Look at the news this morning I came across some pictures of the current America's Cup contenders. Very impressive bits of technology. These sail boats are capable of going over 30 kts.
S

i didnt realize those boats were that big.... that is really cool stuff
thanks!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8526w_phase-de-depart-a-le...

Very interesting read. Imagine what our kites and buggies would evolve to with some rich geeks throwing millions into r&d.

fascinating indeed! I 've seen BOC boats in CHAS . and they are def big. the ultra racers are truly at the limits. amazingly tall.

i recall a kite designer talking about the technology to make amazing sails.truly hi tech.

the 2 limiting factors :

transport ...has to be able to fit into a car and survive be handled

$ ... the market is quite narrow if the rig was $50,000 and may only survive one run.

i remember him admitting the materials and knowledge is already available.

the parts i like seeing a shelf kite, a shelf board and 50knots on the water for a few thousand $. while on holiday!

All that technology but they will not allow kites to be used.

This year they are allowing a tri-hull in the race. I preffer the tri-hull but it is an unfair advantage as they are known to be the fastest sail boats on earth. And hold all the around the world records for speed and times.

Will it be fully televised?

It has the potential of being more spectacular than any NASCAR crackup!

"Made almost entirely of carbon fiber, the enormous multihulls -- are about as delicate as a house of cards....If a big enough element were to break, the whole thing could fall apart. That could be disastrous, considering that the boats, with masts that tower a couple of hundred feet above the water, are capable of speeds of 30 knots, about 35 miles per hour, or more..."

Wasn't it Red Fischer who compared watching yacht racing to watching paint dry? Please do not take offense I was foredeck hand in a Soling crew and the same on big boats. I loved racing, but it is not a spectator sport - crack ups are rare.
S

This is some awesome stuff, I'm a huge sailing fan, I would kill to get on a boat like that :singing:

The mono-hulls I used to crew on might do 7 kts. A little Hobey cat might get close to 20. 30kts would be an incredible rush.
S

IIRC the host nation gets the right to chose the type of boats that get raced ...
There have been plenty of boats breaking and sinking in the past too; IIRC again in Australia, one of the boats went down so quick people barely had time to jump off

Otherwise, when it's close racing it's pretty exciting - specially if you have an interest in yachting. Depends on how they televise it, I guess