Got an extra $4 Million laying around (plus expenses)...

TonyG13

The SailGP circuit is using one end of our harbor to build, stage, and launch their boats for a race this weekend. They showed up in shipping containers and flatbeds then reassembled on site. Gorgeous vessels. $4 Million each plus the crews to manage them gets you 60MPH under wind power. We are going out to watch them on Sunday. Will post some pics from the race.

aero3113

Very cool. I’m looking forward to the pics!

captkevin

Thats awesome

Ian

No wind and a $4M raft…

Willhound

Ian said:

No wind and a $4M raft…

True dat. On the other hand, the way those sails are designed the boat will move if a crew member even farts in their direction...😄

Black_Diamond

Takes little wind to get these going. The speeds are crazy!

I was ⛵️ racing Wed night and we hit 7.5kn downwind and the crew was giddy. 🤣🤣

TonyG13

A few pics from today's races. It was spectacular. And one major thing they said was if you find a racing boat coming at you just stay still and they will maneuver around you. It happened a few times - and let me tell you, it's a little terrifying. The first pic wasn't even planned. We were just getting a shot with the city in the background and all of a sudden the Danish boat came out of nowhere like Jaws.

 

aero3113

Very cool @TonyG13 !!

Ian

I would have thought there’d be a set closed course.

TonyG13

It is a closed course, but we were positioned between Navy Pier and the course so we got right up to the course boundary and they did "fly-bys" for the crowds when getting on and off the course between races.

randy56

Neat, I'm surprised of there ability to maneuver, in and out of the crowded boats. great pic's. I know they are pretty fast. 

aero3113

This looks controlled to me, pretty cool!!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ce91TE2DOxw/?igshid=NWRhNmQxMjQ=

TonyG13

We saw them do nosedives a couple of times to avoid collisions, then they'd get right back up to speed. Can't imagine the whiplash effect on the crew.

Another interesting thing they kept saying was since this was the only fresh water course all season and also the coldest water temperatures (~55F) -- it took the crews a long time to figure out strategies because the temps and non-salinity affected speeds. 

YYZRC

aero3113 said:

This looks controlled to me, pretty cool!!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ce91TE2DOxw/?igshid=NWRhNmQxMjQ=

Really interesting how the daggerboards are used. Look at the curl on the starboard front!

aero3113

 Very interesting….