries!.... SA really wore me out...

You confuse anger for glee.

And I'm president of the "Offsets are for Dummies (and Dings)" club :P

Alinghi broke something on their mainsail / mast today while out training. Initial reports point to the downhaul or something else relatively minor. Their sails came down and they were towed back in after about 1/2 day's worth of sailing. We probably will not hear what the exact breakage was (Alinghi has been exceptionally secretive about this kind of stuff - more so now). However, the seriousness can be easily judged by if the mast stays rigged and when they get back out for more training. I would get nervous for them if they don't get out sailing tomorrow.

I hope this race doesn't come down to who can keep their boats together longer.

"I hope this race doesn't come down to who can keep their boats together longer."
I`m sure it will play a factor - if it does, my money`s on the three-toed sloth to win..
If they can match Hydroptere`s speeds and go for some records after the DOG match, that will be something special.

I still cannot decide if we are seeing a trimaran or a catamaran with a pod on USA 17. The amas are longer than the main hull whick looks to be about 70 feet. Seems easy for them to fly on one hull, even in light breeze. Rudders and daggerboards on the amas. I really like this boat and I am not usually too enthralled by Tris, so I am thinking of it as a catamaran with a pod.

Big Fan of Catamarans,
Dan DeLave

The center hull on DZ is almost exactly 90 feet. Amas are 100+ feet.

It's a machine that was designed for maximum LOA for a 90' LWL..built for pure efficiency given a limit on water line length - it's hard not to admire it's lines simply from that perspective.

I do like the way Alinghi's catamaran looks too. I think it's a terrfic looking boat and the suspension system under it really makes it stiff. However, in nearly every video I see it sail, I get the feeling that when the breeze is up that the boat is just too light and they can't put the power down on the water. Hard to tell just from videos though. We should know in one week from tomorrow!

The International Jury (IJ) met for 6.5 hours today to hear the redress filings by BMWO today...they must have taken it seriously. Alinghi attempted to have the hearing behind closed doors but both BMWO and the IJ objected - it was apparently open door. The ISAF is really (finally) starting to show up as an independent party.

They expect some decisions in the morning (in Spain).

BMWO release on the hearing is here

no word on the IJ decisions this morning...but they did already rule on two significant issues before them yesterday.

1) whether the hearing should be open to media or not. Alinghi said no, BMWO said yes, IJ said yes.

2) Alingh countered that BMWO is not entitled to redress because it was speculative and no damage to BMWO has taken place. BMWO countered that the rules contain the word "possible damage" in regards the NOR redress rule #62. IJ ruled that BMWO is entitled to file for redress on these issues.

They're in the meeting now - apparently none of the media are texting reports out to the public like we had in the New York court hearings...but we should hear something soon.

IJ scorecard:

BMWO: 2
Alinghi: 0

Alinghi was towed out of harbor apparently for another day of training. Damage yesterday must have been pretty minor.

Alinghi broke their jib halyard this morning.

Trey must be doing their splicing :P

I hope these guys get all the bugs sorted out before the racing begins or this could be the biggest race that never happened!

That's funny.

I thought only Hobie 16s broke jib halyards? All of us who have been doing this for any amount of time carry a spare in the trailer.

Mike

You probably oughta send Ernesto that tip.

espn360.com shows the 33rd AC on their online listings so apparently it will be on their site as well as americascup.com

Too late...

I haven't tried it yet but I hear the ESPN 360 site player is pretty slow and unreliable. The America's Cup website is nice - I hope they're ready for the bandwidth demands!

Sailing Anarchy claims to have something in the works too - we'll see.

maybe they are going back to the beach/sailbox

Alinghi needed to spend more time on the boat and in the water instead of court! GO BMWO! Perhaps they thought they could win a "waterless" America's Cup?

Vancouver Winter Games and AC are the same time this year, not that makes any difference to me, but guess where the media will go...

Isn't the Olympic coverage all bought up by NBC and its affiliates? Meaning, there are at least three other major networks, plus ESPN and Versus, who are free to pony up for the AC.

Oh yeah, ESPN is tied up with Winter X.

Mike

Anybody have any luck with the ESPN 360 player? I can't get it to work. I need a Tad.

OK - IJ ruled on the measurement issued presented by BMWO this evening. If you recall this has come up in the New York Courts after Alinghi released the first NOR. Besides the shocking new way that NOR attempted to include rudders in BMWO's Length on Load Waterline (LWL) measurement, it also permitted the boats to take on and dump ballast that was not included in the boat measurement while racing. The Court ruled that this was not legal because it would permit the boats to effectively increase their LWL after measurement. The Deed of Gift places only a few design restrictions on the boats and LWL is the primary one.

The latest NOR and Sailing Instructions are seemingly conflicting about ballast. In some places it references that ballast will be handled in according with the ruling of the courts, and in others it has the same wording that permits ballast to be added and dumped after measurement and while under way. BMWO filled for redress on this point. I haven't seen the exact details but it sounds like neither team can score a complete win on the issue. The teams and the IJ watched a presentation by the Chief (and only) Measurer and there was much debate. According to Pierre at Valencia Sailing :




The IJ seemed satisfied by the presentation of the Measurer and their ruling is effectively "it's up to the measurer". We haven't seen the Measurer's presentation but it appears that the end result appears to be that teams will be permitted to take on and discharge ballast while under way. However, they have to have the maximum amount of ballast onboard during measurement. That's simple enough - but it gets more complicated related to the distribution. There have been some comments that the ballast has to be in a "performance enhancing position" but it's not clear if this is actually the case.

Both boats are longer than the 90' LWL limit but at rest, they both have methods of only touching the water at a length of 90 but with large suspended overhangs. BMWO, uses the center hull of the trimaran to carry most of the boat's weight while at rest and the amas skim the water at the center. Obviously, when heeled and on one hull, the entire 100 or 110' length of the ama is in the water. At the time BMWO challenged for the cup, it was inconceivable for these boats to take on and discharge ballast water. BMWO has since added some ballast tanks to take some advantage of whatever Alinghi rule changes they couldn't stop.

BMWO's Trimaran at rest. you can see how the center hull supports the amas.



Alinghi has been trying to slip in this rule for some time now as their lightweight catamaran really needs the ballast to be competitive in breeze - but they want to dump that water to take advantage of it's light weight construction for light air.

So what's the big deal with the ballast rule? Alinghi has several ballast tanks inside it's hulls including some large ones in the sterns. Over time, we have seen their catamaran exhibit very different stern weights while at rest and while under way. With these large tanks in the rear of the boat, they can pump all their ballast water to the extreme rear which effectively causes it to "pop a wheelie". If this ballast was distributed evenly, the LWL of their boat would measure at 115'. When popping a wheelie, it would measure 90' or less. And this puts us back to the Deed of Gift in that the redistribution of the ballast would permit them to sail a boat that if it were measured in that condition, would exceed the 90' LWL limit.

Alinghi popping a wheelie:


It's not entirely clear if the measurer will require the boats to place their ballast in race trim. Based on the luke warm response by BMWO in their press release this evening, I suspect that it's possible for Alinghi to pop a wheelie for measurement. The positive takeaway for BMWO is that the boats have to measure with the maximum amount of ballast on board and that the boats can't measure empty and then add 3 tons of water immediately after measuring in. The positive for Alinghi is that they can dump ballast and better trim their lighter boat for different conditions.

In every single iteration of the America's Cup - including the only other time the event came down to a Deed Of Gift match similar to this one, the measurements and measurement decisions were carried out by a committee. Alinghi put only one man in charge of this responsibility and one things for sure - I wouldn't want to be the Chief Measurer. The result of the entire event could rest squarely on his shoulders

IJ Ruling Scorecard (I'm ruling this one a tie):

BMWO: 2.5
Alinghi: 0.5

PS - how in the world do you ensure that either team is not taking on more ballast water than they measured with during the race? They can load up and dump seawater at will - it's going to be a tough one to manage.

I haven't tried but I heard it sucked. Stay tuned here and I'll post a list of the live feed links I find - I'm trying to really stay dialed into that. If I'm going to get up at 3:45am I'm going to make sure I have planned every way possible to see ~something~.

cool. Your right on it.

I guess we better start to distribute some links.

The official event website setup by the city of Valencia Spain. It will have links to live coverage though I suspect that they may not anticipate the internet bandwidth they are about to be hit with...but it may be a good spot to find text news and possibly up to the minute video:
http://33rd.americascup.com

www.americascup.com
As a subset of that Valencia website, they claim they will be feeding live video at www.americascup.com. PLEASE NOTE that you will probably have to register to see the feed. That could mean that once they start red lining their bandwidth, they'll shut down registration. I was able to register a couple of days ago but I don't see the link to register anywhere on there now. Check early, check often. This could be one of the best sources.

www.Espn360.com
I just discovered that Jobson and Randy Smyth will be covering the event for ESPN360 (thanks Karl!) so this will probably be worth checking out. I would imagine that ESPN360 would be better prepared for a lot network demand. PLEASE NOTE: you will also need to register and setup an account with ESPN360. It is FREE but takes some time...do it early. Their player is intensive on bandwidth and CPU so if you have an older PC and/or limited internet bandwidth, you may have some difficulty with it. The player requires a few plugins and you will probably have browser compatibility problems if you are not running a 'mainstream' browser. Be sure your security is set to something less than "nuclear power station" and use (gasp) Internet Explorer 8 for the best chance of running it. Watch your upper notification bar at the top of the IE8 window - it will need to install several software plug ins to work and the notifications will pop up there in a faint yellow bar asking permission. It works pretty well for me (I've got a new computer running Windows 7 64bit and a speedy internet connection).

www.SailingAnarchy.com
SailingAnarchy just got sponsored by Layline for the coverage and is working with one of the Italian teams from the last America's Cup to get their reporters out on the water. They also have some deal setup with an internet company that provides internet access for boaters (cruisers). Supposedly they are expecting to be able to upload a lot of stuff quickly. Sometimes hard to watch, sometimes juvenile, but sometimes ground breaking and without fear...the SA coverage will be interesting. I don't believe you will have to pre-register or anything for this one.

That's it so far...I'll keep you guys posted on any new additions to the list.

interesting tid-bit. Did you know that USA-17 would have to time low tide just right in order to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge to keep the wing from hitting the bridge's deck?

Have you ever peered off the edge of the Golden Gate? That's incredible.

I thought Layline was gone.

Thanks for the links Jake. I registered for downloads with the ESPN site but then they told me my ISP wasn't signed up with them. They only feed to a select list which seem to be US only. Makes sense I guess as their content is US sport which wouldn't be of much interest to the rest of the world. So I'm left to try the AC site and as you said there doesn't seem to be a way to register at the moment.................
Grrrrrrr.

I had no problems registering a few days ago.
They ask you install the player, all went very smooth.
Any ideas why it is so hard to get things aired in the US?

We sailed into Valencia yesterday from St. Tropez (wild ride!) just in time to see A5 get towed out and break the jib halyard. Really impressive looking monster. Yes, it's wide and the mast they had on did look a little stubby. It looked like they had the 3DL sails on. Had to go into the harbor before they started sailing:(

USA17 was on its mooring when we were there and probably didn't go out until the seabreeze came in. Beautiful sailing day for them yesterday afternoon! They amount of RIBs and support boats these teams have is sick.

This is easy. You make sure every tank in the hull is full. That is the max ballast.

Ah ha. For those in AUS I found it listed live on TV. It's on Foxtel Eurosport channel programmed at 6.30pm Monday night.
Warm the set and cool the tinnies.

Alinghi has planned to be able to take on and dump ballast irrespective of measurement. It's almost certain that if they completely filled all of their ballast tanks, their boat would sink it's hull along it's entire LOA making it 115' and exceeding the 90' limit. They can't fill them all or they will not measure in. They're not supposed to fill them past the point they used to measure although they will probably be able to pump the water around to various storage tanks in the hull, dump it, and reclaim it from the ocean.

Layline is being resurrected by the original NC owners.

I didn't realize what the ESPN ISP thing was. I do remember seeing a notification that my ISP was a member of ESPN360 but I didn't really understand what that meant at the time. If you are in Europe, it's very likely you will have free television coverage on Eurosport.

Freak - you suck for being in Spain. bastard!

One problem with the espn360 is it doesn't seem to offer full screen. I thought I read somewhere it would be offered full screen. Maybe another feed?

I should have started a new thread on this stuff.

New rulings from the IJ came out early this morning on a couple of other issues:

1) technology. Alinghi had inserted some new rules that would keep BMWO from using a laser/flux capacitor wind detection device that can map the wind field in a particular area up to 1 KM ahead of the boat. The IJ ruled that BMWO is free to use the device. Alinghi had unfairly disadvantaged BMWO with the rule change.

2) Wind Limts. If you recall earlier, Alinghi had a 15knot wind limit (measured at 60 meters elevation!) and a 1 meter wave height limit (39 inches). With these boats racing offshore on a course of 20 miles (potentially 400 square miles) this would make it extremely difficult to get any racing in. Alinghi's boat is also pretty optimized for light wind. BMWO argued that this limit disadvantaged them as this rule has continued to change to the detriment of their design. IJ ruled - NO PREDEFINED WIND LIMITS. Racing is at the discretion of the Principle Race Officer. This is great news and will be vital to seeing a genuine race series uninterupted.

3) Skin friction reduction systems / polution. Alinghi inserted a rule in the NOR published last week that anything that is discharged from a boat is considered trash and trash in the water is illegal. This now meant that Rule 53 - which prohibited skin friction technology was effectively back in place AFTER Alinghi fought and won in court to have it thrown out (along with the rules prohibiting engine power during racing). IJ ruled that BMWO can use their skin friction reduction system as long as it is not harmful to the environment. (we still don't know exactly what that system is). Score for BMWO

4) race start time. The deed of gift says that the defender and challenger are to agree on the start time. Alinghi arbitrarily picked 10:30am without consulting BMWO. This is a pretty prissy issue as there's only so much daylight in which to have what could be up to a 7 hour race. Race committee set racing to start at 10:06.

IJ score card (I'm scoring the start time also as a tie since it's really a silly issue).

BMWO: 6
Alinghi: 1

I could not get it to work with safari on a mac and emailed ESPN (answer below). I did download Firefox and it works great even full screen. Now I have to figure out how to link it to my flatscreen tv.
Hello,

I apologize for the frustration.

The Move Media Player is not currently compatible with the Snow Leopard OS and default Safari browser settings. You will be able to view the player if you switch to a Firefox browser or run Safari in 32 bit mode.

To change Safari to run in 32-bit mode do the following:
1) Open the Finder
2) Navigate to the Applications folder
3) Select Safari
4) GetInfo on Safari. (Done by Right Click/CTRL+CLICK and selecting GetInfo, through the File Menu, or CMD+I)
5) Select (enable/check) the checkbox for “Open in 32-bit mode”
6) Close the Safari Info window
7) Restart your Mac

There is a work around as I ran into this issue last summer with my ISP. First, create a new account from a cellular connection, then when they ask who your ISP is, you must tell a white lie in the interest of sailing. List an ISP that is on the approved internet provider list. You will now have successfully registered and will have a user name. You will now be able to log on to anybody's ISP and view 360. My experience with the 360 experience is that it is total crap.

Apple sells DVI adapters, i have one
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA3Ng&mco=MTA4NDU0ODY

Thank you Jake, your relay has brought this event much closer to home for me, and all the legal positioning info has shown me a lot about the nature of the event

Sail-World.com will also be providing a daily email newsletter from the event. If you are not getting up at 4am EST to watch, this may be a good source for a text summary (with pictures) of the mornings happenings when you get up in the morning. Richard Gladwell has been very involved with the 33rd AC and has written several very good articles about the happenings to date. It will be a good read. To sign up for the newsletter, go HERE.

I'm going to create a new thread with a more appropriate subject line for the next update.

Tawd: I'm at about as much of a loss as you. I can get the replays to work but the live stuff - it don't work.

360 works fine for me and there is a full-screen button. I'm using Chrome - didn't even need to use the IE app.

I was emailed some additional information about the start time issue. Apparently the start has been 10:06 all along (as set unilaterally by Alinghi). BMWO asked for noon because a 10am start would be more likely to see light air and favor Alinghi. IJ ruled that since things had been completely absent of mutual consent prior to now, that SOMEONE had to set a start time. 10:06 sounded reasonable...so 10:06 it is.

I'm changing my score on that one...it's not a tie...Alinghi wins the start time challenge (although, it is a very small issue).

IJ Score readjusted:

BMWO: 5.5
Alinghi: 1.5

I couldn't get Chrome or Firefox to work with it...but I've been having trouble with Firefox on Windows 7. I could hear sound with Chrome but it wouldn't show me the window that had the video...So I guess it's to each their own!

Alinghi is doing a full practice round today, almost flying a hull in only 4kts of breeze:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U6Cp5x-Sbr8/S2mIsR8nV2I/AAAAAAAAKRg/iImyBs7BdAk/s1600/DSC_7599_1.JPG


BOR was practicing yesterday with crew placement. Falling of would be like falling from a building:


Checkout the guys on the left transom, WOW:

I guess you'll be rockstarring it to hard to keep us common folk in the know.

Sounds like an incredible experience.

I've got the 360 to play full screen. If your looking for cup coverage..... if it's not happening, it's not live so no feed.

SA will have good coverage

And JC is the co-host, so we can expect at least one truly multi-savvy commentator. Hopefully Randy can help make Jobson's coverage as interesting.

Jake wrote: "1) technology. Alinghi had inserted some new rules that would keep BMWO from using a laser/flux capacitor wind detection device that can map the wind field in a particular area up to 1 KM ahead of the boat. The IJ ruled that BMWO is free to use the device. Alinghi had unfairly disadvantaged BMWO with the rule change."

OK, I'm not sure that I get the point here. How exactly would outlawing this device disadvantage BMWO? Unless Alinghi has one, the use of this device would give BMWO an unfair advantage over Alinghi. Disallowing it, or giving one to each tean, would be the only thing that would make it a level playing field (on this issue).

Was BMWO's case that it was unfair that they had spent the money on this device, and then Alinghi changed the rule so they couldn't use it? That seems like a stretch to me.

Mike

It was unfair because, the original NOR Alinghi put out allowed it. BMWO invested in the technology, assuming that Asslinghi would be doing the same, and then they find out that its outlawed in the new rules.

Thats whats unfair about it. Same goes for the skin friction system.

You can't announce a game by a certain set of rules, then find out which rules are going to be exploited by your competitor and change them all.

What do you guys think about the device itself?
Lets say someone shows up with it for the Tybee or Texel, ban or allow?

Anybody wanna place bets on how long it takes JC to pop Clean upside the head? Actually he's got alot of restraint, look how long he dealt with Chuck.

Per RRS, I would say No:

53 SKIN FRICTION
A boat shall not eject or release a substance, such as a polymer, or
have specially textured surfaces that could improve the character of
the flow of water inside the boundary layer.

I meant laser wind tool thingy.

I'm not in favor of it for races governed by class rules.

But the AC is about the technology. SO DO IT.

Alinghi had to make a section or rules go away so they could use an engine and ballast. Those rules opened up pandoras box on what BMWO could do.
The You can't limit design because it violates the Deed argument may bite them on the hind end. This provision allows for the use of just about anything short of a prop and jet .

The Alinghi team owner Ernesto said in an interview that he will sail the boat himself.
If you had a $100m boat wouldn't you want to drive it yourself too?

Until they get behind anyway.

Keep your fingers crossed.

I read a summary transcript from the IJ hearing and the BMWO argument was that it was allowed in the previous NOR. They dedicated money and valuable personnel resources to develop the technology and to make it usable on their boat. These resources could have been applied to other projects to enhance reliability or functionality of the boat's control systems. They were disadvantaged because they spent effort, that could have been spent elsewhere, had Alinghi not changed the rule.

It's not a huge deal in this case, but they could well have structured Spithill's headsup display around the device. Even if it's not that dramatic of an issue, I can see the argument - particularly if you scale it up slightly to a larger system (say, like if Alinghi had suddenly put in a rule to disallow rigid wings). Same deal - different scale....it's a valid complaint.

Rich nailed it to. The other part of this argument is that it was ruled to be as much a design/technology contest by the courts based on the arguments set forth by Alinghi when they tossed rules 51 through 54. Alinghi has since tried repeatedly to limit technology (in several areas) when BMWO had it and they didn't.

Need a new desktop background? High Res BMWO photos daily:

http://bmor-photo.com/index.php?lang=en&fn=folio&FolioID=376&co=1&openco=1

I am running Firefox and Vista and I can't get it to update the Move Player...Just set there and runs but will not update.

Doug

Firefox did the same thing to me ... Try Internet Explorer 8. Make sure your security is set to Medium-High or lower.

Jake:

Thanks that worked. NOW I just have to get up 1t ^*&*&^*&^*^ 3 am to watch it. ROFLMAO!!!!!

Doug

This just in. According to Corey Friedman at Sailing Scuttlebutt the "jury" is still out on the measurement rule as far as the placement of ballast for measurement (allowed to place it all in the stern or must be equally distributed fore and aft). However, he makes a strange mention that BMWO is not permitted to be present during the Alinghi measurement....that's weird. More news to follow tomorrow.

I want a laser flux capacitor thingy.

For only $150,000 you can have a handheld unit with basic features. You'll have to get your software engineer to integrate it into your boat's data system though.


http://catchthewindinc.com/racers-edge

Sorry, I wasn't thinking like a billionaire in "spend all I can to gain any advantage" mode. That was inappropriate of me for this regatta.

I do agree that late rule changes are risky.

Being the PRO for this must be all sorts of fun. You're an employee of the defender, but are expected by the rest of the world to run a fair race. I've actually spoken to Luigi about this in the past. They certainly earn their money...

Mike

Imagine this sitting on a swivel like a radar and constantly scanning the wind all around you. Then hooking it up to a computer with software that puts all the pictures together. You could see where the wind is coming from, the pattern of the wind trails, what the pressure is, etc.

Wonder when it will be small enough to use on a beachcat? Then we can get small motors to do our sheeting and maybe helm by wire. We would have a very expensive radio controlled boat.

Later,
Dan

no kidding - what a tough job. That and the single measurer!