America's Cup Race 8: USA Beats NZL
Photos
On the upwind leg, ETNZ leading by about 50m tried to tack in front of Oracle
Team USA approaching on starboard tack with the right of way. ETNZ's wing
wasn't eased and they heeled heavily to port as they went through the tack, not
aided by the windage of the platform. They were able to ease the wing in
time to prevent a capsize, but Oracle had to tack away to avoid them. ETNZ
was penalized in the incident. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Gilles
Martin-Raget
Telemetry data show that ETNZ was above 20 degrees of heel for ten seconds,
holding a peak angle of 44.8 degrees for over 1 second before settling back down
on both hulls. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Balazs Guardi
Photo:©2013 ACEA/Balazs Guardi
Oracle Team USA had to do a crash tack to avoid collision. The hard-surfaces of
TNZ's trampoline below the wing are meant to make the wing more efficient in an
end-plate effect, sustaining a difference of air pressures between both sides of
the wing. But when the cat is heeled at such an extreme angle, the
end-plate also presents a large surface area to the wind, potentially catching
the breeze and making it harder to avoid a capsize. ETNZ came very close
to losing it in this incident. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Abner Kingman
After the penalty, a 200m lead into the upwind gate quickly turned into a 750m
gap on the final downwind leg. Oracle Team USA won by 52 seconds at the
finish line. Photo:©2013 ACEA/Abner Kingman
Also:
See more Day 8 Photos from
Chris Cameron
Links of Interest:
See CupInfo's America's Cup 2013 Main
Page