America's Cup Time, aka Foiling Monohull Fun

And so it begins...

But first, they need to decide who the challenger will be. The round robin races started a couple of days ago. Yesterday -- Day 3 -- the US boat had a pretty spectacular crash. Too bad -- they were leading, too. It will be interesting to see just what let go to punch a clean rectangular hole into the bottom of the hull. Take lots of notes on flotation aides.

Here's a link to the America's Cup website...https://www.americascup.com/

It looks like the next race is going to be on Thursday at around 9 p.m. If you want to stay up late enough, I think that you can watch it live on YouTube. Or watch the re-runs over morning coffee.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo15ZYO_XDRU9LI30OPtxAg

Update: Before the news conference, there speculation that something had gotten loose, punched the hole on impact, and ended up at the bottom of the bay. That's NOT what happened -- it was a structural failure, and they'll fix it right back up. Good videos of the whole episode on the AC YouTube site.

Centerboards and Flotation

My article on replacing the rusted-out centerboard in Blue Knot, my Potter 15, is published in Small Craft Advisor, Jan/Feb 2021, No. 127. 

If you find yourself in the same situation and need a replacement stainless steel board, send me an e-mail.

In the same issue of SCA, Mark Downing mentions the usefulness of flotation bladders in his article, "The Importance of Capsize Testing."