back to article The brave British boat men hoping to poke Larry Ellison's lads in the eye

We got a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Land Rover BAR sailing team hoping to leave Oracle’s Larry Ellison with a red face in this year’s America’s Cup. Using some rather nifty custom-built mobile app tech, running on off-the-shelf Android hardware, the team hopes to win the America’s Cup for Great Britain for the first …

  1. Old Used Programmer

    Small correction...

    Actually...Britain has *never* won the America's Cup. The yacht America won it the first time it was offered.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Small correction...

      But they were presented with the cup despite actually getting the course wrong and taking a short cut. Subsequently rules meant that the challenger (Britain until the 20th century) was required to make the trip to compete across the Atlantic (as indeed the American inner had) and generally sailed against local, significantly lighter boas that did not need to be as robust.

      Not to say that it is a technical competition that far outstrips the current F1 though!

    2. Lars Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Small correction...

      The famous "there is no second".

  2. Adair Silver badge

    QUOTE: 'A number of other countries are also taking part.'

    Which include the two teams most likely to leave LBAR as sad 'also-rans': Artemis, and Emirates Team New Zealand.

    Hopefully Ben will manage to avoid steering the boat into the dock, or any other solid object, when the racing actually starts - http://www.xssailing.com/article/video-be-a-barry-not-a-ben/

  3. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

    Can't..

    .. we just do like we used to and fit damn big guns? No need to race other people when they are just a few floating splinters in the water..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      Re: Can't..

      Brittania waives the rules? Besides, if you fit guns to the yacht then BAE gets involved and now you are talking about at least 1-2 billion Sterling.

      (Mine is the flotation ring with the cartoon sea serpent head)

      1. Korev Silver badge
        Pirate

        Re: Can't..

        HMS Victory is currently getting a bit bored in the dock and with over 100 cannon there's probably more guns than the rest of the Royal Navy combined. Maybe we can use her and using only sails would even out the competition a bit.

        1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

          Re: Can't..

          HMS Belfast is still afloat. (I think HMS Victory is set in concrete?) Granted, not 60 lb but a 6 incher will still make a mess of the opposition. Not sure about the rules and sail area. 6 man crew may be a problem.

          1. P. Lee

            Re: Can't..

            Fun fact: HMS Victory was never decommissioned and is still on the "active" list.

            The active crew is 600 - what's a couple of zero's between friends? A third of the crew will be required to weigh anchor before you get started. You may be better of cutting and running!

      2. Chris G

        Re: Can't..

        If BAE gets involved it is also going to be 'ready' several years too late for this year's race.

        From the article; From base stations in the Bermudas, the link then goes to New York where it reaches the main trans-Atlantic backbone.

        So, that means the NSA have all of the telemetry and will be passing it on the the Patriot team.

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Can't..

      I think a better trick is to send the yacht as usual, and station a nice quiet submarine in the race area to subtly slow the other boats down. You only need torpedo them if it's obvious they're going to win.

      The only problem is if the Americans have the same idea and our two subs crash into each other.

      As an additional advantage, submarines have sails.

  4. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    Being a yachtie myself...

    And living not too far away I've also been round the HQ, and have also had the pleasure of seeing them zoom around on the Solent at very close quarters whilst I've been out sailing on my low tech floating tub. The yachts (if you can call them that) are pretty incredible and they fizzzzzzz through the water - as is the tech used now in race and performance management.

    It's just a shame then that the racing itelf (as a spectator sport) is as dull as a dead lighbulb; and that Portsmouth City council - total fucktards that they are, and despite representing a city with a proud, noble and very lengthy marine heritage have decided to try to use the presence of the Americas Cup to fleece as much cash out of the locals and vistitors as possible, with very little service or benefit by return due to their total fuckwittery at financial management.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Lars Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: Being a yachtie myself...

      Same here. The cup was interesting as long as it was about R12 yachts. A fairly restricted rule for the yacht which meant the quality of the crew become more important.

      The cup has in a way come full time round from very rich "playboys" like Lipton (I can never win) to guys like Ellison. No need to call it a sport. I think there is still a J class around somewhere, very impressive especially below deck.

      1. fishman

        Re: Being a yachtie myself...

        " I think there is still a J class around somewhere"

        There are a number of J class yachts around, and they get together and race. They have actually built new ones, but were restricted to using designs from long ago - one was a copy of Ranger, originally launched in 1937. The new version is for sale - $7.9M.

        http://www.northropandjohnson.com/yachts-for-sale/3891-ranger/

  5. Sir Sham Cad

    Re: a floating server

    I wonder if any of my servers will float. We should try it out. I have a list.

    I wouldn't like to be the onboard sysadmin for that, though. My sea legs end where the Solent does.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Land Rover

    With that name associated with the venture, you just know it's going to get half-way through the course and then the mast will fall off.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Land Rover

      ...then they can just hitch up the winch via a long rope to the finish line and haul themselves the rest of the way, albeit slowly.

    2. phuzz Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: Land Rover

      It'll be the only boat on the starting line with a pool of oil around it.

  7. Phukov Andigh Bronze badge

    as an American sailor-wannabe

    I say "good luck" and hope you win it.

    Ellison and the way he's pretty much bought the race and tries to do the same with the cities that host it, well, he could use a taking down a peg.

    And the whole thing would be a LOT more exciting if there were an actual *race* where the winner isn't pretty much decided in advance

    1. Blank Reg

      Re: as an American sailor-wannabe

      The winner was not at all decided in advance the last time around

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/sailing/2013/09/25/oracle-team-usa-beats-new-zealand-americas-cup/2871027/

      1. soaklord

        Re: as an American sailor-wannabe

        The article from 4 years ago was correct, Ainslie did go on to try and make a British try. I saw the boat that won four years ago on San Diego bay when they were testing and that thing went by our yacht like we were becalmed. (We were doing almost 8 knots) And amazing as it was to see, I'd still prefer to see more competition even if it meant smaller/slower yachts.

      2. John Bobbit

        Re: as an American sailor-wannabe

        Yes, that's right, in the example you cite, the team that *got caught cheating* won - proving the OP's point that the contest outcome is pre-decided. The one with the deepest pockets wins (Larry)

  8. cantankerous swineherd

    each of the crew output 1.5kW?

    mmm, o level physics from 40 years ago, but 1hp is approx 750 watts and 1hp is approx 3 man power. OK these guys are young and trained, but they're doing the work of 6 (weedy) men?

    1. Cuddles

      "each of the crew output 1.5kW?"

      If that's the peak output they can manage for a few seconds, it's not entirely unreasonable. That's the sort of level top cyclists can manage for sprints lasting no more than a few seconds. 3-400 W is the most that could be expected on any kind of sustained basis.

      As for the app:

      "the app’s display shows not only the boat’s position overlaid on the racecourse but also turning points, distance to go to next waypoint, boat speed and it even automatically changes view to zoom in at critical moments – all without any interaction from Scott"

      So it's an entirely standard GPS navigation app. My watch does the same, as does Google maps. It seems odd for the article to spend so much time going on about it when it's probably the least interesting part of the whole thing.

      1. MaxNZ

        cyclists on board

        Emirates Team New Zealand have put their grinders (the guys who power the hydraulics) onto bicycles - leg muscles are stronger than arm muscles so the grinders can supply more power for longer.

        http://www.sail-world.com/NZ/Americas-Cup---Emirates-Team-New-Zealand-reveal-big-AC50-breakthrough/151751

        If you are fan of the big boats KZ1 is on display outside the Auckland Maritime Museum.

  9. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Joke

    Revolting Hipsters at the Silicon Roundabout

    “We have teams across the globe dedicated to hunting the most talented user experience and software experts. We found that the very best expertise lay with Coderus in our start-up hub at Adastral Park

    Shirley that should be enough to get the hipsters revolting over at the Silicon Roundabout - Perhaps I have been misinformed that it is the centre of excellence bar none when it comes to the white heat of innovation and technology, where all the bright young things hang out

  10. William Higinbotham

    MisDirection

    Untill a PIKACHU CHEAT shows up in their app and they go off course to capture it:-)

  11. zen1

    Normally I pull for Team USA, just out of pride and loyalty, but Larry is involved, so GO UK!!!

  12. asdfzxh

    wrong

    wrong, fools. no courage needed, ts not brave or not. and larry ellison is not superior or something, foolish slaves.

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