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Tag: sailing

  • Oracle Team USA Takes 2013 America’s Cup in Epic Win

    It seemed like a long shot, and it was. On Wednesday afternoon Oracle Team USA showed up at San Francisco Bay facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit of 8-1 against Emirates Team New Zealand. Though Oracle Team USA were the defending champs, they did not seem likely to repeat their victory from three years ago. Throughout most of the race, New Zealand fans were exuberant as they watched what seemed like a sure win for their team…but it was not to be. The Americans gave an incredible performance to retain the cup. “It was a fantastic race,” said Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill. “We wouldn’t have had it any other way, coming from behind.” The crowd along the waterfront roared as the American team stormed past the finish line with a commanding 45 second lead.  Final score 9-8 in favor of Oracle Team USA – they had to win 8 consecutive races to keep the cup.

    http://youtu.be/uVSvjRul42I

    This epic showdown was a much welcomed boost for the image of the sport, given the recent string of bad press. British Olympic sailing champion  Andrew Simpson’s untimely death  during a training accident, as well as the rampant accusations of spying and favoritism within the sport have struck a nasty blow to its image. Only days before the Cup Finals began,  Oracle Team USA were found guilty of cheating. It was discovered that several members of the team had unfairly weighted their 45-foot catamaran. The weight increased the performance to the catamaran, giving them an unfair advantage during competition. Though the act was done without the rest of the team knowing, the entire team was penalized with a 2- race- penalty, a $250, 000 fine, the expulsion of three crew members and the suspension of one. This marked the most severe penalty in the races 162 year history. Team CEO, Russell Coutts believed the decision was “grossly unfair”.

    On Wednesday, however,  Oracle Team USA managed to redeem themselves in EPIC fashion. This year’s final race of the The America’s Cup is one that many people are describing as one of the most spectacular comebacks in sporting history.  It was indeed epic to the very end. The hope for many of the sport’s participants is that the excitement of Wednesday’s epic final will create greater interest and new fans.

     

    (video from youtube.com)

  • America’s Cup: Team Oracle Still Alive

    Eleven days ago, Oracle Team USA was losing to Emirates Team New Zealand by a score of 6-0. At that point, Oracle Team skipper Jimmy Spithill stated that New Zealand had “almost got it in the bag.” Spithill still had faith in his team, though: “Imagine if these guys lost from here, what an upset that would be. That would be one hell of a story, one hell of a comeback, and that’s what I’d like to be a part of.”

    Spithill is slowly seeing his wishes come true. Since being down 6-0, Oracle Team has won 6 of the last 8 races, with 5 wins in a row. Oracle Team now trails Emirates Team by a score of 8-6, with 9 victories needed to capture the Auld Mug. Two races are scheduled for Tuesday, and if Oracle Team can continue this momentum and win both, the match will be square.

    So how has Oracle Team changed their luck? It all started when Spithill, the skipper for the team, switched the boat’s tactician from San Francisco native John Kostecki to four-time British gold medalist Ben Ainslie. Ainslie, along with strategist Tom Slingsby (gold medalist last year from Australia), made the changes necessary for Oracle Team to start their amazing comeback.

    “They found their boat speed. They’re making fewer mistakes, and they’re winning the mental battle,” stated America’s Cup expert Jack Griffin. Oracle Team has found speed through the many changes they have made to their catamaran every night. Thus far, Oracle Team has made 15 changes, compared to 8 by Emirates Team. One of the most important changes Oracle Team made (besides replacing its tactician) was to remove their bow sprit – a pole at the front of the boat which holds a light sail. By doing this, the team hoped to decrease the weight of the boat and decrease drag. The move proved successful – Oracle Team USA is now sailing away from the Kiwis on the upwind leg of the race, the one leg that has been plaguing their efforts all competition.

    The momentum has been erased from Emirates Team’s sails: “Well it looked as though Team New Zealand had a sedative in their cornflakes at the start. They were just outwitted, outmanoeuvred. The acceleration from Oracle was there when they needed it,” stated yachting commentator Peter Montgomery. Despite the pessimistic outlook from the media and some fans, New Zealand skipper Dean Barker says that his team is not giving up: “It has been a rough road the last few days, but there is not one person on the team thinking of throwing in the towel.”

    Oracle Team may be down 8-6, but they have won the same amount of races as the Kiwis. Before the competition started, Oracle Team was assessed a 2-race penalty due to cheating allegations from a prior competition. While the race should officially be tied, Spithill is not going to make any excuses: ”We’re sailors. We’re athletes. We’re not about the politics and all of that sort of stuff. Life’s not fair sometimes. … We can win this Cup. They can take as many races as they want. But for us, we know we can win this Cup if we win the next few races. So we can control our own destiny there.”

    Spithill may not be a man of politics, but team owner Larry Ellison may be. If Oracle Team wins on Tuesday, Ellison may pursue a legal battle to have the penalty overturned and award the Cup victory to Oracle Team.

    Regardless the outcome, the longest America’s Cup in the 162 year race history has also been arguably the most dramatic and exciting.

    Image via Twitter

  • ‘The Billionaire And The Mechanic’ Author Julian Guthrie And Oracle Engineer Joseph Ozanne Talk At Google

    ‘The Billionaire And The Mechanic’ Author Julian Guthrie And Oracle Engineer Joseph Ozanne Talk At Google

    Journalist Julian Guthrie and Oracle engineer Joseph Ozanne recently participated in an At Google Talk discussing Guthrie’s book The Billionaire and the Mechanic: How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, The America’s Cup. Ozanne is the Chief engineer behind Oracle Team USA’s fixed-wing sail in 2010. Google has now made the discussion available online.

    More recent At Google talks here.

  • Whale Hits Boat: California Man Rescued After Bizarre Accident

    Whale hits boat, boat takes on water. Man is in the boat. Our man. Chances are, he’s going to need a bigger boat. All apologies to Steven Spielberg.

    That was an impossibly lame joke, I know, but it was the first thing that popped into my head upon reading about veteran sailor Max Young’s close encounter with a large whale. According to the Associated Press, Young, 67, was about 40 miles off the coast of Mexico when the incident took place. In addition to knocking out the sailboat’s steering, the collision also caused the boat to take on water. Young attempted to plug the hole by stuffing a mattress into the opening, though it was pretty clear that nothing was going to prevent the vessel from sinking.

    After alerting the Coast Guard to his perilous predicament, a merchant ship, which was about 60 miles from Young’s location, embarked on an impromptu rescue mission.

    “His EPIRB delivered an exact position to us, contact information that allowed us to quickly discern the sail plan of and number of persons on the vessel, and really took a lot of the search out of the search and rescue,” Coast Guard Lt. Charles Kelly explained.

    Fortunately for Young, the merchant ship arrived before the poor guy found himself submerged in the dangerous oceanic waters. His wife, Debra Young, told the Associated Press that she’s been able to speak with her husband since the accident. Presently, he isn’t expected to certain home to Sacramento until sometime next week.