Transcription rapide par Stingray de l'interview à Brad B.
Audio:
http://203.167.213.237/addpod.asp?playt ... rworth.mp3
Trés intéréssante...
rough transcript
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PJM (at 1:30): What is the current situation now, you're waiting for the judge top finally give the definitive order, are you, that it is going to bee Valencia. isn't it? Is that where we've got to?
BB: I think so, but I think she's already ruled on that. I think it is Valencia. The way I understand it is it's in Valencia and it's in February, ther's going to be a best of 3 races, first to two, and away we go, so I'm looking forward to (laughs) actually having the regatta and having a bit of sport. And then whoever wins wins and whoever loses should step aside and let whoever wins get on with it.
PJM: I'm sure you are aware .. that America's Cup legal has been a big turn off?
BB: Yeah, no it's butt-numbingly boring. It is absolutely, totally foreign fromn the sport. Something that I never realized could be so foreign. It's hard to understand, I struggle with it and I'm sure the other side does as well. But that's where we're at and hopefully we get to race in February and get on with it.
PJM: Why do you say 'Hopefully we will race in February' when the you just said a minute ago the judge has already ruled Valencia in February? What can stop it now?
BB: Well I don;t know but there's been 8 lawsuits so far and 3 of them pending. There's outstanding issues that haven't been resolved in terms of the fiduciary duty trust responsibility suit against SNG & Ernesto, and so there's a few things that are going to be - that are outstanding - that we can hopefully drop and the racing can get going and of we go. But you never know. For me I hope it happens but I've hoped it was happening for a while now. But Valencia would be great, to have it over and done with by February 15th.
PJM (About the BoFD?)
BB: I haven't actually read the papers and don't know exactly what they mean but yes, that's it in a nutshell. .. It goes way back into the past and unfortunately it'll probably grab everybody that's ever defended the Cup. So it's going to be a difficult one and certainly nobody will be happy with it in the long term, if it carries on.
PJM: So can I take out of it that RNZYS, SDYC, even NYYC could be caught up in that? That would be a major problem.
BB: Yes, I hope not. But the fact is that once you get into a politically voted-on position like that, with the Attorney General's office in NY, then you wind up where he's grabbing everybody that's ever had anything to do with it and it's a nasty, nasty situation. But hopefully we get to race and if the lawyers want to go fight after that then they can go and fight.
PJM: Okay, let's assume it's going to be Valencia in February. Is there a wind limit now, 15 knots? Has that been absolutely, categorically agreed to?
BB: No, that's a number that's been bandied around. That would be nice I think to have that limit because these boats are incredibly - they've got a lot of power - they're extreme. But that's something we could probably talk to the other challenger, to Oracle, to see if they are keen on that. I think somewhere around there would be a good number.
PJM: Why, because they're just too big and too dangerous?
BB: Well they're too big, they've got more power than any other boat that's around. We want to make sure the racing's good and the boats stay together and everybody goes home at the end of it. You can see the boats have had failures, both boats have had failures, and so it's a difficult situation with the wind sailing in the northern hemisphere winter. A wind limit would be good but a sea limit would be even better, probably.
PJM: Tell us about that power you've alluded to, take us aboard Alinghi the multihull you've been sailing in RAK.
BB: (6:12) It's like no other boat I've sailed on in terms of the amount of power that you've got. When you sheet on it can tip you over backwards, the acceleration, it you're standing up. And so it's very fast and in light air it can go extremely quick. These boats are doing 2 or 3 times the wind speed in their boat speed and so the harder it blows the faster you go, and the more load the boat sees. And the masts are over 60m, they're just huge. And the sail area is just huge, it's like nothing else that's ever been seen before. The boats are incredibly light, they are like Formula 1 cars. If something goes wrong on one area lots of things break, and so it's a crazy situation. But certainly from the design side it's exciting. It is a design race and a scientific problem for both teams. Probably the die is cast and the fastest boat has already been decided but we just don't know it yet until they come together in February.
PJM: Fast? 40 knots, or north of that?
BB: Well I think Oracle has got up to over that. We haven't sdailed in a lot of wind to have that but we've been very close, yes. It depends where you want to send these boats, they're designed to go upwind and downwind and around a reaching course, so they are a bit different to like an offshore multihull that can power along at 30 knots, hour in and hour out in big seas. They're not built for that. But yeah, there could be some very high speeds.
PJM: If you had to, and you're racing for keeps, and winning or losing the Cup depends on it, then could we assume you could be doing 45 knots?
BB: I hope not (laughs). I just hope the boats hold together, that's what I hope. They're extreme and they're light and everybody's pushing the boundaries. You've seen the new mast which Oracle has put on their boat, it's just an amazing piece of equipment. You know that's just groundbreaking stuff to have a wing that size. It will be amazing to race against something like that. If they beat us with a wing like that well then good on them, they will have done a hell of a job.
PJM: (that's a BFW isn't it?)
BB (9:03): (laughs) It's madness, really. It's a huge....I mean I really take my hat off to the guys who designed it and the builders who built it. 'Cause it's something never been done before. It's like putting a 747 wing vertically in the air. On your boat. And sailing around with it. It's obviously light enough to do that with it, the boat's been sailing with it, and I mean, it's just amazing.
PJM: So what you are talking about sounds exhilarating and terrifying all at the same moment and in essence now we wait. When will we know? Will we know by the first of Januarary 'Yes it's going to be happening in Valencia, it is all on, and whatever the wind limit is' - do you think, I mean February's coming up quickly, we must know soon?
BB: I hope we know in the next week or so. For me, I'm counting on being in Valencia on the 8th of February and sailing against Oracle.
(later, says some nice things about TNZ, but says the Cup is now between Alinghi and Oracle, and hopefully things will get worked out, but it will have to happen after February)
