Forecasting for the 33rd America's Cup: Lawyers, Design, Wind and Waves

Jack Katzfey

CAWCR/CMAR Aspendale

Although the common perception of sailboat racing may be that it is primarily a battle of man against nature, with the team that can best utilise the wind and weather winning, the 33rd America's Cup Race, held in Valencia, Spain, in February of this year, involved much more. The high-profile, 150 year old race is one of the oldest sporting events in the world. It has always been an opportunity for competing teams to push technology to get the edge and win, but it has also produced much controversy over the years.

This was especially true of the recent encounter between the Swiss team, Alinghi, and the US team, Oracle, which was slowed by two years of court cases. The 90 foot catamaran and trimaran built for the race were unlike the boats used in previous America's Cup races. The immense speed of the boats and the length of the race course required the development of novel wind forecasting techniques to provide useful information to the sailors. There were also challenges in producing the forecasts in Northern Hemisphere winter, with its more variable conditions.

I have been involved with the Swiss America's Cup team, Alinghi, for about 10 years. This talk will discuss some of the things I have learned during their two previous wins in 2003 and 2007, as well as my experiences this time around, with speculation on what might happen in the future.

To be followed by...