Watched a great "Australian story" on Monday night about the Americas cup. Had me thinking if the wing keel was really so great and why are modern racing yachts not sailing with them ,more leading towards bulbs and cantering keels..... Perhaps it was just the thought of having a new shaped keel that drove the crew to win rather than the winged keel?
There were a rash of winged keels on production yachts after 1983. The downside was the winged keel while reducing draft lead to maintenance problems for those people using slipways instead of travel lifts. They also stuck to the bottom in areas where yachts have to dry out occasionally. The winged keel on "Australia" was really an upside down keel with wings. Most of the ballast was much lower than a conventional keel. The production winged keels were more like normal keels with wings added, they were shallower but had more surface area than a normal fin keel.
Excellent TV programme, must ensure to catch the second half.
As with most things in sailing it was a combination of things that won the cup, from what I have read.
Aust 2 had better sails, rig, was sailed better in the shifts and down wind. She was faster in the lighter breeze, flat water and certainly was more maneuverable, but not faster when in choppy conditions, reaching or when not tuned just right. The crew did more hours in her too I would have thought than Liberty's which was Connors third boat in an attempt to make a faster one than Freedom.
The keel though soaked up all the defenders thoughts and energy....sure did drive them mad and the scenes of them trying to build wings on Freedom was comical...... even they must have known it was stupid.
I remember staying up all night, even when Aust 2 was 50 odd seconds behind and my olds went to bed, and then went off to school after Bondy revealed the keel.
I was already sailing then (12 years old) and was bemused to watch people start wearing deck shoes and Canterbury jumpers and how knowledgeable the local Perth media became all of a sudden.
Even now I think the real story of how close Liberty and Australia 2 was in speed isn't appreciated.
I didn't see the doco, but my dad always said A2 could tack faster, so once they got into a tacking duel they had an edge..... i can't see that happening much this year
If you get the chance, read John Bertrands book Born to Win. Interesting book, he puts the win down to good sail, teamwork and psyching the Americans out, but in his opinion team work was the most important thing.
It was indeed a very interesting program and I am looking forward to the second half. From what I have read to date the difference between the two boats was swings and roundabouts really. In some aspects AII was the faster boat whilst in others Liberty had an edge. From a biased Aussie perspective the difference was made through superior sail design that saw the sails for AII regularly recut following photographic analysis of the days sailing throughout the campaign and a commitment to excellence and never giving up. Even when the Aussies were down 3 to 1 John Bertrand in a press conference, cool as a cucumber, when asked how he was feeling about their chances given the score replied something along the lines of 'nothing has changed when we started we had 4 races to win, nothing has changed'.
Unfortunately for me however the A Cup has lost much of it's appeal with the professional sailors from all points on the globe sailing for corporate teams and whoever will pay them. The challenge by a crew representing their country of birth has long gone. At least they have made them all sail the same boats. But that is progress I guess.
