Thursday, September 26, 2013

Tactics, Not Speed Won the America's Cup

Jesse Fradkin reports:

Many if not most of the pundits are proclaiming that Oracle's superior boat speed won this race and the series. Here's the data from the final race. Oracle's average boat speed is exactly, I repeat exactly the same as ETNZ's. ETNZ's top speed was faster. The race was won by tactics.

It is no coincidence that the change of tactician to the 5 time Olympic Gold Medal winner Sir Ben Ainslie about faced Oracle's racing from losing to winning. His leadership, expertise, decisions and determination greatly helped to shape the turn of the tide in Oracle's complete favor. 


Update: BUT Jerome Tauber argues that Oracle was pointing higher, thus sailing a shorter course.  And that makes it the faster boat!

Race 19 Performance Data
Course: 5 Legs/10.07 nautical miles
Elapsed Time: OTUSA – 23:24, ETNZ – 24:08
Delta: OTUSA +:44
Total distance sailed: OTUSA – 11.9 NM, ETNZ – 12.2 NM

Average Speed: OTUSA – 30.55 knots (35 mph), ETNZ – 30.55 knots (35 mph)
Top Speed: OTUSA – 44.33 knots (51 mph), ETNZ – 45.72 knots (53 mph)

Windspeed: Average – 18.2 knots, Peak – 21.3 knots
Number of Tacks/Jibes: OTUSA – 9/7, ETNZ – 9/7

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tactics, fearless helming, perfect trim, & inspired incredible crew work certainly all contributed. Listening to Ainslie plan tactics during the pre-start and then exhorting the crew during this historic win, as well as looking back at the upward climb from a dismal first half, still have me convinced Ainslie was the x- factor, along with the constant late refining work on the boat to become competitive in speed to match ETNZ's early dominance. I think it remains in some great way the choice of when to tack, and the side of the course to sail
which added to the shorter distance sailed. You cannot discount the feverish undying determination added by a positive thinking crew led by "new blood."

Anonymous said...

Tactics, fearless helming, perfect trim, & inspired incredible crew work certainly all contributed. Listening to Ainslie plan tactics during the pre-start and then exhorting the crew during this historic win, as well as looking back at the upward climb from a dismal first half, still have me convinced Ainslie was the x- factor, along with the constant late refining work on the boat to become competitive in speed to match ETNZ's early dominance. I think it remains in some great way the choice of when to tack, and the side of the course to sail
which added to the shorter distance sailed. You cannot discount the feverish undying determination added by a positive thinking crew led by "new blood."