Cup Experience

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

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Land Rover BAR Base in Bermuda

Land Rover BAR has begun building their base at Dockyard. They have said they plan to launch their race boat on the earliest allowed date, 27 December 2016, 150 days before the first race on 26 May 2017.

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Land Rover BAR Two Boat Testing

I reported back in August that BAR had launched their fourth test boat but until now we didn’t have any photos of both their boats together. Leigh McMillan helms one of the test boats. In this video you can see different shape daggerboards being tested. Aside from the daggerboards, the only other visible difference in these photos and videos is that the Anabel’s nightclub logo has been painted on the rudders of only one of the boats. Anabel’s is one of the team’s sponsors.

Notice the outward curve of the daggerboard and the pronounced dihedral (upwards slope) of the daggerboard wing.

The starboard daggerboard has an outward curve and clear anhedral (downward sloping) daggerboard wing.

The boat on the left has an outward curving daggerboard. The boat on the right has a straight board. Both appear to have dihedral daggerboard wings.

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Why Did the Bracket Break?

Midway through the America’s Cup Match, Oracle changed the way they set up and trimmed the wing. They changed the twist profile, opening the wing more at the top while closing the leech at the quarter-span and half-span of the wing. They also opened the slot between the tab on the leading element and the flap segments of the trailing element. This reduced lee helm and allowed them to foil upwind. These changes increased the load on the wing winch by 170%, far above initial limits. This increased load might have added enough stress in the wing to break the bracket.

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Wing Breakage Almost Lost the Cup in 2013

Oracle wing technician Jeff Causey with glue gun 40 minutes before Race 19 of the 2013 America’s Cup. Click photo to watch video.

Less than an hour before the start of the deciding race, a bracket broke inside Oracle’s AC72 wing. Oracle and Team New Zealand were tied 8-8. This race would decide the 2013 America’s Cup. The breakage needed to be stabilized or else the control arm for the wing’s flap would be jammed and Oracle would be unable to race. This video shows what happened.

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About Those Bonus Points

There are still lots of questions about the bonus points… The winner of the America’s Cup World Series carries two bonus points into the round robin match racing “Qualifiers,” which begin 26 May in Bermuda. The runner up gets one bonus point. With six teams (remember that defender Oracle Team USA races in the Qualifiers), in this double round robin, a perfect score would be 10 points. The winner of the Qualifiers will start the America’s Cup Match with a one point lead. If Oracle wins the Qualifiers their opponent in the Match starts with a score of minus one (-1). If a challenger wins the Qualifiers and they make it through the “Challenger Playoffs to the Match, Oracle starts at minus one.

So, those bonus points could be very valuable. Remember, too, that the final AC World Series ranking will be used to break ties at the end of the Qualifiers. If two challengers are tied for fourth, the AC World Series results will determine which challenger is eliminated and which one goes on to the semi-finals of the challenger selection.

Series Leaderboard

Going into the final regatta in Fukuoka, Japan in November, Land Rover BAR has a comfortable lead to grab the two bonus points. Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand will be battling for the final bonus point.

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