America's Cup sailing final - GB vs NZ

[Izzy]

Anyone following this?

 

First time in 60 years GB have been in the final of the worlds oldest international sporting competition.

 

Ben Ainslie, Jim Ratcliffe etc, taking on the Kiwi's in what's known as 'F1 on water'

[Izzy]

NZ win the first two races on day 1 in best of 13 series

 

GB well off the pace and need to pull their finger out

 

 

[Zear0]

Is this sailing for people who think the Oxbridge boat race is a bit "common"? 

[Plastik Man]

8 hours ago, Zear0 said:

Is this sailing for people who think the Oxbridge boat race is a bit "common"? 

I suppose little chance of getting Rod Stewart to sing at the closing ceremony then? 

[Jon the Hat]

On 12/10/2024 at 22:54, Izzy said:

NZ win the first two races on day 1 in best of 13 series

 

GB well off the pace and need to pull their finger out

 

 

Yes I've been watching all through the LV cup series, which was a great victory.  TNZ are a different kettle of fish though, they seem to have raised their game again from the racing a month ago.  Ineos need the wind to pick up - and preferably the waves too - and for a now angry Ben Ainslie to be more aggressive on the pre-start.  If we lose the pre-start we lose the race.

[Izzy]

3 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Yes I've been watching all through the LV cup series, which was a great victory.  TNZ are a different kettle of fish though, they seem to have raised their game again from the racing a month ago.  Ineos need the wind to pick up - and preferably the waves too - and for a now angry Ben Ainslie to be more aggressive on the pre-start.  If we lose the pre-start we lose the race.

And giving away a 75 meter penalty before crossing the start line doesn't help!

[Jon the Hat]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

And giving away a 75 meter penalty before crossing the start line doesn't help!

Yeah no way are they making that up.

[Jon the Hat]

The difficulty of the way this competition is setup is you almost need a couple of AC finals to get close, but each time you have to fight off the other challengers to get there.  The Italians might have a better chance at beating the Kiwis at the second attempt that we do, but we beat them to the final.  the Kiwis are very good sailors, but also have the technical advantage of setting the rules, choosing the location etc.  Much as I would love us to win it, I think it won;t happen this time, but hopefully in 2 years.

[Izzy]

GB were fearing a whitewash at 0-4 down but won both races today to get it back to 2-4 so game on again.

 

Clearly no-one apart from me and Jon give a shit on here but if GB pull this off, it'll be big news I tell ya.

[davieG]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

GB were fearing a whitewash at 0-4 down but won both races today to get it back to 2-4 so game on again.

 

Clearly no-one apart from me and Jon give a shit on here but if GB pull this off, it'll be big news I tell ya.

I do.

[Izzy]

7 minutes ago, davieG said:

I do.

My apologies davie.

 

Here's the highlights of race 6 today. 

 

I think it's really clever how they use the wind.

 

 

[Izzy]

The Kiwi's win both races today to go to match point 6-2 up.

 

They're just too good for Britannia and keep getting off to quick starts then extend their lead.

 

Would be monumental if Ben Ainslie and his team pull it back now. 

[Jon the Hat]

On 18/10/2024 at 23:24, Izzy said:

The Kiwi's win both races today to go to match point 6-2 up.

 

They're just too good for Britannia and keep getting off to quick starts then extend their lead.

 

Would be monumental if Ben Ainslie and his team pull it back now. 

Sadly it was not to be.  I do note though that is took the Kiwis a few finals to win it, and we are progressing each time from knocked out in the qualifying series, to making the LV Cup final to winning it and taking 2 races off the defenders.  If we can keep that up we are in with a good chance next time!  We are the challengers of record again having put in our challenge the moment the Kiwis crossed the line.

 

Sir Jim has said he continues to back it, although as he wont be launching a new car next time he would like some other sponsors.  It will be interesting to see whether Sir Ben takes a step back from skipper - personally I think he has another run in him.  He is only my age after all!