America's Cup - The wind continues to blow on the Bay

by America's Cup on 20 Sep 2013 America's Cup, San Francisco, California.

Update: 1255 hours

The wind on the racecourse continues to blow around 14 to 16 knots and has backed to a direction of 235-240 degrees.

Update: 1215 hours

At one hour before the start of Race 12, the wind on the racecourse is blowing 14-16 knots from 255-260 degrees. Race 12 is scheduled to start at 1315.

Update: 1115 hours

The weather conditions today seem to be shaping up very similar to yesterday – light to moderate winds for the first race followed by stronger winds for the second. The question remains as to how strong it will build. Some models show it topping out around 18 knots while others have it bouncing off the 20.3-knot limit for the second race.

'It’s very similar to yesterday. The thing that is different is that we’re starting to head to flood tides,' said Regatta Director Iain Murray. 'The tidal correction factor is only -.8 in the first race, but in the second it’s back up to -2.7. So we’ll rattle on with the wind limits of 22.2 knots and 20.3 knots for the two races on the designated starting times.'

Oracle Team USA has port entry for the pre-start in both of today’s races. Race 12 is scheduled to start at 1315 and Race 13, if necessary, at 1415.

Emirates Team New Zealand leads the match 8-1 on the scoreboard (8-3 in race wins) and needs just one more victory to close out the match and win the America’s Cup for the third time (1995, 2000). Oracle Team USA needs to win eight consecutive races to retain the trophy it won in 2010.

Update: 0825 hours

Oracle Team USA Crew List
Skipper: Jimmy Spithill (9), Tactician: Ben Ainslie (12), Strategist: Tom Slingsby (10), Wing trimmer: Kyle Langford (8), Jib trimmer: Joe Newton (5), Off-side trimmer: Rome Kirby (4), Grinders: Shannon Falcone (1), Joe Spooner (2), Jono MacBeth (3), Gillo Nobili (6), Simeon Tienpont (7)

Emirates Team New Zealand Crew List
Skipper/helmsman: Dean Barker (14), Tactician: Ray Davies (10), Wing Trimmer: Glenn Ashby (3), Trimmer: James Dagg (9), Bow: Adam Beashel (2), Pit: Jeremy Lomas (8), Pedestal 1: Chris Ward (7), Pedestal 2: Rob Waddell (11), Pedestal 3: Grant Dalton (6), Pedestal 4: Chris McAsey (5), Float/Grinder: Derek Saward (12)

Today in America’s Cup history

Three instances on September 19 are noted, in particular the 'lights protest':

1964, Race 3, Sovereign vs. Constellation – Constellation wins by 6:33.

1980, Race 2, Australia vs. Freedom – Australia wins by 28 seconds after sunset, the first win by a challenger since Gretel II’s 1:02 win 10 years earlier in 1970. Dennis Conner, skipper of Freedom, protested Australia for failing to rig lights after sunset as required by the rules and by the International Collision Regulations. The Australians had attempted to do so, but their lights were not working and in the rush to rig them port and starboard were interchanged. With Australia at risk of being stripped of its win, another major America’s Cup protest incident began to brew. The Freedom team was split as to whether the protest should be pursued or not, the older members generally being against it, the younger insisting. The New York Yacht Club Committee was similarly divided. The International Jury refused to allow Freedom to withdraw the protest after it had been filed, but the Jury dismissed it due to a typographical error, and a controversy was avoided.

1989 – New York Supreme Court First Division overturned an earlier New York Supreme Court decision awarding the America’s Cup to the Mercury Bay Boating Club for defending in a multihull yacht against a monohull yacht of the challenger, and restored victory to the San Diego Yacht Cup. Mercury Bay later unsuccessfully appealed to the New York Court of Appeals the highest court having jurisdiction over the 1887 Deed of Gift.

Original Post: 0700 hours

Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA return to the racecourse today for Races 12 and 13 of the 34th America’s Cup. If the Kiwis can win either race, the series will end with the tiny island nation in the South Pacific the new America’s Cup champions.

Emirates Team New Zealand enters the day leading the series 8-1 and needs just one more victory to hoist the Auld Mug for the third time (1995, 2000). Oracle Team USA needs to win eight consecutive races to stave off the Kiwis’ charge and retain the trophy it won in 2010.

Rival skippers Dean Barker and Jimmy Spithill have wheeled around their AC72s like singlehanded dinghies in the pre-start. Each has spoken of the closeness of the boats despite the different design approaches. Races 4 (Oracle Team USA by eight seconds), 10 (Emirates Team New Zealand by 16 seconds) and 11 (Kiwis by 15 seconds) all rank in the top-10 closest races in America’s Cup Match history. The Kiwis have won two of those three, which has enabled them to open a nearly insurmountable lead.

'It’s hard to believe that the match would’ve been this close between two teams with different design concepts,' said Barker. 'Both teams have reacted very well to what they’ve observed of the other team, and the boats have come together in terms of performance and strengths and weaknesses. It’s quite unbelievable that the two boats are so close in performance across a wide range f conditions.'

Race 12 is scheduled to start at 1:15 pm PT, followed by Race 13 (if necessary) at 2:15 pm PT. The wind is forecast to be similar to today, light to moderate for the first race and building for the second Americas Cup