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Scuttlebutt:Overview of Acts 10 and 11
Peter Isler submits this report to Scuttlebutt, providing his insight on the events surrounding the build up toward the 2007 America's Cup. Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget.
(Monday, May 22, 2006) Nothing is better than real racing to put the crews under pressure and on a very steep learning curve. All the teams will have benefited from these Acts. There is no doubt that the Acts help us accelerate the learning process. True, it puts cards on the table that would not have been revealed at this stage in previous campaigns, but in BMW Oracle Racing we felt that the gains outweighed the losses. The other teams were able to check in on our new boat, so we gave away a little, but we learned far more.
Isler provides prospective as BOR navigator |
It is interesting to note how much all the teams - even those with older generation boats, with the possible exception of China Team - have raised their game. We are seeing a high level of competition through the fleet and the performance deltas have shrunk dramatically, especially in the light and moderate winds we've experienced this year (not much sign of the fabled 15+ knot Valenciano sea breeze yet). This suggests we are probably nearing the point of very low further returns from the current America's Cup class after five generations in the Cup.
During the first couple of Cup campaigns, the difference between the "fast" boats and the fleet average was over 2 minutes around the race track. Those days are over, even between teams racing new boats against the previous generation. The performance of Alinghi in these Acts continues to highlight how good that team is, and how good SUI 75 is. Hopefully their new boat (which should soon be sailing) is not any faster! - Peter Isler, Navigator, BMW Oracle Racing Team
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