Eh, SA/D really stops becoming anything of meaning once you're into the realm of "the ballast is just there to stop it turtling". Might as well be sailing an 18 footer.
This is one of my greatest frustrations - too many owners throw up the "but my boat just can't move in those conditions" excuse, when in fact all they need to do is pay attention and tell their main trimmer to back off.
Given that the Australian ISAF/WS body have decided hey this seems like a real smart idea, and a lot of small clubs in certain countries are getting very pissy about their national body's governing nonsense, is it possible for clubs to run a "copy" of the RRS, without all the strings attached?
AC34 had three challengers.
AC35 had three challengers (when you consider that three of the challengers were just there for show).
AC36? Wouldn't be surprised if it was three.
From what I've heard, the old girl seems to have had more than her fair share of keel problems, but it might simply be a case that the number of miles she's done leaves her overrepresented in the statistics.
To be fair, the LV challenger series was more fun to watch than the Cup match itself. Watching Ainslie and Percy throw their toys was good entertainment.
I knew these boats were operated on a shoestring budget, what with crews having to perform the maintenance and all, but no paper charts? No visible depthfinder from the helm? No dedicated navigator?
Shouldn't be an issue as long as the luff of the sail and rigging align parallel to the wind. Could see it becoming a problem if the halyard was over-tensioned, which seems to happen a lot these days.