Basejumper.com - archive

Day one today...

I love to watch the 72s fly. I wish I was in the bay to watch this live, but in comparison to the tickets I can afford, the tv is a much better grandstand for now. Any predictions? I was in the Bay earlier this spring visiting my buddy (who might chime in) and these boats are beyond real when seeing them in person! Can't bring myself to cheer for the oracle crew though. They can suck a coxswain.

plus the RedBull AirForce are jumping into SF bay for teh races.
Glad TNZ are racing great. Hope they bring the Cup back to civilization.

Oracle will win it, but I will hope for strong winds to inflate the Artemis sails. I would like to see the Swedes sail straight for a change.

Oracle are 4 points behind after 2 races, will be hard to win for them as they still need 11 wins, and TNZ 7.
I am pretty sure the Artemis sail will remain uninflated today as they are most probably secured in some shed/hangar/container (unless they continue sailing besides the official races)

After four races:

NZL 3
USA -1

No predictions from me...I'd hate to jinx the Kiwis.

The winner is the first to 9 points.

so we were out on the water for day 2 today. unfortunately, because i was working, i didnt have much of a chance to spectate the races because we had about 140 "guests" onboard our ship and i was running around helping the cooks and troubleshooting electrical water pump problems as well.....i definitely got some sneak peaks out there and it was pretty fuckin cool seeing the boats though.......... on one hand, im praying that new zealand spanks the shit out of USA because that means that we wont have to spend the next 3 weeks out in the bay working weekends, but on the other, MERICA' muthufucka!

we have tomorrow off and will be out on the water again on tuesday and thursday and definitely the next 2 weekends depending on who wins the next few races. ill make sure to spend some time on the weatherdecks and snap some cool photos for you guys if you want me to................

and yes, the sheer size of these things are amazing. i had no idea. the damn masts are seemingly 80-100+ feet tall. hayes you should have hit me up, i could have had you and your family onboard to come on the water with us!

Awesome photos. I love number 2.

Yes please, more would be great!

BTW, I heard the masts were around 120'. They definitely *look* jumpable...don't they?



Edit: according to Wikipedia the mast heights are 131.2 ft.

When we came down to visit this last spring we spent a fair amount of time watching them practice. It was just from the wharf but still super impressive. Watching them from float would have been great! Tickets were so ridiculously priced there was no way I could have came down and seen a race without a hook up, especially from the water!

One race today. The 'Mericans used their one (and only) postponement card after the first race. Too windy??
Bring back Dennis Connor!

Current points:
Kiwis: 4
USA: -1

The Māori got this one in the bag. Some good racing though. The NZ team seems to jibe better and pull ahead downwind on every race.

yeah they used their postponement card, which pissed me off royally. i was hoping for new zealand to bag this shit and finish up before this weekend so i could go to this little norcal speedfly camp, but NOOOOOOO. i gotta fuckin work all weekend, poor me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After today:

NZL: 6
USA: -1

Go the flying Kiwis!

ETNZ should sell them their Postponement/Time-Out card so OTUSA can regroup a bit closer

Haha...good idea.

Exciting racing today. NZL won the first start by a "country mile", then very nearly capsized. Result: They lost the first race. The second race was abandoned after the winds got up too much. It's all on. Two more races tomorrow, hopefully.

Score:
NZL 6
USA 0

Sorry Transient, will you be there 'til Wednesday (at least)? Enjoy the fun if you are.

great job by Oracle on their boat, clearly performing much better, specially upwind.
great sailing, aggressive starts, just WAW

and ETNZ's try at freestyling was massive

doooooooood!!!
it diminished my spirit inside when i heard them call the race due to winds. not because i dont want to work, but because all these FUCKING people on our boat.

stupid kids running all over the place, doing dangerous shit, and people annoying the crew.

the highlight of the day, one of my shipmates invited two of his lady friends. they showed up at about 955, a few minutes before we were set to get underway. one of the girls was fuckin WASTED, i think they went to a champange brunch. anyways, this bitch was stumbling all over the place, and finally during the guest safety brief, she faceplanted right onto our buoy deck and busted her chin open.
at that point our captain told the girls to leave. which upset me, because i would have been more than happy to let her "sleep it off" in our sleeping quarters....... =)

Ha! I bet you would have...

Exciting racing today. Oracle Team USA have got about 14 clever boat-builders from somewhere ??, worked on their boat overnight and found some speed. Now they are match racing!

One each today. Scores:

NZL 7
USA 1

Day off tomorrow, then racing every day...YAY!

After today:

NZL: 8
USA: 1

First to 9 wins.

Only one race today. The called the second race off when the wind speed reached 20 knots. Unbelievable...

After today:

NZL: 8
USA: 2

Sorry Transient, if you're still there, strap in and and enjoy. There might be a few matchpoints to come yet.

UHHHHHHH.

i like the races, but the annoyance of these people onboard our ship is just killing me. that and my weekends are when i go let loose and do my thing, which sometimes involves ladyboys/trannies/mares/swine, and usually a shitton of opiates.

but well see. tomorrow if NZ cranks one out, its all over and done.

and do they call the race as SOON as the winds reach 20, or does it have to sustain for a certain amount of time? any idea?

The wind speed limit is 24 knots, but that would be with NO tidal flow. They subtract the tidal flow speed from the wind speed and that is the limit for that particular race. If the wind reaches that set limit, even for a second, the clock starts again, counting down down to the start for something like 15 (maybe 20?, I'm not sure) minutes.

If the wind speed increases to the maximum during the race over a minute average, the officials call it off.

The wind speed limit used to be 33 knots before the Swedish boat Artemis capsized and a crew member died. Then they brought it down. Dangerous sport, yachting.

Jimmy Spithill (Australian skipper of Oracle Team USA) wants to increase the limit because they are going really, really well upwind, thrashing the Kiwis. At the start of this series, when Oracle was very slow upwind they wanted to bring the limit down to 20 knots. NZL wanted 25.

To increase the limit, both teams have to agree (won't happen) then the Coastguard have to agree. I've heard Coastguard and the Race Director won't even consider it.

Sorry about the annoying peeps on your boat. Hope you get your weekends back, soon. Hope the Kiwis win, soon. Ha!

I feel for you, Transient. It's *excruciating*.

First race today: Called off due to the boats going too slow and exceeding the time limit.

Second race: The Kiwis won the start, then made too many errors. USA winning by a minute and a half-ish. Humph.

NZL: 8
USA: 3

Very impressed by oracle's slow speed foiling gybes.
Would have preferred ETNZ to win, but still...

Racing abandoned today, due WX. Damn!

Damn!

NZL: 8
USA: 5

Sorry Transient, looks like you might have to put up with annoying people on your boat for a little while longer...

come on, one of the 2 races today MUST go to ETNZ

Damn again...No!

Light winds, meant only one race again.

And...we lost again.

NZL: 8
USA: 6

Tomorrow?

HAS to be rigged! this is outrageous

you're still working tomorrow
Well honestly I would have preferred it to be wrapped up days ago by ETNZ, but the races are really good, and Oracle does also deserve the wins

All tied up sucka. Yo man, can you get me a jersey? They were giving them out this morning. I'll pay you for your troubles with beer when you come up next month.

i dont know if i can get one but ill try to work some magic, luckily last saturday was our last day of playing host, so its been nice to get back into the normal work grind!

...and sex, drugs, rock 'n roll!

Damn again! Actually, I reckon Oracle Team USA deserves to win the cup. Their yacht is faster in almost all wind strengths and their teamwork is great.

My hat's off to them.



Results:

USA: 8
NZL: 8

Both teams are on match point.

Ahem....

'Merica!

Ha! CONGRATULATIONS, Oracle Team USA. That is one of the best comebacks of ALL TIME! Well done.

Still in a bit of disbelief. That was just fucking nuts.

 

They sure did. It looked like they had a Boeing 747 on the water.

both teams deserved to win. Oracle a bit more. Their progression was just out of this world.
Sailing team was very good, but shore + design teams were martians

Isn't it weird how good at sailing martians are? I mean, they don't even have oceans on Mars!!!!!

New Zealanders around the world are celebrating today.

Go Kiwis!

Congratulations!

anyone have any info on the stationary bikes the "grinders" are using????

Thanks Colm.

Kleggo, I've asked and I'll PM you if I can find any info.

They looked really funny when we first saw them, cycling on the water. All the four cyclists were in unison with their legs pumping up and down, on a boat!

Later they changed it so they were out of synch, I guess to even out the vibrations.