Feb 15 2010
Sailing’s America’s Cup Comes Home!
It took 15 years for the USA to win sailing’s America’s Cup again after losing it to a New Zealand team in San Diego back in 1995. The personal 10+ year quest of Larry Ellison was realized in Valencia, Spain today in a Deed of Gift match. The Deed of Gift has only been used one other time in the America’s Cup 149 year history to determine a winner.
It was close… at the start
This year saw BMW Oracle Racing (BOR), who built an immense trimaran with a solid wing for its mainsail, take the cup away from the Swiss Alinghi team who built an equally massive catamaran which flew traditional sails. In the best of three match, BOR won 2-0. It appeared that the US boat was technologically superior as it sailed much faster than the Swiss boat on many points of sail. But the Swiss team was definitely outsailed as well. They were given a penalty in both races for what seemed to be rules infringements on the water that they could have easily avoided. Quite simply, the BOR leadership team of sailing legends, James Spithill and Russel Couts gave the Swiss team a demonstration of just how well an extra year of training on multihulls made the difference.
Hanging out on the windward amu while Spithill drives
So now what ? The cup and it’s circus will come back to America. The big question is where? The current boat design demands a narrow set of conditions that make a lot of sailors cringe. Newport, Rhode Island and San Diego, California have hosted modern day events in the 70′s and 80′s. But Valencia raised the bar in a big way building the Worlds Fair-like venue for America’s Cup 32 and 33. Somebody is going to have to step up to create the kind of facility required by multiple international teams. The AC village in Valencia is just that, literally a village devoted to sailing. BOR sails out of the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Does that mean San Francisco will be the logical place in…? 2012 ? 2014?
BMW Oracle reched speeds of up to 32 knots during the 2nd race
It’s also time for a boat redesign. We have been using “old technology” now for several Cups. Frankly, the boats are kind of boring except to the aficionado. Plus, it gives AC the opportunity to come up with a design that more teams can afford, so the competition can extend far beyond the boundaries of deep pockets. Speaking of which; I think it would be a good idea to set a rule that at least 50% of the crew on a team must be from the country the boat is racing for. But that’s just me!
It’s going to be an exciting time. I’m just a little bit biased towards the next AC being held at a body of water where we have a base. That will add to the excitement and nearly guarantee some great race viewing!
