On Jun 27, 9:25 am,
On Jun 27, 3:47 am, OzOne wrote:



Bart scribbled thusly:
In the third race of the 32nd America's Cup today,
the Kiwi's were in a starboard tack position and
able to force Alighi to duck them. Instead, they
tacked to port.

What was a possible reason for doing this?


A duck doesn't mean much, especially with fast boats. If you bear away
to skim beihind another boat's transom by inches, you then are powered
up and can pinch for enough boatlengths to make up the ground lost
bearing away. And if there is stronger wind or a shift on the side you
are headed for, it makes much more sense to duck than to tack.


Would you have done anything differently? If
so what?

Without knowing the situation,
most likely wanted to keep a close cover on Alinghi
Nothing better than having your opposition locked in under your
quarter,
or there was more pressure out to the right and they wanted to get to
it

Oz1...of the 3 twins.

Yeah there is something better... pinning them on your windward hip,
losing a pointing contest. Their option is to tack away from going
high & slow, a guaranteed way to lose a lot of ground, or grit their
teeth and keep going while looking at your exhaust.

The risk is that they could find some extra power somehow & roll over
you.


Bart wrote:
The Kiwi's were also very close to the starboard tack layline.

IMHO the layline doesn't matter in a match race. All that matters is
being ahead, and one of the best ways is to either be in a position to
cover or a position to force a foul.

So far it sounds like Alinghi is a bit faster but not enough that they
can sail stupid. I am really surprised that with Jochen Schumann
bossing the program, that they have been so dumb.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King