34th America's Cup: multihulls!

All the complaints about what people don't like about the AC and comments about what it *should be* are great to read.

Bottom line they are all sour grapes from people that are either not good enough or not rich enough to play the AC game.

The AC is not and has never been about what *you* want. It is about what the last guy that won it wants and what someone with an equally large ego wants. *You* don't matter. *You* don't get a vote.

If there was *no* income from TV, if there were *no* sponsors there would still be boats sailing for the Cup that America won in 1851.

The beauty and attraction of the cup is that the people that can afford to play the cup game can also afford not to care what anyone thinks. The Cup is like a very expensive call girl. She is whatever her current owner wants her to be, right up until she get's put up as stakes in a bet ... then she becomes what the new owner wants.

If *you* want to see the cup in smaller or 'safer' or mono's or with nationality requirements or pigs on the crew ... it is easy ... just win it ...

Until you do please replace all "I think the Cup should be ..." posts with "No one cares about what I think the AC should be so I'm pouting."

Thank you.

Randy ;-)

 

Granted, but you forgot to mention the call girl's pimp.

 

Rubbish, when taxpayers cough up for infrastructure and its pitched at "TV" audiences and there's advertising banners all over the boats then the public and the corporate sponsors have some say.

 

Much truth, but not quite the whole story.

The owner/sponsor of the winning boat usually sits down with his hired hands and they try to see what format they have a good chance of winning for a repeat. So the "want" is moderated by "what is my team good at" and "can I stack the deck" thinking.

Then as a secondary consideration, there is probably some "will it pull in sponsor money". Yes the top dog is usually filthy rich. However, note that the filthy rick love nothing more than conning someone else into helping pay for their fun & games.

But again the bottom line is that the "fan opinion" for the AC just really does not matter for a hill of beans (and never has) when it comes to format selection.

It is not wrong to be happy when you like the format. However, given that we all really understand the way it works, griping and whining really is pretty silly. Getting outright indignant is even more out of place.

 

Sure, the Cup is a private challenge match. But it's also part of the sport. The AC sailors I know are good blokes who love sailing and feel a responsibility to it, and most of them WOULD be affected by the expressed opinions of people in the wider sport to some extent.

Those who run the Cup often make claims about how the direction they are taking it will be good for the rest of the sport. If their claims (or those made by posters) are BS or dubious, can't other people make that case?

If a part of a sport (like the AC) is doing something that others feel could be hurting the sport, can't people state that they don't like it? If posters claim that something the AC is doing is good or bad for the sport, can't other posters reply?

As an example, lots of people complain that the sport has been tarnished by a "slow and boring" image due to the former classes. Others point out that if the AC increases the public image of sailing as being elitist, then it will hurt the sport when it comes to things like access to waterways. A direct example was a court case where a US judge referred to the famous Morgan quote "if you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it" as evidence of the fact that all racing sailors were rich. If other judges followed the same line then racing in the USA could have become much more expensive.

Surely it is reasonable to point out such issues, or to at least discuss them if others bring them up?

Those who race in the AC have benefited enormously from vast amounts of unpaid labour by the volunteers who taught the crews to sail in little clubs around the world, the volunteers who stood by in rescue boats, maintained marks, painted clubhouses, ran class committees, etc etc etc.

To many people, the players in the AC have benefited from the sport as a whole and therefore they are under some moral obligation to the sport as a whole and the groundswell of wider opinion within the sport is of some interest to them.

 

34th AC

Interview with Ian Percy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PGvafK6z_vE

 

Gee...rich guys ? The Kiwis are spending millions and millions of thier taxpayers money.

The host city is burning cash.


Tell me about these rich guys one more time .............................

 

Taxpayer dollars only GET spent on helping rich guys out. Only rich guys can afford to buy politicians. It is the political circle of life.

--
CutOnce

 

Sounds like the Kiwi's are getting screwed by rich people that own some politicians.

I think RHough's explanation is a bit embarrassing but spot on true. I have no doubt the AC boats are whatever Ellison wants them to be. The AC isn't car racing. Car racing needs sponsors to live. Billionaires don't need anything other than their egos. In the AC the sponsors are like lampreys just sucking along for the ride.

 

The spin-off of investment (public or private) by NZ in AC is already way in the up-side and can only increase even if we do not succeed in this series. Our designers, sailors and tradesmen are already way up there. Boat, sail, and spar, design and construction is one our most important industries. The US is subsidising us through purchase of oil in the gulf states hee hee.

 

34th AC

From Scuttlebutt tonight:
======================

Here is a summary of the current situation with the America's Cup:

* The event's Protocol, dated Sept. 13, 2010, an agreement between Golden Gate Yacht Club and Club Nautico Di Roma in how the event will be run, is what each team has used to prepare for the event.
* Some teams have prepared better than others.
* The event organizer now deems the Protocol unsafe and seeks to change it.
* Some teams don't agree with all the changes.
* Those teams may be forced to accept the changes.

The primary means to change the Protocol is for the majority of the teams to agree on the change. Some of the changes sought out by the event organizer - possibly changes that could minimize a competitive advantage - do not have a majority vote. This is a problem, as the event organizer included all the changes to their Coast Guard permit application.

Did we mention the Coast Guard has not yet issued an event permit?

Assuming the permit is issued, all the teams will be required to comply with the changes because of Article 16 in the Protocol:

"Competitors shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations of any city, state, national or other governmental authority having jurisdiction over the Event or part thereof."

You got to love the America's Cup. The defender is historically criticized by the challengers. This could be why.
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More here from Stephen Barclay: http://email.sailingscuttlebutt.com/t/ViewEmail/j/524DBDE2D9AC842A/46574558C05CB0C39A8E73400EDACAB4 scroll down to AC 34....

 

I've seen the the USCG rules they say
Its dangerous to gybe on foils so its banned..lol

 

You've got to laugh - otherwise you'd cry.
Not only have the goalposts got roller skates under them, the defenders have hooked up V8's to move them even more quickly.

 

and the port authority's have said they need a pilot when in the Bay so they dont hit the bridge

 

"Sounds like the Kiwi's are getting screwed by rich people that own some politicians"

Gee whiz! Think that could happen in the USA?