Americas Cup

[gjm]

OK, so the Kiwis didn't exactly have much opposition with the Italians electing to protest by not racing, but the Kiwis were knocking out over 36 knots on the course earlier. 36. Doesn't sound like much, but the wind wasn't blowing over 40mph!

36 knots ~= 41mph

That's very, very fast! In a yacht? Good grief!

And the tightness of the turns is something else.

Stunning seamanship. Uncontested, of course, but worthy nonetheless.

 

[pure sound]

I went and watched some of this a year or two back when the circus came to Plymouth. I was shocked by the speed & acceleration of some of these catamarans. It was surprisingly exciting racing with plenty of capsizes etc as they pushed the machinery to the limits. I think we had 40-50 knot winds for a couple of days too so the boats were reaching similar speeds at times.