How about those Americas cup boats!!!

Yep, something is up, we are hearing rumors all the time in the press, will report when we hear more.

But I can tell you we are devastated down here by our recent losses, I really cant tell you how much this had captured the nation, we are only a little country and we we do well against big teams / countries and do well, it really captivates everyone.

Put it this way, NZ is 4.5 million people, when the races are on the viewing numbers are 900,000 ish on TV and approx 200,000 streaming on their computers!

People are late to work staying at home to watch it, in the mornings when I come to work the roads are dead.

Id love to think we could win it, but it really doesn't look promising, the US boat just looks to fast, I don't think we have forgotten how to sail, its just that they have got much much better
 
From where I was sat it wasn't the boat speed - team nz made some very poor tactical choices in the last couple of races - their starts were average and that tack under Oracles lee bow was way too far away to work. If they actually get the starts right and actually try to dictate the race they will stay in front. Oracle isn't particularly fast they are just making some great decisions on the race course.
 
kasbatts said:
Yep, something is up, we are hearing rumors all the time in the press, will report when we hear more.

But I can tell you we are devastated down here by our recent losses, I really cant tell you how much this had captured the nation, we are only a little country and we we do well against big teams / countries and do well, it really captivates everyone.

Put it this way, NZ is 4.5 million people, when the races are on the viewing numbers are 900,000 ish on TV and approx 200,000 streaming on their computers!

People are late to work staying at home to watch it, in the mornings when I come to work the roads are dead.

Id love to think we could win it, but it really doesn't look promising, the US boat just looks to fast, I don't think we have forgotten how to sail, its just that they have got much much better
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I can imagine the disappointment. The history of the Americas Cup is rife with funny business, so winning it is no easy task. There has been almost no press coverage here in the US, except for this morning, and only because of Oracle's comeback. There are changes made to the boat every night, but I think Dean Barker/Ray Davies should have covered better in the last race; they always seem eager to go off taking or jibeing before Oracle makes a move and then find themselves in poor wind. Easy to second guess, I suppose, but I'd love to hear more about what's being reported down there...

Good luck today!
 
i think its anybodies race to win today. please - NO spoiler alert. i will watch it when i get home. i think NZ has a boat that has gone toe to toe w/ Oracle ... and i know its disheartening to lose the big lead they had earned. i think they (NZ) peaked too early and Oracle is peaking down the stretch (learning from what NZ did to kick everybodies tail in the LV cup ... and the beginning of the America's cup. the bottom line, somebody wins ... and those who don't win ... aren't losers, they just got beat - regardless of who wins. both teams have done amazingly well. remember these are professional sailors.
 
Well there you go, As I said Oracle just to fast in the end, The US boat has found speed up wind that we just couldn't match. I guess money can buy you everything!

NZ $120 million
US $280 million (so we hear)
and a further $220 million on the event itself

And yes, our boys did make some mistakes without a doubt, but hey, that's just the way it is I guess.

Anyway, we are all incredibly proud of the the team, they will get a huge welcome when the get home.


Well done Oracle, congratulations USA
 
duane_sword said:
Kudos to team NZ... Congratulations Mr. Ellison
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+1 ... NZ was awesome !!! oracle came thru ... but NZ showed them the way with the innovation of how to make speed out of the boat. it was an impressive series. i repeat NZ did not lose. unfortunately they didn't win.
 
The largest vessel I sail is a windsurf, but I need to vent my oversize spleen.
The 9-8 with 8 race comeback seems like a convenient outcome for the TV advertisers, just like NBA playoffs somehow tend to go all the way to the full series...

Oracle does not represent the US any more than Emirates represent new Zealand. Crowds cheering for Oracle in San Francisco only show that people cannot resist taking sides, from boxing to vessels. Congratulations to Emir Ellison.
 
Arde said:
The largest vessel I sail is a windsurf, but I need to vent my oversize spleen.
The 9-8 with 8 race comeback seems like a convenient outcome for the TV advertisers, just like NBA playoffs somehow tend to go all the way to the full series...

Oracle does not represent the US any more than Emirates represent new Zealand. Crowds cheering for Oracle in San Francisco only show that people cannot resist taking sides, from boxing to vessels. Congratulations to Emir Ellison.
Click to expand...

+1

I remember the NBCSports announcers speaking ruefully about the non-event (and all the implications i.e. economic) when NZ had a seemingly insurmountable lead.

At least World Cup teams are comprised of nationals; why bother even having one American on the boat?
 
guys ... its professional sailing. back in the day, it was not to the same degree ... when they raced 12meters (the boats i liked). back then, you still had racing syndicates - that did the same thing, and it was expensive back then. they just didn't have sponsors like oracle or emirates ... there was the name of the boat. the name of the country only becomes important to define who the defender is selected from and who the challenger is to be selected from.

so this is still a super rich man's sport (perhaps even more so) ... with advertizers, and has been for some time. you get the best bunch of sailors you can buy and get the best boat you can have designed and afforded to be built.

the latter part is true for offshore racers too (as well as olympic boats - except its the best boat builder of a particular type, and the best sailmaker, etc.) ... they just rarely have big sponsors.
 
Soccer is also professional sport and Qatar has bought the rights to host a World Cup even though no measurable contribution to that sport can be found, the weather is inhospitable in the summer, and stadiums are being built by indebted slaves of which dozens have reportedly already died.

Sometimes progress is not forward.
 
i know all too well about Qatar, i go there at least 4 times per year. we have a hotel under construction there. hot is not the word in the summer. the first time i arrived (in april), i got off the plane at 10:30 at night ... and it was still 103degrees fahrenheit. the high was over 125 in april !!! oh yeah, then there's the general comment, its a dry heat ... BS, Doha is on the water.

it just goes to show, when you have massive amounts of money, you can do whatever you want to, and try to buy whatever makes you content. the construction workers there come from different countries where there is no discernable chance to make a decent wage ... so they go to Qatar, UAE, etc. and work for peanuts - but still are doing better than they would in their own country. yes, there are many American construction companies there that hire these workers ... plenty of foreign construction companies as well. I can tell you that for the most part they have clean / organized sites ... much better than what i am used to seeing in most of Asia.

Qatar does sell something that we all have a thirst for ... gas + oil. water on the other hand is expensive there.
 
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