AnotherSailor

Within the lack of wisdom in choices, let's not overlook the fact that this person made a wise choice in buying a well-built boat.

1: not knowing the rules...

So, I missed the whole Prada Cup. Did anything happen?

I would suggest to always film launches and retrievals. YouTube is full with boat launch fails.

Interesting read (my apologies if this has been posted before): https://www.sailingworld.com/story/racing/a-view-from-inside-ineos-team-uk/ Of course, he does not give away too much information, but there is some stuff to be found between the lines. The code zero comments are interesting, I think

cool!

Is he clicking or clacking? But indeed he is getting closer. I think Thomas indeed is hoping to get into reaching conditions while the others are bound for some more upwind work, which sucks in these boats. The biggest gainer is Armel, but it seems these HP systems are going to linger and make for a difficult time for him as well.

Bestaven and Dalin are going to extend the lead quite a bit. Between those two Bestaven will be sailing more miles faster, but he is also taking the longer route. LO is going to lose a lot of miles I think. He is sailing more miles and missing out on the LP. The problem is however that the leaders will sail upwind in some windy conditions. I am interested to see how many miles a day they can make and how the boats and skippers hold up.

Another vote for the XtraTuffs. I have a pair that has lasted me already for years. I have the ones without the inner insulation which I also use on hikes or whenever I have to walk the kids to school in the rain.

It seems we will be able to learn something about the upwind capabilities of these boats...

Windfarms are not THE solution and have a number of negatives including "view pollution." Imagine looking at the sea and seeing turbines all over. BUT I actually think there is something positive about this, at least if you get the message: this is us, consuming way too much energy. Instead of putting a power plant in someone else's backyard, we have to face the shit ourselves. I believe there is a Native American group somewhere on the east coast that sued the government to prevent their sacred landscape from being taken. I don't know what happened to that, but I do think they have a valid point.

I assume you refer to my post. It was not intended to bash foilers. I did not even use the word "foiler" until the very last sentence. I realize now that that sentence might have made it sound like foil bashing was the main point. I have followed this race the last couple of rounds, and know exactly who won with what boat etc. Yes, last race was won by a foiler, the current race is likely to be won by a foiler, etc. Just to be clear: My post was a reflection on when things fall apart. namely during relatively benign conditions, not during the storms. Secondly, if we want to have a conversation about the reliability and advantages of the foilers, let's do it properly: All the new boats are foilers. These campaigns are better financed, better organized, etc. So the fact that 7 out of the 10 leading boats are foilers does not mean that this can be completely contributed to foils. IN certain conditions they have an advantage, that is clear, but that argument that 7 out of 10 leaders are foilers is not any better (and probably worse) than someone else saying: look at # the broken foiling boats. It would be interesting if we had a bunch of new (and newly designed) non-foiling well-financed IMOCAs participating. Then we could have a real conversation

Demolition derby... What is interesting, and fortunate, is that no big failures have occurred during real serious conditions (even leaving aside the hitting of UFOs). The most serious catastrophe was obviously Kevin's boat breaking in half, and although the conditions were rough it didn't happen during a gale. Alex' initial damage presumably occurred during the first storm, but was discovered only days later (begging the question: did it occur in the more benign conditions). This week we see several issues pop up during relatively calm conditions. The truth of the matter is that these boats are pushed the most during calmer weather. When they hit the higher wind ranges the preservation mode kicks in and they actually go slower. The seastate is never calm and 15-20 knots of speed in those waves ultimately causes things to fail. Maybe the other foilers hold up, but I would be nervous sailing one in the midst of all these other foilers breaking one after the other.

In Greece

probably a wise decision.