Re: [Paddlewise] black hulls

On Tue, Oct 01, 2002 at 03:19:39PM +1200, Alex Ferguson wrote:

> Scrathed or unscratched, New Zealand uses black to get their Americas Cup 
> yachts top go FASTER. It has worked so far and it looks as if some others 
> are trying the same trick. This year's preliminary results will be out in a 
> month or two and the final "crunch" comes early next year. If the final 
> opposition is PRADA like last time it will be grey versus black.

The first truly funny post in this whole thread.  Mine, about the
desirability of visiting an art museum with Matt Broze, was only
half-funny in comparison.  But your comments give me visions of the
typical autocratic America's Cup skipper having some lowly crew
alternate going over the entire hull with a 10X loop, looking for the
slightest blemish (be it scratch, protrusion, or barnacle) for
banishment to Tasmania.  You would never see it though, as they would
be under the tarp covering the latest super-keel.

Why do we call it the America's Cup anymore anyway?  Between the New
Zealanders, the Australians, and the Italians, why to we Stateside
bother?  And, given the blasted time difference, you can't even watch
the racing in real-time, should ESPN 99 decide to carry it.

> And I always though red boats were faster......

They are actually.  I think Tom Bergh showed exactly this (at least
when it comes to wee boaties) in his essay on boat speed.  Check out
the MIKCO site -- it's there somewhere.

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