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Changing mode, switching bows |
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Alinghi was beaten only twice in the Louis Vuitton Cup round-robins, losing to OneWorld in RR1 and OracleBMW in RR2, before declining to race Prada in their final RR2 pairing. By the end of Round Robin 2 Alinghi led the regatta and it was clear she was often sailing higher and faster than her opponents. After dispatching OracleBMW's USA-76 in the LVC final, most of the dock talk centered on conjecture that Alinghi might attach an after-body appendage to match their America's Cup adversary Team New Zealand. Those hula-watching pundits were wrong as it turned out, watching the wrong end of the boat. Though aft-appendage packages had been tested, Alinghi installed a new bow segment following the LVC and unveiled this reputedly fuller section for the Big Dance. Did this change up-front have a Spanish accent? From some angles, ESP-47 showed nice full bulbous form running horizontally aft from the bottom of her stem. The simple graphic on the right illustrates this ‘point’. The images of SUI-64 in her Louis Vuitton configuration versus her America’s Cup configuration may not shed much light, but there is more there than shiny new carbon. If nothing else these images point out how the quest for the Cup comes down to inches, or maybe just millimeters. |
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Photo: © 2003 CupInfo.com |
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Leaving few stones unturned is the mark of many championship teams. Not just satisfied to sail a superior underwater shape, above the water Alinghi arguably had the best foredecks for their bowmen. Where most teams strapped spinnaker poles to the deck surface, the Alinghi builders created a recess for the pole, providing reduction in windage and a cleaner work station for those who must tread the pitching pointy end of an America's Cup boat. Whether this idea came from sailors to designer (or the reverse) is uncertain, but it illustrates Alinghi's attention to detail in pursuit of the America's Cup. |
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