repost from Sail-World article by Richard Gladwell:
http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Gladwells-Line:-Riding-shotgun-on-Emirates-Team-NZs-AC72-at-43.6kts/103801
Sail-World.com's NZ and America's Cup Editor, Richard Gladwell, spent three
hours perched on the after beam of Emirates Team NZ's AC72 for a training
session on the Hauraki Gulf. Sailing in winds of up to 25kts, the AC72 hit an
amazing 43.6kts and didn't even feel like she was breaking into a sweat. He
reports on Wednesday's race and test session.
Imagine you are
standing on top of an Emirates jet on that final mad charge down the runway
before takeoff.
The engines are screaming and every imperfection in the
runway is magnified into the jolting that reverberates through the plane just
before it leaves the ground.
Next, take that mental snapshot and overlay
it on to a boat the dimensions of a tennis court (well three metres wider),
flying down the harbour, a couple of metres above the sea, travelling at a speed
of more than 40kts.
This is the surreal world of the AC72 catamaran and
the 34th America’s Cup.
Today Emirates Team New Zealand’s skipper Dean
Barker is putting his crew through a seven-hour programme of race practice and
testing on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, venue for the 2000 and 2003 America's Cups.
The AC72 is a boat like you’ve never seen or experienced before.
New Zealand has just emerged from her hangar, where she has been
modified to incorporate changes from her first 16 days of trialling. The
America’s Cup rules allow just 30 days of test sailing before January 31, 2013
more here
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