High drama on the America’s Cup scene in Auckland yesterday. If you haven’t already, this you have to see.
As dramatic as this was, quite frankly it’s not as dramatic as these two photos:
I’ve watched a few videos of the incident, and from what I can tell Patriot was bearing away (if you can tell – I can’t always tell when they’re going upwind or down), and either there was a human or equipment error that allowed the boat to leap out of the water, get beam-to in the wind and over she went. Maybe an eyewitness can give us more accurate detail. The breezy bear-away is a tough maneuver in most boats, and it’s particularly challenging for foiling boats.
Then the slow motion drama of saving the boat took place. It quickly became apparent Patriot was sinking. The photo above shows why. It’s not at the point where the foil goes into the boat, but maybe part of the control system? I’d love for someone who hasn’t signed a contract in blood to describe what that may be,
Otherwise, I’ll put links out there on the clearest analysis of what exactly happened. (If any of you alert Sailish readers come up with them, please share!)
The powers that be wanted drama to show the non-sailing public, and here it is. Patriot was finally winning a race (they’d lost the three previous races) and Prada was “only” about 500 meters behind. For many of these races, the distances between the boats were quite large. But this third day of racing in the Prada Cup had high winds (up to 20, it was reported) and the boats were flying at 40 knots or so.
For the record, in this round of Prada Cup challenger races, Britain’s Ineos Team UK Brittania has become dominant winning all four of its races. the Italian Prada is 2-2 and American Magic’s Patriot is 0-4. But clearly they have more to overcome than just a poor score.
More later. Please share if you get more information. I have to say, the AC racing doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me these days, but this is certainly worth the attention.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography and learned meteorology “to keep from getting kicked around on the race course.” Bruce spent nearly two decades as Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)
Keep up the good work Beuce,now I am beginning realize why you picked up those wind shifts years ago