Was the OR72 Capsize Intentional?

[Rolfe'd]

I'm still dubious myself, but a good friend of mine shared an interesting story the other day. Apparently some time after the crash he was talking to a member of the Oracle team who was on the boat the day it went over (I don't remember the team member's name). This team member said they knew the forecast, and were deliberately pushing the boat as hard as they could the whole day, including trimming the foils higher than they normally would in those conditions; essentially, looking to break something major or capsize the boat.

When I asked why they would have done such a thing intentionally, my friend answered pretty simply: "for the attention, the news of that crash was everywhere."

As I said, I'm still unsure if I believe this myself. However, given that this info came from someone on the boat and how much OR and the AC media have played up the crash, it is believable.

 

[pjfranks]

post crash publicity was a high spot for media coverage same as when coutts went over in a 45.

 

[Indio]

All part of the Coutts master plan to suck ETNZ and LR into foiling and learning to sail their AC72s upright, while GGYC?OR changes the rules and course to make it a submarine event out the gate and into the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks for unravelling that conspiracy, Max. Now where's Agent 99??.

 

[Tornado-Cat]

A plot of the sailors against the designers to sink a flawed boat ?

 

[Albatros]

true, abso-fucking-lutely true, I have it on good authority from my justly deceased second cousin who happened to be acquainted to the late third uncle of none other than the janitor of Tom Ehman's kennel keeper (the man drives Stingrays, go figure ... ), that the story is about to be corroberated in its' entirety by a local Indian Warrior chief intent on giving all non true americans a good shave, waxing included.Next you will have a full report coming from Kiwistan on the fact that this evidently non agricultural and certainly not grassrooted piece of desinformation must surely have emanated from the bitterness of the likes of those named after the launching pads of those pesky silly yank rockets

dear o dear

:wacko:

 

[Rolfe'd]

true, abso-fucking-lutely true, I have it on good authority from my justly deceased second cousin who happened to be acquainted to the late third uncle of none other than the janitor of Tom Ehman's kennel keeper (the man drives Stingrays, go figure ... ), that the story is about to be corroberated in its' entirety by a local Indian Warrior chief intent on giving all non true americans a good shave, waxing included.Next you will have a full report coming from Kiwistan on the fact that this evidently non agricultural and certainly not grassrooted piece of desinformation must surely have emanated from the bitterness of the likes of those named after the launching pads of those pesky silly yank rockets

dear o dear

:wacko:

You can be an asshole about it, I'm just relating what I was told.

 

[Hastings]

Yep, it's true!

I heard from Daniel Craig.

The idea came from the Mayor of Warkworth.

 

[pjfranks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IBgk05iL3Y

 

[Rolfe'd]

Just texted my friend to get the team member's name but he said the guy doesn't want his name out.

Anyway, if this is the case it could explain why, on only the 6th day of training, they were sailing in a 5 knot ebb, with wind gusting over 30 in the part of the bay with the worst sea state.

 

[~Stingray~~]

Well then he's at least genius enough to figure that part out

It's not beyond possibility that one or more sailors think they were in the situation for an obtuse reason, over it being basically just a multiple-cause accident.

 

[KiwiJoker]

Serious Question? - You can't be serious!

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Oh yeah... I would loved to have been in the room when they tried to sell that idea to Larry. Rolfe'd you've been had. Like they say... put down the bong.

 

[MoMP]

If its true or not is indifferent. Keep a good conspiracy theory alive and well. I heard Jimmy was handing out hundreds for the guy who got launched the furthest.

 

[~Stingray~~]

I heard the launch record for boat 2 will be worth almost a $Mill! No wonder the guy wants to keep his job.

 

[eric e]

why toss away a perfectly good wing?

you can't just buy as many as you want...

 

[CheekyMonkey]

Does your friend happen to be a Portlander who's a fan of Andy Reid's former team?

Or maybe it was angry native spirits who reached up from the bay floor and tipped OR17 over?

 

[jaysper]

Drugs are bad, mmmkay?

I can imagine how the conversation would go:

Russell: Hey Larry, wanna pull the old rope a dope on the Kiwis?

Larry Sure man, whatcha thinking?

Russell: Well, we take the first boat out after only a handful of sailing and totally trash the fucker! I mean REALLY trash the fucker. The Kiwis will be lulled into SUCH a false sense of security man! It'll be brilliant!

Larry: Ummm, doesn't that strike you as a bit extreme Russ?

Russell: Nah man, nah! Then just as April rolls around, we take boat 1 AND 2 out and slam them into each other at 40+ knots completely fucking them BOTH over. The Kiwis will be soooo confident then.

Larry: Ummm, Russ. Are you sure you ever really left ETNZ?

 

[dogwatch]

it is believable.

You're only 29, got a lot to learn.



Harsh? Well have you stopped to consider just how much OR has been knocked back? That they've been unable to feed much boat #1 testing into boat #2. That they can only build 3 wings and one of those has gone for good. Think about it.

 

[klaxon]

The story today is thick like an oil spill while they still owe for the previous one.