AC34: Get used to it
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget 
Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget
By CSN…
‘Rumors’ of a mono match race cup going on with some teams that are not participating yet in this Cup. With due respect I must say they can´t be such losers.
Prior to the last Cup the same guys were laughing at the choice of Multihulls by Oracle as Bertarelli had vast exerience on cats, they also laughed at the Tri design as being quite standard and non innovative.
Which was the advantage that BOR had previous that Cup? Which was the experience James Spithill on Multis?
The Wing: it was a huge bet, guts and hard work were the key for their success.
So now challengers and dinosaurs sailors alike are complaining of the advantage for Oracle on cats & wings, but the organization is providing a ‘test’ boat for each challenger to take advantage over their own design team from the start, do you see any other organization doing the same?
Alinghi did a great job, already said it here many times, and with their A5, they set lots of new designs trends-
They are the team we need to complete this high performance and extreme F1 style sail race.
Any doubt on boat selection by EB if Alinghi would have won? Catamarans for sure.
So Relax and enjoy, multis are here to stay as the team winning next cup will race again on them- (infinite loop)
This from the photographer? I guess we know whether it can produce the desired spectacle and marketing chances. Great points regardless!
I dont agree with the writer that Alinghi 5 was a good design.
It certainly is one of the most beautiful boats ever built and technically a work of art.
The only problem was its huge width, especially while tacking this was a mayor problem, that made it way too slow.
Alinghi could have solved this by making it less wide but then they would sacrifice righting moment, which could be countered with water ballast tanks but that is far from ideal.
BMWO solved this by building a trimaran where during tacks you reduce the width by 50%.
Truth is, both boats where cats since they sailed on 1 hull all the time (it did not even have a rudder or daggerboard!).
Oracle and the AC Management did a great job on the AC45 and I cant wait to see these things race each other this summer!
If the 'truth is' as you say, that USA 17 was a cat; then I suppose you agree that the rudders should have been included in LWL – Without which loophole Oracle would have had to build a smaller boat? 🙂
Blackburn