See full version: Ben Ainslie: America’s Cup grinders don’t just wind handles
Once across the boat, I take the new wheel and resume control of direction and board rake. This releases the trimmer, who is the last to cross. The four guys at the front grind like crazy to restore the hydraulic power we’ve used in the turn, ready for the next adjustment. [links]
The rest of the crew join in when we come to the corners. The challenge is to transfer the momentum of the boat from one foil to the other at full speed, while turning through 70 or 80 degrees — a bit like a skier turning a corner. When we are locked in and going straight the weight is on the two uphill edges, which gives us some sense of security. The tricky part in the turn is to transfer the weight on to the new edges at speed.
When it comes to a tack or gybe, six guys are needed to co-ordinate the process. In a gybe, the wing trimmer moves first and starts to cross the boat. I begin the turn as the wing trimmer arrives on the new side and takes the new sheet. The trimmer then has to drop the new board and it’s crucial that it touches down at the right angle to provide the right amount of lift without destabilising the boat’s motion.
But we have to work as a team to achieve this. The wing trimmer needs to adjust the wing to keep the boat supplied with the right amount of power to keep us flying — and we need to be in constant communication to get this right. here
In a tack, the challenge is multiplied by the need to maintain enough speed to keep foiling as the boat is turned into the wind and motive force is lost — pulling this off is as difficult as it is to achieve a reach-to-reach gybe in 25 knots in the old America’s Cup monohulls. here
But it’s the physical demands of winding on the handles that now puts these sailors into the same league as world-class endurance athletes and news stories about foiling tacks have shown how critical technique is throughout the crew. more
The 12-meter rule, which was devised in 1906, is very strange. Ben Lexcen didn't miraculously discover a principle of hydrodynamics that suddenly would make boats go faster. What he discovered was a quirk within the rule that made a boat of a certain design—one with wings on the keel and a particular waterline and a large sail area and all that—work. It was a miraculous discovery, all right, but only within the confines of that very restrictive rule. more
However, I digress. I have blamed the New York Yacht Club, and I have blamed Dennis Conner. Now it's time to examine the failures of the Defender/Courageous syndicate and my own part in those failures. more
I'm not happy that the Australians won the America's Cup, but I think it's nothing but good for the event that they did. I think the Australians, being great sportsmen, will make the Cup a lot more competitive, a lot more fun. And a lot more fair. They've yelled for so many years about the N.Y.Y.C. and how screwed up the America's Cup is, I hope they remember what happened and don't do the same thing. They'll take it very seriously, but they won't put winning it ahead of making it competitive. I think that's what the N.Y.Y.C. did, and it was unhealthy for sailing. here
It's a problem unique to sailboat racing. If you wanted to develop a faster miler or a faster race car, you'd go out on a track and time them. If the runner did a 3:54 mile or the car hit 200 mph at Indianapolis, you'd know they had possibilities, and you'd go to work. But there are almost no absolutes in sailing. You can't tell by looking at an instrument whether the boat is actually performing or not, because conditions change so radically that absolute data become meaningless. The sea comes from different directions, and" the wind changes in direction, velocity and angle in relation to the water. So all you can do is take another boat, put it alongside in the same conditions with identical sails and with the best people you can find in the crew, and then compare the two. It's very complicated, expensive and time-consuming, but there's no other way. Now, the thing about the America's Cup is that the syndicates go out and work by themselves. That's the reason we never knew how good Australia II was. Even the Australians didn't know what they had, because Australia II did a lot of her early testing by herself, with instruments or something. Even after they'd had a short series of races with another Australian boat, Challenge 12, they couldn't tell for sure. more
And what that does mean is a big disconnect from the environment you’re sailing in so you heavily rely on the data stream coming into your display to see what state of play the boat is in for sail trim, energy, positions of appendages. So, it’s a funny day out when you sail these boats. here
The Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli here
Can anything really prepare you for flying a 75ft monohull? No, not in the slightest. I feel that I come from a privileged position, having sailed the old IACC classes, and I’ve gone through this change in the Cup over the last ten years moving into foiling cats.
Freddie Carr and the rest of the squad put in long hours in the gym: he can do up to 15 hours a week on the static grinder. Photo: Team INEOS UK / Harry KH
When trying to avoid issues with tires, drivers usually put their efforts to maintaining the rubber. However, the roots of the problems may lie in the vehicle, and failure to notice that may cause serious consequences. Some tire blowouts are caused by neglected tire scalloping, which is in turn caused by neglecting suspension, shocks, struts, etc.
If tire imbalance is the only reason for tire cupping in your case, go to a tire shop to get your tires balanced. A technician will put small weights opposite the stiffer spots, diagnosing the tires beforehand. It will cost you $10-$15 per wheel if there are no other issues. You can find most of the trusted tire shops here.
You can identify the issue and its possible reasons by: more
By detecting and fixing the issue in time, you save your tires and suspension, improving comfort and safety. here
Runout is a term that means not a perfectly round shape of a tire, wheel, or rim. There are two types:
Cheap tires of poor quality or fake tires will most probably cup with any minor vibration or bounce. They are thinner and the rubber compounds in them are not as temperature- and stress-resistant. Such tires may be heavily imbalanced or runout, and they will age and crack much earlier. more