America's Cup- Finn Drummond's view from the Tender

by Finn Drummond on 25 Feb 2010
Sail-World was out on the water each race day, off Valencia, along with young Finn Drummond, an outstanding sailor in his won right, whose father, Mike, was Design Director for BMW Oracle Racing.

Finn was very, very impressive in his technical knowledge (we're very glad he is in Yachting NZ's Youth/Olympic program and not someone else's) . Finn followed the whole race intently, and we trust was very proud of the way 'Dad's boat' went.

With programs like both BMW Oracle Racing and Alinghi have been running, it is very hard on the families who have to make some huge sacrifices, who without question, to allow their mums and dads, to do what they do.

Sail-World trusts the families all took a huge pride in the performance of their respective boats and that all the sacrifice was all worth it.

Not many people get to see their mum's/dad's designed boat competing in an America's Cup - particularly one involving two of the most technologically advanced yachts in history. Here's Finn Drummond's first hand perspective on the racing:

How I viewed the America’s Cup

I arrived in Valencia to watch the 33rd America’s Cup. After all the hype and speculation it was great to finally have a look at each of the boats up close. I got to have a walk round of Oracle and look up inside the wing which was incredible. Even after seeing countless photos you do not get an idea of the enormity of it all.

The first race was very exciting in the prestart in which Oracle made the most of a spectacular prestart entry to catch Alinghi unawares and give them a penalty. Alinghi also made a mess of the second start when they were not outside the start box with 5 minutes to go and they received another penalty which was great to watch. The prestart’s were very different to previous America’s Cups as these boats are not very maneuverable.

Both teams had moments where the maneuvering and handling of the boats could have been better. Oracle stalled out completely in the dial up in the first race and trailed Alinghi by around 2 min off the gun. The smooth control showed by Oracle on the upwind however was in stark contrast to Alinghi’s performance.

We followed both teams at stages up the course and and Alinghi was ‘S’ curving a lot upwind, with big changes in heel compared to Oracle’s consistent heel angle and heading. It was very interesting to see how such different boats compared to each other.

I am very privileged to have been able to see an event that could possibly be the last Deed of Gift match to be sailed. The best team defiantly won on the water and on the design. When I visited the Oracle compound it was fantastic to see the team unity and functionality of the entire project. It is a huge credit to them that they have managed to win the cup in the face of all the problems put forward to them by Alinghi.

It is also interesting to note that in this Cup it was the first time a challenger has won a one on one match. The fastest boats for course racing ever were built were also used. If we had seen a boat like Alinghis before the Cup we would have been blown away by it’s performance, however up against Oracle it simply was not as good.

It was a great experience seeing these boats in action and I hope I can see some multis at the next Cup. As one friend put it you sail multis at 10 degrees of heel at 30knots, or the old keelers at 30 degrees of heel at 10 knots!