America's Cup - Splash and Crash on Day 1 of Practice Session 5
by Richard Gladwell and MyislandhomeBDA on 16 May 2017
Oracle Team USA - Practice Session 5, Day 1 - May 15, 2017, Great Sound Bermuda ACEA / Ricardo Pinto
http://photo.americascup.com/
Practice racing got underway in the final long session ahead of the start of the America's Cup Qualifiers, next week.
As with the previous sessions the full fleet did not participate - with Artemis Racing (SWE) electing to trial some new developments and Emirates Team New Zealand smashing a rudder before racing could get underway.
After replacing the appendage the team elected to train alone.
Fresh conditions prevailed for the racing - which are not expected for the America's Cup regatta, when lighter winds are expected.
While lighter winds are expected for the remaining four days of the Practice Session, they are expected to still be in the 10-12 kt range, with some of the feeds produced by www.predictwind.com!Predictwind being lighter. Today is expected to have been the freshest day of the five day session.
The Practice Session was notable for some spectacular splashdowns by Emirates Team New Zealand and Groupama Team France. The Kiwi nosedive was triggered by the structural failure of an old rudder when sailing at high speed. If nothing else the incident proved to the skeptics that the cyclors grinding on their bike pedestals were not easily displaced and remained in position during the incident.
There was no apparent reason for the French water-show - it being similar to an earlier incident when the hydrofoils appeared to cavitate and lose their grip on the water.
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Practice Session 5, Day 1 - Part 1 - May 15, 2017 :
Practice Session 5, Day 1 - Part 2 - ETNZ - May 15, 2017 :
Practice Session 5, Day 1 - Part 3 - Groupama - May 15, 2017 :
Practice Session 5, Day 1 - Part 4 - May 15, 2017 :
Practice Session 5, Day 1 - Part 5 - May 15, 2017 :
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