ACT10Valencia -
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Published on: 6/1/2006
Last Visited: 6/1/2006
But I had an opportunity, while sitting with Shosholoza tactician and team manager Dee Smith in the Shosholoza hospitality zone (on the roof of their compound), to learn a bit of how a highly-trained eye sees those jumperless rigs.The setting could hardly have been more apt. Alinghi was right next door, the new rig outlined against the sky.
Dee Smith on the roof
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"In these boats, topmast jumpers account for 25 kilograms aloft," Smith said.
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"It was the topmast jumpers that ripped Team New Zealand's spinnaker in their match race against BMW Oracle," Smith said, "so maybe that's something in favor of getting rid of them, and the Alinghi rig includes check stays above the hounds,unlike BMW's mast,that help to limit mast bend.You can crank down hard on the headstay but control the amount of bend that would otherwise induce in the mast."Probably there's something in that."
Before this 2006 round of racing started, much was made of the forward placement of the mast in BMW Oracle's new USA 87.That chatter has abated a bit, but not entirely.You might debunk the "radical underbody" theory by pointing out that big, large-roach mainsails need to be mounted forward to balance the boat, though Smith noted further that, "All-up, that's about a ton of weight that you're moving, and that affects other elements of the boat, and away you go."