So the Americas Cup is a lot more entertaining than first thought.

When Oracle moved the challenge from IACC monohulls to challenge Alinghi in Multihulls via a long winded court battle back in 2009 many sailing aficionado was concerned for the tactical side of sailing.

Is it possible to get a decent tactical match race in a boat doing 40 kts down wind? That can accelerate like a motorbike? That is a potential death trap should something go wrong..!

The loss of Andrew Sinpson earlier this year raised questions again and again about the Formula 1 of sailing.

Of the three challengers to Larry Ellsons USA team Oracle it is Emirates Team New Zealand who became the challenger.

And last night saw the first two races..

Take a look at these highlights on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/3k4FAnqPBM0

Races 5 and 6 are about to start, the Kiwis have a three race lead in the series, tonight could see the Cup drifting away from the US...

Watch live on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrzcOEKiRiI

This is the most entertaing yachting ever, these boats are doing over 20 knots upwind, and 80 kph downwind. and this is a vehicle without a motor or a horse.

 I get the feeling that the auld mug is coming back to Auckland. We only have to win five more races.

Well that was utter domination by team NZ in Race 6

Absolute spanking by NZ over 1000m 

Amazing work by ETNZ.

I was watching the racing with a yacht designer friend and we were amazed at the kiwi dominance up wind.

Apparently their boat has more forward bouyancy and slight rocker (fore/aft curvature) and enables them to tack faster and accelerat out of the tack more positively.

This makes sense as you may notice when Oracle have tacked thier leeward bow dives underwater slowing their rare of acceleration.

Three more wins will see the cup head to Auckland.

It is looking almost impossible for Oraclecto hold on to the Mug.

Great tactical move switching Kosteki for Sir Ben Ainslie, but it is yacht design that is letting Oracle down and not sailing ability. That said the Kiwi boat handling looks more fluid and organic than oracle by some margin...

I'm a little surprised that you guys in the UK are getting coverage of this, we had a reports from International broadcasters that it was only being watched in the States and New Zealand, and that UK TV was still covering the Royal baby and Syria.

I thought Ben Ainslie was put in a terrible position by Coutts and Spittall, he was never going to achieve anything at this stage.

Anyway its great to see these vessels in full flight. If we win it we are in for one hell of a party.If we dont win it we are in for one hell of a riot.

The set up of the rig makes it impossible for Oracle to recover any significant gains upwind. Team NZ's self-tacking jib system frees up a man to power the grinder whereas Oracle has to use someone for manually working the jib.

Oracle has a slight advantage downwind but they're being hammered on the 3rd leg. It doesn't matter who they have as their tactician, they simply can't gain enough of a lead to get themselves in the right part of the course and cover Team NZ. Davies knows this and wants to engage Oracle in a tacking duel knowing that their boat and crew can gain an edge in that area.

The closer we get to the final race (potentially only two more races), will we see an act of desperation from Oracle? These cats are flying and the agressive dial down in race 5 might be met by a frontal collision to get the second boat in the race. That's why I think Barker will try to avoid any collisions at the pre-race start and use their upwind advantage to get past Oracle cleanly. Keep it safe Dean and be a tidy Kiwi. I don't trust the other team to do all they can to win cleanly on the water. They simply don't have a boat fast enough upwind to do that. Am I being paranoid? You bet, but for good reason!

Racing for today postponed due to high winds, resumes tomorrow.

New Zealand 8,

U.S.A 1.

USA 8 Wins

NZ 8 Wins

The American were deducted two points prior to the start of the finals for previous misdemeanors. (Cheating).

So the points going into the final three races are

NZ 8

USA 6

Three races left, the Kiwis only need to win one, the Americans three.

In the last few days we have had a mix of poor conditions and exceptional skill shown by the Americans. Whoever wins this cup will thoroughly deserve it...

Come on you kiwis...

And as in all great finales it goes down to the last race...

The kiwis are not looking favourable unfortunately.

One race takes all tomorrow.

Oracle win the America's Cup 9-8

Well that's some major ass bottling by the Kiwi's. Seemed impossible at 8-1 down

Fernando wrote:Oracle win the America's Cup 9-8

Well that's some major ass bottling by the Kiwi's. Seemed impossible at 8-1 down

Got nothing to do with making a boat go faster then?