US Falls To Long Odds For Keeping Cup
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Page 65 Planes Flying For Nina, 7 Man Crew Missing For 98 Days
Will the America's Cup remain in America? So far, the odds are not on the side of the United States. The U.S. Oracle Team is down 0-6. The New Zealand contender, Emirates Team, only needs three more wins to take the coveted America's Cup back to New Zealand!
When things are this lopsided, changes are in order. This morning, the Oracle Team changed tacticians. Four time Olympic Medalist Ben Ainslie took the place of past America's Cup champion John Kostecki. This represented a major change for the team representing the Red, White and Blue. Although this is a sailboat race, not a horse race, there is an old American expression, "It is bad to change horses in the middle of the stream." Unfortunately, changing tacticians did not pay off for Oracle Team.
“You’ve got to remember, changing personnel at a time like this has never worked in the past so we’ve got to be cautious about making a change like that,” Russell Coutts, Oracle CEO said. “We wouldn’t be thinking about it unless it had a really good chance at working.”
It is clear the high tech Kiwi boat is better upwind and in heavier winds. Today, the course was blowing 10 to 18 knots, which gave the New Zealand team a distinct advantage. Even so, the second race finished up neck to neck in an exhilarating sprint to the finish line.
“We still haven’t seen some conditions. Those guys have an edge upwind and tacking, but we still haven’t seen the light-air end of the spectrum and we haven’t seen the Code 0s,” said Oracle Team skipper Jimmy Spithill said. “We still have to look at the boat and what we can do to improve it. There’s a long way to go in my mind.”
In New Zealand the America's Cup is major news. It is on every channel and the subject of excited talk between many of the island nation's 4 million citizens. New Zealand is a nation with strong maritime traditions. It's people are proud of their heritage and that heritage includes sailing and racing.
Defender ORACLE TEAM USA and Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand are contesting the 34th Match for the America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay, Sept. 7-21, 2013.
Defender ORACLE TEAM USA and Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand are contesting the 34th Match for the America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay, Sept. 7-21, 2013.
The America’s Cup is named after the schooner America, which won a race around the Isle of Wight on August 22, 1851, against a fleet of British yachts. The America’s Cup is sailing’s pinnacle trophy and the oldest trophy in international sport, predating the modern Olympics by 45 years.
Four nations have won the America’s Cup in its 162-year history: the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. ORACLE TEAM USA won the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, in February 2010, and selected San Francisco.
NEWS OF THE MISSING YACHT NINA
On June 4th, 2013, the 1929 schooner, the Nina, went missing in the Tasman Sea. The Nina is a fabled boat that started winning races in her first year, 1928. She won the Fastnet race for the U.S. and many races afterwards.
The families have started a private search after New Zealand suspended the formal search. The non-profit organization, Texas Equusearch, (TES) is advising the families. TES has brought in high technology, including the use of satellite images from Digital Globe. The Longmont satellite image provider is serving those images on a crowd sourcing web site called Tomnod. The public is invited to see if they can find the missing yacht, the Nina, on one of those images. The person who finds the yacht will become famous!
You can see those images HERE.
Four nations have won the America’s Cup in its 162-year history: the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. ORACLE TEAM USA won the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, in February 2010, and selected San Francisco.
NEWS OF THE MISSING YACHT NINA
On June 4th, 2013, the 1929 schooner, the Nina, went missing in the Tasman Sea. The Nina is a fabled boat that started winning races in her first year, 1928. She won the Fastnet race for the U.S. and many races afterwards.
The families have started a private search after New Zealand suspended the formal search. The non-profit organization, Texas Equusearch, (TES) is advising the families. TES has brought in high technology, including the use of satellite images from Digital Globe. The Longmont satellite image provider is serving those images on a crowd sourcing web site called Tomnod. The public is invited to see if they can find the missing yacht, the Nina, on one of those images. The person who finds the yacht will become famous!
You can see those images HERE.
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