Cup Experience

Many America's Cup fans say this is their best source of information.

By

AC72 catamaran USA 17 with AC45s on San Francisco Bay

 

USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay

USA 17 trained on San Francisco Bay today giving us a chance to compare the AC72 with AC45’s.Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran on San Francisco Bay with AC45s from Team Korea and Ben Ainslie Racing USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay How fast is an AC72? Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran passes behind China Team on San Francisco Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay How big is an AC72? Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran passes behind China Team on San Francisco Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran passes China Team on San Francisco Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran on San Francisco Bay with Energy Team and Team New Zealand in their AC45’s USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran on San Francisco Bay with Team Korea and Angel Island in the background USA17-1 testing on SF Bay USA17-1 testing on SF Bay Oracle Racing’s AC72 catamaran with the AC45 from Prada / Luna Rossa, on San Francisco Bay

 

By

FREE: America’s Cup apps for iPhone and Android

Android app on Google Play

iPhone version  in the App Storehere.
Watch all the racing this week (October 2-7), including practice racing Tuesday and match racing on Wednesday.  The CupExperience app brings LiveLine data to your smartphone.  Fans can watch from shore and follow the race in real time.  Of course, it works in your living room, too – wherever you are during ACWS regattas.

Register (below) and get email tips & tricks to follow the racing.  We have the Tracker live for the San Francisco ACWS races, including match races. Coverage begins with the practice races on Tuesday October 2nd, and will continue through Sunday October 7th.

Windward gate traffic Windward gate traffic

 Register here…

… to receive my emails with tips & tricks to see the racing better.

Try out the real time race tracker.   Make suggestions for improvement in our forum. Get the Cup Experience real time AC Race Tracker for the iPhone and iPad. Don’t have a smartphone?  The newsletter will have info for you, too – like match race pairings, and the schedule of special events in San Francisco.

You will receive an email with instructions on getting the App and configuring it as soon as we receive your completed sign up form.

[contact-form-7 id=”4061″ title=”Beta Tester Sign Up”]

When LiveLine is transmitting data from San Francisco you will see it live in this window: (test, training, racing, whatever…) (Try pan and zoom!) No live data? Click here for screenshots

 

By

America’s Cup World Series Race Schedule – Oct 2-7, 2012 – San Francisco

Racing Schedule – America’s Cup World Series, San Francisco, Oct 3-7, 2012

See the Program, including Fleet Week and Blue Angels air show, for all five days here.

Wednesday October 3 – Match Racing Only:   Qualifiers – 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

This is a bit complicated. Eight teams fight for five places in the quarterfinals:
16:05 – 16:18 Q1  Team Korea vs Luna Rossa Piranha (winner to QF1)
16:20 – 16:33 Q2  China Team vs Energy Team (winner to QF2)
16:35 – 16:48 Q3  Artemis Red vs Emirates Team New Zealand  (winner to QF2)
16:50 – 17:03 Q4  Ben Ainslie Racing vs Luna Rossa Swordfish (winner to QF4)
17:05 – 17:18  Q5  Loser Q2 vs Loser Q1 (winner to Q7, loser 11th place)
17:20 – 17:33  Q6  Loser Q3 vs Loser Q4 (winner to Q7, loser 10th place)
17:48 – 18:01 Q7  Winner Q5 vs Winner Q6 (winner to QF3, loser 9th place)

Thursday October 4 – Match Racing 12:25 pm to 1:00 pm  |  Fleet Racing  5:10 pm to 6:15 pm

12:25 – 12:38 QF1 Winner Q1 vs Artemis Racing White – Hutchinson (seed 3)
12:42-12:55  QF2  Winner Q2 vs Winner Q1 

17:10 – 17:35  Fleet Race 1
17:50 – 18:15 Fleet Race 2 

Friday October 5 – Match Racing  and Fleet Racing, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm 

16:05 – 16:18 QF3  Winner Q7 vs Oracle Team USA 5 Coutts (seed 1)
16:22 –  16:35 QF4  Winner Q4 vs Oracle Team USA 4 Spithill (seed 2)

16:50 – 17:15 Fleet Race 3
17:30 – 17:55 Fleet Race 4

 

Saturday October 6 – Match Racing  and Fleet Racing, 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm

16:05 – 16:18 SF1  Winner QF1 vs Winner QF4
16:22 –  16:35 SF2  Winner QF2 vs Winner QF3

16:50 – 17:15 Fleet Race 5
17:30 – 17:55 Fleet Race 6

18:10 – 18:25 Match Race Finals

Sunday October 7 – Fleet Racing 1:45 pm to 2:30 pm

13:55 – 14:25  Fleet Race 7

Download the schedule published by ACEA here.

 

By

Understanding Penalties

 

“Ask Jack” has received a lot of questions about penalties…

How does a boat get a penalty?

And how do they offload the penalty?

Let me explain…

If a boat wants to protest another boat, the helmsman hits the yellow button on his display:

640w-Stowe-&-winch-m 640w-Stowe-&-winch-m

Helmsman’s display and yellow protest button

This turns on the red protest light on his boat and sends the protest to the umpire booth on land.

595x402-Light-red 595×402-Light-red

Red light means this boat is protesting another boat.

The umpires’ LiveLine workstation lets them judge whether to penalize one of the boats.  There is also an “on the water” umpire who gives additional info, (e.g. “Was the protested boat doing everything he could to keep clear?”), but the umpires in the booth make the call.  In this display, Spithill has gone inside Coutts when he had no rights to go there, and was penalized.

Spithill-penalties-MR-SF-Aug'12-08m Spithill-penalties-MR-SF-Aug’12-08m

Spithill must slow down enough to let the yellow penalty line catch up to his boat.

When a boat has a penalty, the blue light on the stern comes on, the helmsman’s display shows the penalty, and all helmsmen in the race see the Race Committee “Chatter” message announcing the penalty, on their display.

595x400-Light-blue 595×400-Light-blue

Blue light means this boat has a penalty

There are two more ways boats often get a penalty

If a boat is over the starting line early (OCS = On the Course Side of the starting line at the gun), it is penalized by the umpires.

If a boat goes outside the course limits, it is penalized by the umpires.  Here’s a screen shot from the CupExperience app, showing Jimmy Spithill outside the limits in the match race final during the America’s Cup World Series in San Francisco in August 2012.

Spithill-penalties-MR-SF-Aug'12-02m Spithill-penalties-MR-SF-Aug’12-02m

Spithill has gone outside the course limits and receives a penalty. (CupExperience App screengrab)

So, how do you offload the penalty?  “Slow and go.”

Go back to the screen shot from the umpire workstation.  See the yellow penalty line?  LiveLine calculates and draws that line two boat lengths behind the penalized boat.  The line moves forward at the boat’s normal speed for the existing wind. So the boat must slow down enough for the line “to catch up.”  Then the blue light is turned off and the helmsman knows he can speed up again. But…  if the boat takes more than 10 seconds to offload the penalty, the line slows down and the penalty grows!  That’s why the penalty line for Spithill in the diagram above is so far behind his boat.  The penalty line you see on that screen is the penalty he got for going past the course limit, and it grew because he did not slow down right away.  Once he gets rid of that penalty, he will immediately get another, for going inside with no rights!  I’ll explain all that in another article.

What do you think of this penalty system?  How well do you understand it?  Leave your comments and questions!

If you are a real rules nerd, and want to read the rule for yourself, you can download the RRS America’s Cup Edition here.

 

By

Updated Race Schedule – Oct 2-7, 2012 – San Francisco

 

See the detailed Race Schedule here. There is only match racing on Wednesday; only fleet racing on Sunday (one 30 minute race, broadcast live on NBC in the US).

America’s Cup Village is on Marina Green (SF Map)(Village Map)

TUESDAY OCTOBER 2

10:00America’s Cup Village on Marina Green opens
11:00  America’s Cup Morning Show (repeats at 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00)
16:00Practice Racing (until 18:00)
18:15  Meet the Skippers
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 3

10:00  America’s Cup Village opens
11:00  America’s Cup Morning Show (repeats at 13:00)
15:00  Team introductions / commentary
16:00 Match Racing Qualifiers  (matchups and detailed schedule here)
18:15  America’s Cup Dock-in Show
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

THURSDAY OCTOBER 4

10:00  America’s Cup Village opens
11:00  America’s Cup Morning Show
11:30  Pre-Race Fly-by of teams and introduction
12:20Match Race Quarterfinals (matchups and detailed schedule here)
13:00Blue Angels arrive and circle
15:00  Blue Angels practice air show16:45  Team introductions / commentary
17:10Fleet Racing (2 fleet races, at 17:10 and  17:50)
18:40  America’s Cup Dock-in Show
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

FRIDAY OCTOBER 5

10:00  America’s Cup Village opens
11:00  America’s Cup Morning Show
11:25Healthy Ocean Project Show12:30  Fleet Week air show practice (Blue Angels at 15:00)
16:00  Team introductions / commentary
16:00Match Race Quarterfinals  (until 16:35)
16:50Fleet Racing (2 fleet races, at 16:50 and 17:30)
18:15  America’s Cup Dock-in Show
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

SATURDAY OCTOBER 6

10:00  America’s Cup Village opens
11:00  Fleet Week Parade of Ships12:30  Fleet Week Air Show (Blue Angels at 15:00)
16:00  Team introductions / commentary
16:05Match Race Semifinals  (until 16:35)
16:50Fleet Racing (2 fleet races, at 16:50 and 17:30)
18:10Match Race Final(until 18:25)
18:45  America’s Cup Dock-in Show and Prizegiving (after racing)
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

SUNDAY OCTOBER 7

10:00  America’s Cup Village opens
11:00  America’s Cup Morning Show
12:10  Fleet Week Air Show
13:45  Team introductions / commentary
13:50  Super Sunday Fleet Race (1 fleet race, 30 minutes)
14:30  Fleet Week Air Show (Blue Angels at 15:00)
16:30  America’s Cup World Series Prizegiving (after racing)
19:00  America’s Cup Village closes

Match Racing:  Three teams are seeded into the quarterfinals:  Coutts, Spithill (both Oracle boats) and Hutchinson (Artemis White). The other eight teams fight for the remaining five quarterfinal slots in qualifying races on Wednesday. Two quarterfinals on Thursday, two on Friday. Both semi-finals and finals on Saturday.  All quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are one race, single elimination.  Note that on Saturday, the semifinals are before the two fleet races and the finals are after the fleet racing. See this in a clear graphic form at CupInfo.

Fleet Racing:  Two 25 minute races on each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday; one 30 minute race on Sunday.  Sunday’s race counts extra points.

640w-AC45-fleet-GGB 640w-AC45-fleet-GGB

America’s Cup World Series racing in San Francisco, Aug, 2012. More racing: Oct 4-7, 2012.