[Leica] Americas Cup, Oracle capsize

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

The Oracle capsize was a spectacular event, captured in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KNql99zT6s
It was really a pitchpoling rather than a capsize. This is relatively rare
in sailing and occurs when the bow of a very fast moving boat catches up
with a wave and digs in. The kinetic energy of the boat flips it end for
end. The Oracle catamaran must have been sailing at at least 20 knots, light
speed for a sailboat, when the bow of one hull dug in. The skipper of the
boat, Russell Coutes, is one of the best. The boats contending for the
America's Cup are hardly traditional sailboats. Rather they are specialized
racing machines with wing sails that bear as much relationship to the boats
that many of us sail in as a Formula One racer does to the family car.
Larry Z