Op-Ed time--America's Cup

This is purely my opinion and thoughts, you are free to agree or disagree with me as you see fit in the comments below.

If you have been following the events leading up to this AC, you know it's been rife with legal issues, loss of fan support, loss of media support.  Very sad for what is considered the oldest trophy in an international sport.

I realize that since this began over 150 years ago that some of these issues have been going on.  Rich guys with egos and too much money on their hands and the desire to design newer, faster boats are just a few of the obvious ones.

But today, we have only four competitors, one who has been severely crippled by a devastating crash and will miss the first half of the Louis Vuitton Cup.  The other two challengers are now in front of the international jury with protests over new safety rules imposed.  The first race became a race of one because of the Italian team boycotting last Sunday.

On top of that, what was meant for a fan show--the time trials--had to be cancelled because the conditions were considered too unsafe.

This is what the America's Cup has come to.  The desire to make a radical, faster boat has created a situation where they will not take the boats out if it is over 20 kts wind.

I was able to see Luna Rosa practice and New Zealand race, I get it. The boats foil, they go fast, they are sexy. But I really don't believe these boats should be what go for the America's Cup.  Call me a traditionalist, but I think a modern one design, preferably a more stable monohull perhaps should be for the Cup.  I think the design should be determined by a lot of factors, not just the guy who wants to build one.  There's a place for these super race cats, just not the America's Cup.  After talking to people this past weekend, many don't think there's any going back.  That's sad.

At $8 million a piece, these boats don't come cheap.  As a result, it's become cost prohibitive for teams to compete.  Throw in the political and legal nonsense, sponsors have lost the desire to be part of it.  You are not seeing any BMW-Oracle this time, that's for sure.

So, I personally feel the America's Cup has been hijacked by he who has the most money gets the cup. That doesn't seem very sportsmanlike to me.  Not only is unfair to fans of racing, it's unfair to those sailors out there that train hard, work hard for the chance to prove they are the best.

The current fact is, the AC 72 is not a safe boat.  There has been loss of life.  Oracle USA also had pitchpoled their boat in training.  It could very well happen again on the race course.  I repeat, they will not take them out in 20 knots of wind.  Have you been to San Francisco?  It's known for its breeze.

After the Artemis crash, the teams agreed on a set of safety enhancements.  They did agree.  However, the week before the first Louis Vuitton, New Zealand and Luna Rossa filed a protest at the timeline on the fixes to the rudder.  They have a valid point, they don't have time to create the fix, test the fix and still race the boat.  That is what is under judgement right now.  They state it gives an unfair advantage to Oracle USA who don't have to race until September.  They are right.  Max Sirena, although being a little too dramatic about it, states that enforcing the rudder rule is causing unsafe conditions in itself. And I agree.

Today, New Zealand goes out for its second race without a competitor.  Team Artemis will not be ready for a couple more weeks.  What will happen when they finally start racing and the boats are being pushed harder and harder?

Anyway, I will get off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening. Feel free to add your thoughts.

I'll post practice and race pics soon.