Does Russell Coutts have it right?

The former Alinghi skipper and current Number One for Larry Ellison’s USA America’s Cup effort, has just told the Reuters news service regarding the next America’s Cup event: "All the different stakeholders should be consulted - the teams, the sponsors, the television companies. We are not against discussing change. But this should involve everyone."

Translation: The race is bigger than one man (Ernesto Bertarelli), one committee (America’s Cup Management), one country (Switzerland &/or USA). It’s a global enterprise requiring incremental change between regattas and stability.

Right now, it seems as though participants’ hearts are in the right place (stir up the regatta by choosing faster, more exciting boats, and have the Defender racing alongside the Challengers so they can hone their skills and boats as do the Challengers), and give advertisers something to get excited about. But their heads (egos?) may be adrift.

Consider: By now the boats, the ramp up to the Defense, and the Challengers should all be decided and everyone should know where they are headed. They don’t. No one knows.
Consider: No other professional regatta is conducted in this fashion - - participants know how to prepare their boats, advertisers can prepare their marketing strategies, crews have settled in with their teams, and the sailing press begins flogging the future events with breathless, insider stories of the preparations. (Sail Magazine this issue carried a couple of measly paragraphs about the next race, with no emotion or seeming involvement.)
Is the next America’s Cup a non-event? Non, in the sense of dead in the water as Rome burns and key elements dither?

Or, is the next event being so carefully "orchestrated" behind the scenes that nothing is being left to chance, and we’ll be finding out about it when they’re good and ready?

Is this a sailing event or a matter of "national security," never to see the light of day. Oh, to be a fly on the all in Switzerland and in San Francisco and in New York.

Book Captures Sport, Inspires Current Players?

Your Blogster is sitting here with a gorgeous new coffee-table book entitled Alinghi (actually it’s called alinghi, with a small “a,” which just doesn’t seem quite right, somehow) from Favre Publishing. The oversized book details in about 170 pages of magnificent color photographs the prelude, racing and post-race parties in this past year’s America’s Cup. The first few pages consist of a signed essay, by President Ernesto Bertarelli, who continues to spearhead Alinghi’s activities. The essay appears to be translated into English, Spanish, Italian, French and German, one guesses.

The volume gathers memorable photographs from “AC32,” the America’s Cup event held in July where Alinghi convincingly won the Cup once again, this time against New Zealand. This was the 32nd time the event hah been conducted.

The CONTRAST between the most recent lawsuit, letters and missives being fired back and forth between the Swiss and the Americans, and this elegant book couldn’t be sharper or more stark.

- All is joy and wonderment. The America’s Cup boats appear to be very similar in construct (perfect sails, glistening hulls, energetic crews) and competition rules.
- There are lots of smiles, handshakes, beautiful people, serious officials and a lovely sailing venue. And fireworks, rose pedals in the water, excitement galore.
- The weather seems perfect, with sails filled and overall conditions ideal. (Not too many photographers capture those rainy, windless, lonely or endless tacks around the course. People want to think of sailing as both a gentleman’s sport and one unrelated to the vagaries of outdoors.
- The accompanying text, while very minimal, communicates an upbeat, positive image for this sport, one both difficult for the news media to get its long arms around and difficult for the average man-in-the-street to get a sense of, let along understand it. (Sailing, of course, in unlike football, soccer, basketball and baseball because of its notoriously confusing and legalistic rules and its remote and lengthy race courses, well out of view from shore. There are no stadiums, no hot dogs, no beer served, no teams to cheer on, since the players change so often and represent lots of countries, even on the same team, and no officials to argue with. In short, it has high action, but its way out there somewhere on boats one has never actually seen in person, walked aboard or hoisted a sail on.)

President Ernesto Bertarelli introduces this memorable color photo collection and establishes credibility by discussing AC32 lofty terms, including responsibility, competition, organization and the vitality of European sailing and news media coverage (after all, this has been the first time for the America’s Cup events to be conducted in Europe in 150 years).

He notes that the competition was tough, especially since Alinghi didn’t race against it’s Challengers until late in the game and was shipped to Dubai in the winter of 2006 for similar sailing conditions. He summarized the 2007 races as “arguably the most exciting racing ever witnessed in the long history of our sport, with numerous lead changes, dramatic tactics and, at times, unpredictable wind....”

On a positive, upbeat note, he is quoted as saying that going forward, he is confident Alinghi can “build upon the substantial successes already obtained so far.” He hopes to maintain the America’s Cup position as at the “very pinnacle of yacht racing and further develops as a leading, global sports event.”

Sailing Kings: It’s time to rekindle and protect this spirit…whatever it takes. No one will remember or care how it’s done, whether in front of or behind closed doors. They’ll only remember if it doesn’t take place. This isn’t the boardroom or the courtroom, there are no shareholders only stakeholders. It’s real life, ebbing away with everyone seemingly obvious.

Win-win, win-lose, lose-lose off the course: OK, we got it - - Alinghi wants to make the rules and keep the Cup. Larry Ellison and the America’s want another shot. Just “do it,” as the Nike commercial goes. Call, meet face-to-face, teleconference, consider alternatives. What we have here is the dying embers of success - - a hoarding of the trophy and all it represents, and a Challengers with the balls to really challenge. Now it’s time for deadlines, deal-making, olive branches and sledgehammers in order to bang out boat designs and race schedules for 2008 and 2009.

The sport is sailing, for Pete’s sake, not endless rounds of he-said, they-said, we-want, you-want posturing and postulating. PLEASE take a look at this book, and you might be a little taken aback. This is grand racing sport, one that should be conducted out on the water as much and as soon as possible and practical. No one team or group has the right to kill this event.

No one organization deserves to win every time….not any more. Those days died when The New York Yacht Club unbolted the cup from its central lobby. It’s time to find out if it also loosened common sense and compromise.

Alinghi Chief Offers His Views

Concerned that the America's Cup event is going nowhere FAST, it seems, Ernesto Bertarelli, who heads up the two-time America's Cup Defense, has offered a remarkable public letter clarifying his feelings about the next contest.

You'll notice the logic and the concern, as well as the importance of "doing the right thing," as he defines it. Finally, you'll notice that he has already met with the other key player in this mega-stakes game, the American Larry Ellison, who heads up the unsuccessful but extremely aggressive USA challenge efforts via BMW/Oracle Racing. Finally, please note the possible future involvement of the "winning-est" club ever of the America's Cup, The New York Yacht Club, which Mr. Bertarelli recently visited.

Here's what Mr. Berarelli says in his open letter, as reprinted from BYMNEWS.COM:

(For a link to this and other stories, please click on the headline.)

"Since Alinghi’s successful defence of the America’s Cup in July, much has been said by many and I wish to explain my personal passion for bringing my vision of the America’s Cup to life.
When I founded Alinghi it was all about creating a team to share the passion of sailing through every channel available to as wide an audience as possible. We tried to adopt a fresh and open way of doing things and making part of our base accessible to the public was only one example of the many innovations Alinghi brought to the America’s Cup. I believe this approach was a contributing factor to our success in 2003.

With the Defence of the Cup, we got the opportunity to share this spirit with the whole event. When we began, we set out a clear and innovative strategy focusing on the choice of venue, the set up of a purpose built port, the America’s Cup Park and the Acts as part of our vision of opening the event to as large an audience as possible.
Over six million people attended the event, which for the first time saw the participation of syndicates from five continents. The television coverage extended the reach to over four billion viewers.

The critics who opposed the Acts, the choice of venue, the television production, etc. were numerous and vociferous but the facts proved that the 32nd America’s Cup was a positive turning point for this historical event.

At the same time as realising some of the fascinating aspects of the America’s Cup I also became aware of its weaknesses. The uncertain format of the event meant that teams – and the entire America’s Cup Community – had no future beyond the next Cup. This leads to teams only surviving one cycle and the whole event needing to recreate itself every three to five years. This results in a substantial increase in costs and difficulty in securing long term sponsors.
For the 33rd edition, the concept was to empower the organisers to implement further innovations without unnecessary disruptions. The proposal to create the new AC90 class with the one boat sailing rule in a two year cycle is a major measure towards managing the costs while creating further excitement and by using the existing facilities of Valencia we had the ideal platform to maintain momentum. This would have enabled the event to prosper and generate greater revenue for the organisers to share with the teams.

The recent events in the New York courts, with the Judge ruling the CNEV invalid because it had not held its regatta at the right time, show the Achilles’ heel of the event and the possibility of its destabilisation through individual actions. Again, as in 2003, our vision has received criticism from those reluctant to change. I stand by one of the principles of the Cup: the Trustee, with the Defender, has the responsibility for the governance of the event and to implement changes which will allow it to prosper.

With a view towards the future and having studied the rules of the Cup I observed that the Deed does not actively promote parity for the teams and a long term future of the event.
In October of this year I went to New York to start a dialogue with the New York Yacht Club to examine what enthusiasm there was to make the event more relevant to today’s sporting landscape. The Deed of Gift was, after all, written over 150 years ago at the NYYC and could not anticipate the changes that the world has undergone. I was not expecting the discussions to be completed swiftly but I was thrilled when Charles Townsend, Commodore of the NYYC and George W. Carmany III, Chairman of NYYC America’s Cup Committee, expressed the same feelings.

It is fair to say that the 33rd America’s Cup has been ill-fated and I have a desire to make it right. The fastest way to achieve this objective would be for the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the Société Nautique de Genève to work with the New York Yacht Club on revising the Deed of Gift to make it appropriate for today without losing what makes the America’s Cup special. As part of this process I am happy to compromise on some of the Defender’s rights to achieve what is best for the event.

In effect, I raise the following questions:
· Should the Defender automatically be qualified for the final AC Match or should all teams start on equal footings?
· Should the schedule of venues and content of regulations be announced several cycles in advance allowing planning and funding?
· Should the governance of the Cup become permanent and be managed by entities representing past and current trustees as well as competing teams?

Over the weekend I spoke at length with Larry Ellison explaining our proposal and I was pleased that he was very supportive of the principles in the proposed changes.
Based on these principles it is my intention to work towards a renovated America’s Cup to take place in Valencia and to be raced with the certainty that the event cannot be disrupted to meet individual requirements to the detriment of those willing and able to compete.
If this revision of the governing documents of the America’s Cup cannot be achieved, we will have to accept the GGYC challenge under the Deed of Gift. "

Signed

Ernesto Bertarelli

Oracle Chief Takes Out Hundreds of Millions

For those of you who follow the stock market, as noted above, Oracle's stock has faired quite nicely in recent years (maybe not as much as its potential, but nice). In fact, Larry Ellison, as Chief Executive Officer has sold more than $800 million in the past few months, one can only guess why (besides the fact CEO's must sell some of their stock on a regular and automatic basis for various Wall Street and tax reasons).

Could it be he's amassing a fortune for his next Cup challenge?

Or is this chump-change for the Big Guys this Holiday season, a happenstance?

Could someone please ask him the next time he drops buy? Inquiring Minds want to know.

Now We Wait

The legal wrangling is wrangled. The posturing and posing, postured and posed.

Now, it’s time for some sailboat racing, right?

Wrong. Now we wait some more, as the Big Boys make up their minds -- out of the spotlight of truth and beyond the scope of the average (non-billionaire) sailor.

On the one hand (Alinghi), the current and the two-time America’s Cup winner, considers appealing the recent ruling it lost in a US court (shock?) regarding its infamous Challenger of Record, a non-yachting “yacht club” created from thin air to keep Challengers off guard and, perhaps, under the thumb of the Big A.

On the other, there are the so-called “Winners” of the lawsuit over in the U. S. of A. at Oracle, that is, Larry Ellison and the tiny Golden Gate Yacht Club, their Challenging club. (One winner: Oracle, the software company, wins on Wall Street, as shareholders saw their stock more than double since the last two America’s Cups were awarded to the Swiss. It seems the more he loses, the better his stock does. I wonder how shareholders, including your Blogster, in times past, like the most: Good racing or rising stock prices?)

Despite having lost the last Cup in the early rounds, the BMW/Oracle so-called Dream Team has already noted that they want the next challenge to be in monster cats next year, 10 months from the time of the judge’s ruling (October?). Well, he’s ruled. So, by their own measure the next event should be conducted mano-a-mano: Ernesto Bertarelli vs. Larry Ellison, jousting dollar signs at 50 paces, a.k.a., in expensive darn boats the average bear can't afford. Sounds perfectly . . . perfect.

The logic here escapes this Blogster, but anything’s possible in sailboat racing, one now sees playing out here and there, off the race course, behind closed doors.

It’s anyone’s guess what may happen.

The losers to date:

* Fans, expecting serious competitions between the best competitors (this would be the Swiss team and the New Zealand Team)
* Europeans, who just love sailing, the sailing parties, the rock stars and their spouses living it up in public settings adjacent to the docks.
* The gigantic American new media, who seem to have take an eight-year hiatus from the entire event, carrying stories few and far between, mostly emanating from a reporter here and there with “inside connections” to Alinghi or Oracle. (Your blogster can't even get the local newspaper in Stamford, CT, to run a teeny, tiny story on the Cup on their Internet site!)
* All advertisers, who’ve temporarily washed their hands of this who mess until the dust settles and customers are to be identified and advertised to make an honest buck.

The winners to date:
* Ugh...who exactly are they? A few attorneys?
* A few Cup yacht designers, with pencils poised on their drawing boards?
Alinghi, which has just issued a gorgeous picture-book of AC32, including wonderful photos of most participants and some incredible on-water photos?
* The America’s Cup Management Committee, who has gotten a chance to meet almost full time to discuss endless options facing them in the next few years?
* Some professional hired-gun sailors doing their pushups, griding out their situps and running their miles to get into shape for whatever event comes down the pike first.

Who’d have thunk: Win the Cup, Lose the War . . . for the attention to the global sailing audience and just about everyone else as well.

Fortunately, there’s still time: Guy - - Get EVERYONE into a room and don’t leave until the next two years of race preparation milestones are established. Done. Finis. Print the T shirts. This ain't Iraq. Let's get everyone into the expiring-lease club house in Valencia, then out onto the race course. NOW.

ANOTHER BLOGSTER MAKES UP STORY

Your Blogster has to totally disagree with the spoilsport at the Rule 69 Blog regarding the recent America’s Cup ruling that went against the Alinghi team. (Gee, a European who loses against a US team in a US court. Your Blogster is shocked.)

Anyway, his self-proclaimed “hand-grenade journalism” (Magnus Wheatley) claims that Ernesto Bertarelli has taken the low road on preparing for the next America’s Cup event. (Apparently, hand-granade means totally fabricated, as convenient) He describes them as having “petty euro politics, money-grabbing, self interest and back-biting.” Apparently he doesn’t get out much.

Recall:

The Alinghi guys have won the cup, fairly and square, TWICE. These guys are good, great even, if you really think it through and by any measure. They've won handily in other regattas, as well.

Next, Alinghi and the America’s Cup Management (ACM) organization seem to have honestly tried to keep things moving ahead smartly - - they quickly worked with all of the Challengers (even with the boys at BMW/Oracle) to develop a new, more exciting and faster class of boats, and they decided to hold the regatta SOONER rather than four long years away. Most of the requests from the Challengers were carefully evaluated and honored. What winning team has EVER done this? Of course, they slipped in a lot of favorable items for themselves. And why not? That comes with being the winner -- in ANY sport. The winner makes the rules. Which is why a new winning team feels so GREAT - - they not only beat the Defender, they beat the Defender on his OWN TURF, embarrassing one and all on that team.

The result of all the work sown by Alinghi and ACM? A blossoming of champions: Everyone is salivating to get on with the sailing and the heck with the politics. They are eager to build and race this monster boats. Advertisers, yes, seem to holding back a bit, but advertisers traditionally are careful and analytical. They’re spending gobs of money and want some return on it. Who doesn’t?

Further, at his own expense, Mr. Bertarelli just flew to New York City and met with officers of the New York Yacht Club (as hard as this is to imagine) trying to drum up NEW Challengers, AND out to California to meet with the boys out there. His reception and the general mood of all participants - - who jammed both clubs to see and meet him (and congratulate him openly) - - was a combination of awe, respect, pleasure and fun for ALL. There wasn’t a hint of ANYTHING negative, according to your Blogster’s sources. And he brought along his Skipper, too.

Thus, are we “better off” that BMW/Oracle won their lawsuit, as Mr. Wheatley contends, tossing the paper-club Challenger of Record?

How could this be true? Now, most all of the work for the past six months goes out the window and event managers and coordinators go back to Square One or less.

How can this be positive? Tell me. I’m waiting.

U.S. Judge Settles Suit in Favor of U.S. Club, Hummm

In a decision that roils the international sailing community, Judge Herman Cahn of the New York Supreme Court ruled today, Nov. 27, against the current holder and defender of the America’s Cup trophy, Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), sponsor of the winning Alinghi sailing yacht. The Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, sponsor of the challenging yacht BMW-Oracle Racing, filed the suit and claimed that SNG had falsely accepted into the fold a non-yacht club, the Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), as Challenger of Record for the next America’s Cup event, to be held as early as 2009.

“We are very pleased by the decision at it enables everyone to focus on getting the Cup back on track quickly,” according to Russell Coutts, three-time winning America’s Cup Skipper and Chief Executive Officer of BMW Oracle Racing, which is sponsored by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, which filed the suit. “We will be very happy if we can put the last few months behind us and get on with sailing.” His cup victories include successful bids as a hired gun representing the U.S. (Black Magic), New Zealand (Team NZ) and the Swiss (Alinghi).

BMW Oracle becomes the replacement Challenger of Record, tasked with organizing the other seven challengers, against the Defender Alinghi syndicate, headed by Ernesto Bertarelli, a Swiss sailor and former pharmaceuticals magnate. Mr. Coutts indicated he favors a traditional cup match-up in 2009. “We will immediately endeavor to meet with the other challengers to mutually agree to a fair set of rules negotiated with the other teams.”

In the America’s Cup regatta prior to this year’s, America’s Cup 32 in 2003, BMW-Oracle Racing had served as Challenger of Record, a powerful organization charged with organizing the elimination races and events for all of the challenging clubs. A single challenger emerges from these rounds and sails against the cup Defender. The BMW Oracle challenge team was eliminated, to the surprise of many challengers, in early rounds of the challenger competitions.

The current suit is an outgrowth the defeat of the only U.S. team entered in America’s Cup 33, held this past July in Valencia, Spain.

By ruling against the America’s Cup Management (ACM) decision to accept the newly formed CNEV yacht club as Challenger of Record, the judge’s ruling specifically designates BMW Oracle Racing as the new Challenger of Record. As such, BMW Oracle has already indicated it wants the next America’s Cup regatta to be held in 90-foot long mega-catamarans, capable of speeds exceeding 40 knots. Some of these cats are already breaking world records in ocean crossings and cape roundings. (They’ve also racked up some spectacular crashes, disintegrations and delaminations along the way.)

The judge noted in his brief that the new Spanish club did not appear to meet the traditionally accepted definition of a yacht club and did not meet the America’s Cup’s Deed of Gift from the mid-1800s. The CNEV had conducted no regattas, a requirement of the Deed, had no web site and no membership roster or boats, basic features of a typical yacht club.

Ernesto Bertarelli, President of the Alinghi sailing powerhouse, said in a prepared statement: “We are disappointed that a technicality made the CNEV invalid, and we are now are looking forward to discussions with the Golden Gate Yacht Club to keep the America’s Cup functioning.” Bertarelli has already announced that the next America’s Cup was to be conducted in 2009, two years earlier than previous Cup events held every four years, and was to be sailed in a new class of 90-foot yachts, 25 feet longer than today’s America’s Cup sloops. This month, however, the America’s Management Committee had postponed the next event indefinitely until the judge’s ruling settled matters.

He added: Today’s decision against the validity of the Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), the Challenger of Record, is a disappointment to the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), AC Management (ACM), Alinghi and the seven entered Challengers affected by the outcome. There will now be a thorough review of the Judge’s decision and an analysis of the various options offered by the Deed of Gift.”

Back in July, the Golden Gate Yacht Club had entered a challenge for America’s Cup 33, the next regatta. The Club noted: “We will endeavor to work with SNG to mutually agree to appropriate terms for the 33rd AC to keep the event exciting and fair for all. Under SNG’s stewardship, the 32nd Cup delivered some of the most hotly-contested racing in recent Cup history, and brought Cup sailing to more people worldwide than ever before. We hope we can build on this for the future and continue the momentum we started here together in Valencia.”
It looks as though they are going to get their chance. Previously, they had complained that the CNEV is a brand new club specifically created for the challenge, thus failing to meet the requirements for a challenging yacht club as defined by the Deed of Gift dating back to 1857.

This is at least the second time a U.S. judge has ruled in favor of a U.S. team against a foreign challenger. Most recently, this occurred in the AC event that pitted U.S. racing catamaran against a giant sloop entered by Alan Bond of Australia.

NY Judge Rules in Favor of BMW Oracle

New York Supreme Court Judge Herman Cahn has ruled against Alinghi and the America's Cup Management Committee, noting that sponsoring club Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) erred in accepting Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) as the Challenger of Record over previous leading challenger, BWM Oracle. CNEV’s acceptance violated the spirit of the 19th century America’s Cup Deed of Gift, the judge wrote in his lengthy and weeks-late decision.

CNEV didn’t fit the mainstream definition of a fully functioning yacht club capable of mounting a Challenge, the judge added. The club had conducted no regattas (one is planned), has no boat-owning members (only directors from an umbrella Spanish yacht club organization) and, no member boats tied up at a local marina. More evil: They have no web site, a rather odd measure of a club’s functionality, but an interesting one he invented - - ya gotta be out in Cyberspace to be a Club. For shame: Most of these problems could have been fixed back in June-July when folks were running around preparing for the event, then holding up the silver mug for all to see. They shoulda hired a webmaster! (And a Blogger, your Blogster might add, hint, hint.)

Enter BMW Oracle Racing as the new Challenger of Record. May the best team win (oh, we’ve already seen this match up - - it wasn’t pretty for the USA, well…..). Now, on with the Cup, be in 90-foot sloops, catamarans. tri’s, dinghies or what? Maybe there’ll be some racing in 2009. Count on it.

Lawyer's Gain, Sailors' Loss

The lawyers win, and we know what that means: The America’s Cup Management organization (ACM) has just announced that the 2009 regatta will be delayed due to ongoing legal activities by a potential Challenger (a.k.a., BMW/Oracle/Larry Ellison). When lawyers win, events come to a grinding halt, possibly indefinitely.

ACM put it best: "During the past months, AC Management (ACM), the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and the Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), in conjunction with the competing Challengers, have worked hand in hand to develop the rules and regulations for an event in 2009. These rules and regulations were agreed by all competitors and supported by the most recent entrants bringing the number of registered syndicates to eight, with an additional two currently filing entry documents."

Their uncertainty has triggered a decision to postpone the 2009 event. ACM describes the current situation as one in which there seems a "lack of viability" for the next event.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the New York Supreme Court judge has not as yet completed his review of the BMW/Oracle-Alinghi court case. He’s had more than enough time (several weeks), but must have more pressing matters before his bench (Between the lines: Almost any other suit, in his mind).

Meanwhile, the ACM deadline of December 15 for the entry of additional Challengers stands. After this date, it’s up to ACM on a case by case basis whether or not to allow further entrants.
Sailors, of course, are used to waiting for races to begin: They do so before the countdown at every regatta, after false starts and wind delays, and for lack of entrants. Pretty soon they’ll each have to take along an attorney to keep the game moving along. Now you’re talkin’ - - maybe this will entice other Challengers from the good ol’ US of A to enter.

Enter Two Challengers; Cats OK by Alinghi

Two more Cup Challengers, having gathered wheelbarrows of money, have tipped their captain’s hats to the America’s Cup Management Committee and officially entered the next America’s Cup regatta - - whenever and whenever it may be held. This seems to take both faith and nerve, one might postulate. One Challenger's from Italy and one’s from Spain, homeport venue for the next event.

The new Challengers:

* Italy’s Mascalzone Latina, sponsored by the Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia of Naples, Italy (http://www.mascalzonelatino.it/)

* Spain’s Ayre, sponsored by the Real club Nautico de Demia

As both Alinghi and BMW/Oracle sit on pins and needles awaiting Judge Herman Cahn’s New York Supreme Court ruling regarding the legitimacy of the new Challenger of Record, Hamish Ross, general counsel for Alinghi, has just been interviewed by Yachting as saying that if Alinghi loses the BMW/Oracle’s suit, they’ll be happy to race next year in 90-foot by 90-foot catamarans, as suggested by BMW/Oracle and as unlikely (but spectacular) as that sounds. These cats routinely travel at 40 knots plus.

“We’re both in a holding pattern right now,” Ross summarized. He said that Alinghi et al loses, they have no intention at this point of appealing the ruling.

They’d go ahead and race in the Mediterranean in mega-cats (Your Blogster: For the King Kong Cup, the KKC?), then go on to the America’s Cup event. If Alinghi wins the Court Challenge, they’d then expect a lengthy appeal by BMW/Oracle, prolonging the first races until that’s settled, probably not until 2010 or 2011 (he notes: the World Cup also competes in 2010 for both TV coverage and for advertisers, not a good situation.).

“It costs a lot of money to run these regattas,” he continued. “We want to attract advertisers and put on a good show. If BMW/Oracle wins, we may not be looking at an America’s Cup regatta until 2011.” (Your Blogster adds: If it’s held at all, after all this unpleasantness. Then who’s won?)

AC90 Rule: Not Much Left on the Table

Your Blogster thought he’d take a closer look at the 47-page “Rule” book (AC90 Rule of Oct. 31, 2007), issued by AC Management SA, for the next America’s Cup. (To review see: http://www.americascup.com/multimedia/docs/2007/10/071031-ac90_rule_final.pdf)

The rule is supposed to be creating high performance racing yachts using commercial available materials and technology. It’s be raced by crews who will be physically and technologically challenging, but one’s using only manual controls to handle and trim the sails.

These rules may be amended, but only after January 8, 2008, and by the unanimous approval of the Challengers.

The document specifies lengths, weights and materials for the hulls and sails, including all standing and running rigging. It specifies rules regarding “appendages” and hatches, and a variety of related gear. The Rule also specifies the type of paint that is to be used on the hull. Vinyl film may be applied over the hull paint for the purpose of advertising. The bowsprit may not retract.

Once measured, each yacht receives a measurement certificate from AC Management and must remain in compliance at all times. It is subject to re-inspection.

The hulls will be made of “fibre modulus,” an FRP laminate, a commercially available reinforced polymer matrix composites, with fibres of carbon, glass, aramid and polymer.

There is a whole series of declarations and such from the builder.

In short, the rules appear to be tight and thorough to this layman’s eye.

The measurements are all in metric numbers and the text written in English.

The Rule is intended to be used for several America’s Cup regattas, with modifications in future one’s. Once built, the yachts are expected to be raced in windward-leeward courses, with support craft present, within wind and sea limits “which are not extreme.”

Of course, as practical, the yachts are supposed to raceable out of the port of Vallencia, Spain.

Deadlines & Legalities: Flux, Flux, Fizz, Fizz

Much about the next America’s Cup remains in limbo, neither fish nor fowl....

There’s the court battle between Alinghi and BMW/Oracle concerning the legitimacy of the Challenger or Record for the next event. Yawn. (BMW/Oracle: Enter the danged race and get on with it already.)

There’s the ever-popular speculation regarding the two possible outcomes in the New York Supreme Court battle. On the one hand, BMW/Oracle “wins,” enter Alinghi who may appeal the verdict. Or vice versa. Tick-Tock, the Mouse Ran Up the Clock, as time slinks away embarrassed by it all.

In any case, the next racing may be conducted in huge catamarans, of all things. On the other hand, if Alinghi wins, BMW/Oracle may appeal, canceling this next year’s event entirely, and prolonging the agony for a couple more years, upsetting sailings everywhere.

There are ongoing talks between Alinghi and BMW/Oracle regarding a settlement of their differences out of court. Ha. Ha. Fat chance.

There are ongoing talks/demands by BMW/Oracle regarding the operating Rules for America’s Cup 33 in 2009. (Think cerebral engineers and such arguing minutia and lawyers advising their clients not to back down.)

Of all these ongoing activities, the last one deserves some comment.

Alinghi has said that it has tried to include BMW/Oracle in the ongoing discussions with the Challengers as they hammer out the Rules for the next event. Yet, as one set of demands is met, another set appears from BMW/Oracle’s Russell Coutts et al to keep discussions complex and unending.

At this point the lawyers are a-lawyering (talking at their hourly rates, filing papers at their hourly rates, and pontificating at their hourly rates with the news media), the judge is discussing the case with himself (“On the one hand, on the other hand, oh who really knows! Maybe I’ll flip coin, sort of like in the OJ Simpson cases.”), and the sailors, meanwhile, are dispersed around the globe and racing in a variety of high-end regattas.

The public (that cares, read European, at this point) is mystified, confused and more than a little frustrated as people predict the next America’s Cup, sadly, may not get in the water (i.e., off the ground) for years and years to come.

Instead of the America’s Cup, the next event might soon be called: “ America’s Cup, The Races that Could Have Been Held in 2009, Then in 2010, and Now - - No One Really Gives a Darn…..” Film at 11.

Meanwhile, a couple of new teams appear ready to launch their own Challenges and rush ahead the begin spending upwards of $60 million apiece for the privilege. And Larry Ellison’s BMW/Oracle lease on a piece of the Valencia harbor reserved for the Challengers has expired.

Ain’t life great! Pretty soon somebody's got to agree to something or we'll have the spectre of the Virtual America's Cup played only on PC screens. How fun will that be?

Musings: Call the Coroner

The America’s Cup is dead. Long live the King. End of story…perhaps.

It has been pronounced dead - - in the United States of America - - where the world’s largest number of sailors resides. Not in Switzerland, not in Spain, not Australia, not New Zealand or Lapland. The good ol’ U. S. of A. They’re here. They spent $50 million at the (Sen.) Jacob K, Javits Convention Center during a ONE-WEEK boat show on W. 37th Street in NYC.

Weirdly, they have all lost interest in this superb event (not the sport, just this Clash of the Titans). It’s a fact. Whatever was there isn’t. That life’s been snuffed out, which is more than a little ironic, since the skippers and several of the crew members once lived and learned the difference between processed Dacron and laminate sails.

Kaput. Not breathing. Dead in the water. A lame duck. A dead duck. A ruptured duck, living in suspended animation. Frozen. Without life. Beyond recovery. Killed, squashed, run over, shot, stabbed, choked, maimed, strangled, poisoned, run out of town on a rail, hanged, killed, killed off, thinned, beaten and a sailor’s most dreaded way to go: Drowned. Your worst nightmare. Gonzo.

* * *

Losing something taken for granted for 132 years, since Civil War times, does that to an event, especially one so hard to write about or film, and harder to understand. As a symbol, the America’s Cup in the 19th century captured imaginations. It was the overcoming of yet another stigma of domination by England over her former Colonies. Who were these brash Americans beating All the King’s Men. In the 20th, there was drama and feat. In the 21st? Nothing. No news hook to grab, not story to tell. De nada.

Previously, the U.S. re-winning the Cup, like clockwork, became a poke in the eye every couple of years by upstart American’s, popping a left hook into the gut of their seafaring, salty-dog rivals across the pond. “You may have been a global sea-power, once, but no more in amateur sailing,” American’s gloated in the 19th century. You’ll never win this back. So there.

From Day One, America’s winning of the famed match-race, mano a mano, made the nation’s sailors feel better. They stood prouder at the helm and enjoyed lording over the world’s sailing community. “We’ve got the best, guys, and don’t you forget it.” In today’s parlance: “We bad. We bad”

* * *

But that was then, pre-1987. The upstart Australians took all that away and more. In one stroke of skill and luck, they took away the Cup and torpedoed the global audience sailing had had to that point. Swish. Kaputsky. End of interest.

They’re bored: Network TV coverage virtually stopped, up to this day. European media coverage got a shot in the arm, but for how long? Gone are the massive US audiences that started shrinking and disappearing the day after unbolting of the Cup from its NYC pedestal. A few sailing publications continue the saga, but even they ask, “What’s the p+oint?

As soccer dominates Europe, and football and baseball capture the hearts of Americans, sailing has now taken the proverbial backseat as a professional sport of interest. It’s unbelievable: Winning brings fans, losing and non-participation snuffs interest. It’s that simple.

If you read America’s Cup Skipper John Bertrand’s book about that (unlikely) 1987 event, where Australia eked out a victory by out-sailing unbeatable Dennis Iron-Man Connor, it’s as though he’s writing about a different event. America’s Cup statistics were on the lips of a worldwide audience. The man in the street knew what the odds were. People held their collective breaths awaiting the outcome. Could the mighty U.S. team of machine-like and arrogant professionals be derailed? Could the Blunderers from Down Under out-tack, out-jibe, out-start, out slam-dunk, out chute set, out-strategize those haughty America’s? Never happen, they pronounced, confidently. “You can take all our best skippers and all our best sailors, and we’ll still beat you,” they told each other.

* * *

Today, doesn’t it appear possible, even plausible, that event coverage at one time included live feeds from the Goodyear Blimp, story filings from every wire service, reporting by every TV and radio host worth a lick, wall-to-wall news media from the entire civilized world? Could a U.S. city (Newport, Rhode Island, pop. 26,500, including some of the wealthiest people of the day) be brought to its knees, to a complete stand-still, because of a sailing event? Did school children actually have an opinion about the skippers and boats, including that mysterious (winged) keel? Did the nightly news hang on the every word uttered by a sailor?

You’d never know it now. You’d never know it now.

Sailboats have become just another prop for advertisers, another way to embarrass actors and actresses as they pretending to pull in the mainsheet or let out whatever that rope-thing does. Yachts have become just another way to sell insurance or provide a backdrop for the weatherman.

Today, you can’t even find a cabbie who gives Thought One about this so-called global activity, even fewer so since the big guys went to court. In fact, going to court after a sport is conducted pretty much dooms any sport. Going to court drove the last nail in the pine coffin that’s the America’s Cup. It’s six-feet-under, a-rotting, wormy.

What’s currently being fought over is the Ghost of America’s Cups Past, Ebenezer Scrooge in a dry suit come a-haunting. Not the silver goblet of old. It’s the Zombie Cup, shuffling walking around a shopping center because it’s there, in the words of the walking dead in Dawn of the Living Dead.

Edgar Allen Poe penned it in The Bronx in 1845: “Quoth the raven: Never more.”

* * *

Moving forward, it’s going to take more than a lot of practice races to bring a drinkable elixir of life back into the Cup in this country. It won’t just happen, however. It can be held all right, but no one will come, not without a U.S. Challenger or four or six.

Then, it will take media manipulation and public relations and advertising of the classiest sort to generate a single story in the Paper of Record which carriers All the Stories Fit to Print. Plus the sport needs a global spokesman, a snake-oil salesman with something to hip say. A hipster, a huckster, a tall drink of water, a player.

The sport has to find one, fast, though several quotable heroes would be better. Caricatures of sailors larger than life, that’s what needed, right now to make this sport noteworthy. It will take guys and gals brimming with quotable quotes, pithy remarks showcasing their talents and belittling those of their rivals. They’ll be competing for the day’s headlines with kidnappings, muggings, rapes and easier-to-report stories from police blotters worldwide. The starting gun has fired. It’s time to crash the line on the side nearest the first mark. It’s time to remove sail twist and flatten the draft, grind in the genny and climb out on the toerail.

It’ll take unusual sailboats, with secrets and intrigue gradually revealed. Sails made from reprocessed Challengers. Sheets of Olympic athlete’s bulging muscles processed through a blender. Make no mistake, it’s going to take carefully crafted guts and glory and glamour. It’ll take a Paris Hilton, a Presidential Contender, a Michael Jackson, a David Beckham. Someone larger than life. A Ted Turner wannabe. And it’ll take money promoting special events. Giveaway’s and T-shirts. But when to begin this pilgrimage, this kowtowing to the U.S. news media? Today, right now. It’s almost too late. Man your pencils and telephones, begin promoting this stellar event. In a few familiar words: On your mark, get set, GO.

This event is dead otherwise. Long live the King. Not.

* * *

It’s going to take a lot more than a sailing event to wake up the world’s news media. It’s going to take sex, drugs and rock-and-roll. Or the equivalent. Something worth writing about, endlessly, speculating about, interviewing someone about, something worth photographing and filming. In short, a world-class event, carefully packaged and promoted to the stars.

Your competitors? Not other Challengers, but soap, toothpaste, woman’s hygiene products and pharmaceuticals: All advertised products and services challenging for their 15 minutes of fame in the daily news. But they come first, since they’re potential and existing advertising. Global sailors and sailing events? They’re just another high-school team whose swimmers and marching bands swim and play for their parents. No one else really cares and that’s the way the world’s press is playing it.

It’s going to take not one, not two, but no less than FIVE Challengers from the U.S. to get this moribund event back in the editor’s queue. It’s might also take a miracle. Fast, faster than fast. And controversy, sex appeal, monied personalities. The vision thing.

Like Jesse Jackson visiting a Navy ship. Jane Fonda calling on Ross Perot. Dog biting man. NEWS. Something worth remarking about, buying a paper for.

News. News coverage. Millions and millions and millions of viewers (and dollars) paying homage. Sorry, it doesn’t just happen. It takes carefully crafted strategy, every bit as complex as the hull displacement and the length of the J from stem to mast.

Without these, dust off the dirge and order a marble tombstones…this event’s dead on arrival.

Cup Star: Gracious Yachtsman of the Year

Let’s listen to American Ed Baird, Alinghi’s winning skipper, in this year’s America’s Cup.

"The America's Cup was by far the most difficult event to win. It was also the most exciting. I'm lucky that there have been many special moments in my career, but it's also been great to see all three of my sons sail their first regattas and start to enjoy the sport."

He made these comments at the awards dinner after having been selected as International Sailing Federation’s Rolex World Sailor of the Year for 2007.

This is the second time the award has gone to an American. The first? Paige Railey, in the Woman’s category. Claire Leroy of France was named this year’s Female ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year.

Here’s a single paragraph quoted from Sail Magazine’s web site that summarizes the ENTIRE America’s Cup Races this past July:

“The first match went to Alinghi but with ETNZ picking up the next two, Alinghi dug deep to win three on the bounce bringing the score to four-two and needing just one more win. The seventh, potentially deciding, match was another nail biter. ETNZ spent much of the race ahead but never quite gained a solid advantage. With just a few metres separating the two as they approached the final upwind mark, the crucial position of Alinghi and a perfect dial down from BAIRD forced Emirates Team New Zealand to concede a penalty. It looked like Alinghi had secured the win but an enormous wind shift put the finish line upwind leaving ETNZ able to lay it and Alinghi struggling to drop their spinnaker. Down on speed as they completed their penalty, ETNZ could only watch as BAIRD steered Alinghi across the line just one second ahead and winning the America’s Cup.” For more information: http://sailmag.com/BairdWorldSailor/

(Your Blogster doesn’t mind copying this copyrighted materials here, since Sail Magazine attributed this incredible writing to a “KL,” who also compiled it from somewhere….)

He learned sailing the right way: Winning first in Optimist Dinghies, the Lasers, J-24’s, Maxis and 50 footers. Then he moved on to around-the-world racing!!!!!

Hear, hear for Ed! Long live The King!

News of Desafio Espanol

Sailing master (his trophy case probably takes up his entire living room) Paul Cayard has moved to Valencia, Spain, as sports Director of Desafio Espanol. From here, he’s pulling together another Cup Challenger. One recalls he’s sailed on a number of previous Challenger boats, including on both American and Italian Challenger teams and, of course, for BMW/Oracle itself at one point. He seems such a jolly fellow—who wouldn’t want to sail with him?

But first, the news: The super-fast guys at Farr Yacht Design have been selected as the main design team for Desafio Espanol. They don’t come up with too many slow boats to China. Just racing juggernaughts (think Farr 40….). Let’s see what they come up with.

They revealed in a Sail-World article that the new class of boat will be both more demanding (understatement) and will require bigger, stronger crews (another understatement). Picture: 12 people grinding most of the time on six pedestals - - eek. Maybe the NFL has a team to spare?

Training will be rigorous, he projects confidently, and has already begun, with both aerobic and strength training (some spinach, too?). They’re using an America’s Cup yacht from the last event and two Swedish Match 40s they recently bought. (One hopes they remember these boats are HALF the size of the new 90-footers to come, if 40 means feet.)

And they’ve already hired about 70 per cent of their crew, but they’re “off” until February; off weight-training, one assumes. Maybe World Wrestling Entertainment has a few muscle-men to spare? Preferably one who wears that preposterous gold belt of the champions.

He neatly summed up the current situation: If the court ruling favors Alinghi, the Challengers have little time to waste. The starting gun has already fired. If it’s BMW/Oracle, then the next battle may be in catamarans somewhere in the Bearing Sea. Cats? That should prove something to see, since these monster cats can travel at 40 knots and pull water-skiers as well! Stay tuned….

Of course, the fact that Mr. Cayard along with BMW/Oracle Russell Coutts have just formed the World Sailing League ($2 million prize), which just happens to be using 70-foot catamarans, is just a COINCIDENCE…not.

Catching Up on Some Loose Ends (Background)

Back in July, the six Challengers had “team signed,” that is, they signed and sent the same exact letter to Societe Nautique de Genevo (SNG - - Alinghi) complaining that the newly formed Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEW), now the Challenger of Record, was selected based on only one vague paragraph of the ancient Deed of Gift - - that famous “mutual consent” clause.

Doing so, they claimed, reduced the value of the new boats, made budgeting impossible, harms the competitive position of the Challengers, and changes the nature of the competition, among other things.

They wanted a “more balanced and fair procedure” for the Challenger of Record selection (that is, they wanted BMW/Oracle, or at least, not some new club selected by Alinghi).

These letters became part of the legal challenge in New York regarding the legitimacy of the Challenger of Record club.

Subsequently, the Golden Gate Yacht Club has issued a new release welcoming the prospect of a speedy court ruling to resolve the issues surrounding the next Protocal governing the event in 2009.

Tom Ehman of BMW/Oracle said the American Team had presented a strong case that the Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV) was invalid and the new Potocol unfairly advantaged the Defender. In the same breath (let’s see if they lose what he’ll say) he noted that Justice Herman Cahn “understands the issues.”

A few weeks later, the Golden Gate Yacht Club said it would agree to comprehensive new compromises, to get the Cup event back on track, if the Defender will disclose its Rule for the boat’s design. (This was on Oct. 25, 2007.) Ok, boys, the Rule has been issued. It’s time to put in your Challenge? This is normal practice, to reveal the Rule to all potential competitors well in advance of the event.

Yet, on Nov. 1, after the new Rule had been issued, the Golden Gaters still dither: They now want to compare today’s Rule with the original skeletal outline issued previously, so all competitors start on a level field.

Midnight Madness: Designers, Grab Pencils

It’s official. Whew. The America’s Management Chief Michel Hodara has released the full version of the 2009 rule for America’s Cup 33 to Cup Challengers, as well as to the public (read: BMW/Oracle, Mascalzone Latino and Victory Challenge - - previous major Challengers who have not, as yet, officially entered the AC33 event and, going forward, would have been at a distinct disadvantage without this design document).

The organization met its announced deadline of Oct. 31. They waited until nearly midnight to release the public copy, causing many a designer to bite his/her nails. This Midnight Madness caught some media guys napping (it doesn’t really take much, now, does it?). The document seems to meet all design criteria documentation - - it’s dry as dust and full of European (metric) measurements and weights, with no attempt to translate for metric-dumb Americans (and the two tiny countries in Africa that still don’t use the metric system, that’s Nigeria, and I forget the other, and they don’t sail for the cup, anyway).

It also spells out the sheer ENORMITY of these future boats/yachts/monsters. More on the document later. The three non-Challengers this year might have been further marginalized had a public copy not been made available. (BMW/Oracle’s excuse is they are awaiting the New York Supreme Court’s ruling regarding their suit about the validity of the Challenger of Record, the so-called hand-maiden/Golden Boy, not Golden Gate Yacht Club, of Alinghi et al.)

With the design rule announced, no more excuses, guys. You’ve got it, so build it and get on with the show. Even BMW/Oracle got it’s back-door licks in via requests from Russell Coutts, it’s said, with confidence. Hanging fire in all this are key design parameters, including yacht width requirements, greatly affecting boat speed at boats this length and huge draft. Time will tell.

Defender/Challengers Hammer Out Class Rule

One of the critical “jabs” being taken at the America’s Cup Defender, Ernesto Bertarelli/Alinghi et al, involves the involvement of the involved Challengers, at least those who have signed up.

Are they really involved, to repeat, to repeat? Has the Challenger of Record managed to pull together the team of Challengers as "an effective resource" when addressing such basic issues as the TYPE OF BOAT and its design?

This week, we got a hint: Designers from the SIX Challengers announced they have been meeting “regularly” with the Defender, ever since the next yacht’s design process began on September 15. The result?

A new “Class Rule” for the 2009 America’s Cup event has been pulled together out of this process. It's been printed and handed out only to them so far.

Here’s how Juan Kouyoumdjian, principle designer for the British Challenger, TEAMORIGIN, puts it: “This has been an efficient and productive process, and the boat itself will be spectacular: Challenging to design, to sail and to race.”

Obviously, no one is paying him to say this. His team got its licks in, so to speak, and seems pleased. He had the option of saying nothing.

Ditto for John Cutler, technical director for Challenger Desafio Espanol: “We are happy with the process…hard work…for the teams…Challengers…Defender…lots of changes… The boat will be exciting to sail, a challenge to design and also a challenge for the crew to master. It will provide exciting racing.” Another believer in the process Alinghi has set up!

Absent from the process: The previous Challenger of Record, BMW/Oracle, though they have made a number of requests through their master skipper extraordinaire, Russell Couts.

The actual "Class Rule," which captures the recommendations into one document, has only been made available, so far, to the Defender and Challengers, not to the public (i.e., BMW/Oracle), pending the outcome of BMW/Oracle’s court case in New York Supreme Court, which could change things significantly. (The case involves the legitimacy, among other things, of the Challenger of Record's "club status.")

America's Cup Guru Tom Schnackenberg, the Class Rule and Competition Regulations Consultant for the America’s Cup Management organization, heads up the design consultation process. He noted: “The process has been an invigorating one with the Challengers helping enormously in making improvements to the rule. It is amazing how inventive people are in this environment, bouncing ideas off each other. These past six weeks have been a very enjoyable experience.”

To sum up:

* One can’t honestly claim that Alinghi is ramming down the throats of the Challengers it’s views on the next Cup event. Yes, they’ve established a 90-foot yacht - - one fast and big as hell - - as the vessel of choice (as BMW/Oracle continues speaking about some giant catamarans they’d like to race before the main event). And why not? Bigger is Better in yacht racing and just about everything else. If the winner wants a bigger boat, well, why not?
* The Challengers don’t seem to be complaining, especially since they may NEVER have been asked their opinions on the next boat’s design before.
* Once they’ve had their say, they then can’t complain they were railroaded into the event.

Let’s all sing “Cumbiya, My Love.”

Detroit Reporter: Auditioning for Alice in Wonderland?

Of late, the Detroit Free Press ran a purported “news story” regarding the BMW/Oracle vs. Alinghi et al hearing in New York Supreme Court in New York City. There are so many errors in “Reporter” Eric Sharp’s short article, one wonders if he wrote this on the way home from an all-night binge, or just likes to make things up as he goes along.

He attempted to “frame” Larry Ellison’s lawsuit (BMW/Oracle) as a race between giant catamarans or trimarans. Where does he get this stuff, off a cereal box decoder ring?

A few FACTS:

* During the brief hearing (see articles below), the subject of the legitimacy of the Challenger of Record’s “yacht club” status was culled out by the judge as a point for discussion, which lawyers on both sides of the room commented upon.
* So-called Reporter Mr. (Not-So) Sharp comments that, “It’s clear that the Spanish club was set up as Alinghi’s puppet….” Says who? Please provide a name, Mr. Not-So (Sharp). Your Blogster can’t find anyone who has said this anywhere. (Some may think it, but that's not what he "reported.")
* He adds that the Challenger of Record that was selected somehow relates to tourism dollars in Valencia and dollars for Allinghi. It does? Hello: The big dollars go to the DEFENDER. Other major dollars go to the city – every competitor has to eat, sleep and keep their boats going. Just as in any other city. (By the way, Mr. Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi fame is SWISS, not SPANISH, and a billionaire who might be a bit hard to “buy” or “sway” with money from a tiny Spanish city well off the beaten path, i.e., a long, long, long drive from the Costa del Sol to the south, and everywhere else, for that matter.)
* He claims that Allighi has already started secretly designing a 90-footer for the next America’s Cup. Where? How? Who? This is big news, but only if it were true, since the Alinghi guys and the Challenger guys are still very much STILL TALKING (a.k.a. arguing) about the displacement, possibly the size and just about everything else about the next America’s Cup yachts. In fact, Allinghi has asked the Challengers to come up with suggestions for displacement parameters of the next yacht, a major concession and NOT a requirement by the Deed of Gift. Skipper Russell Couts (BMW/Oracle) is driving many of these changes himself…. But that’s another story. But, of course, his input is limited, since his team has yet to actually ENTER the race as an official Challenger - - of Record, as previously, or Challenger Racer or ANTHING ELSE, for that matter. “You gotta be in it to win it,” as the NY State Lottery proclaims on a regular basis on US TV.

Mr. Not-So, if he may be called that, also reported the judge would be issuing his ruling in TWO to THREE weeks. Wrong, he clearly stated TWO WEEKS. (What he does, of course, is what he does. No New York judge likes to be held accountable for his own self-imposed schedules or deadlines, no matter how optimistic or unlikely, but at least get one of the basis facts correct, Not-So.)

Not-So “notes,” confidently, without quoting any living soul: “Most sailing experts agree….” Your Blogster has yet to find ANY SAILING EXPERTS that agree on much of ANYTHING regarding most regattas, let alone on much about the America’s Cup. The rest of his article further embarrasses most objective reporters, as well.

Here’s a comment your Blogster believes MOST sailing experts WILL AGREE ON: “Many reporters just don’t do their homework, or rely on only rumor-spreaders with an axe to grind, or just write too fast with too few facts. It’s so sad, especially when others honestly want to know ‘what’s happenin’, so to speak.”

Let’s skip the Detroit Free Press as a source of Cup info, no matter how “Free” the paper has become. The “Truth” takes time to gather and “Facts” to support. This story seemed to have had little of either.

NY Courtroom: The Entire Scene

Earlier this week, a small California yacht club brought suit against the holder - - the two-time Defender - - of the America’s Cup (the “literal” defender: home club Societe Nautique de Geneve, Ernesto Bertarelli, Team Alinghi et al/). That’s their right (it’s America; you can anyone, anytime, for just about anything, including a scalding cup of coffee). This tiny club’s astonishing membership roster, the roster of the sleepy little Golden Gate Yacht Club, the plaintiff, somehow includes a billionaire, who’s the previous America’s Cup Challenger of Record: Larry Ellison of BMW/Oracle fame.

The BMW/Oracle vs. Alinghi hearing proceeded ponderously in one of Manhattan’s grand and intimidating buildings that houses the New York Supreme Court, the state’s lowest court. Atop this building’s massive Greek columns it says: “The Timely Administration of Justice is the finest Pillar of Good Government.” In this lowest of cases, it should say beneath the statement: “No case too small, too meaningless or too petty to drive away all semblance of spectator and fun from the sport.” Or, simply, “Grudges settled, buck stops here.”

The building faces a plaza in which a rather odd, but huge, sheet-metal statue seems to ridicule the goings-on inside the building, since it resembles an upraised hand with its middle finger raised. (Actually it’s something called the “Triumph of the Human Spirit,” a tribute to a New York City African Burial ground, where 427 Africans were excavated.). The statue is SUPPOSED to be two mythical antelopes, locked horns upraised, romping away on a flat-bottomed boat. But that’s a story for another day. Yet it seems apropos, as two goliaths inside the coliseum share the limelight, and sailors outside offer the proverbial finger of tribute to one and all. It’s would almost be funny, if there weren’t so much money at stake.

In this case, the Court issue appears to boil down to the legitimacy of a certain microscopic yacht club (What ARE it’s dues, anyway, and where does one send them?). the gist: “When is a yacht club really a yacht club?” When it’s formed (the moment of conception)? When it hosts a regatta? When it serves it first lunch? When a bunch of boat owners fall down drunk at the bar? Just when? How about when someone says it is, someone pays dues and the check doesn’t bounce or when others join in the fun? How many members does it have to have? Can it also have motorboat members? Social members? A website? A burgee? Parking out front for the commodores?

Your Blogster knows of a New York club with a pool, tennis courts and a full-scale marina filled with boats. Is it MORE of a club than the one down the road that has an empty building for catered parties only, restrooms, no full-time staff, and a couple of slips?

For the America’s Cup and its oldy-moldy Dead of Gift, a yacht club is supposed to hold a major regatta. That’s just about it - - it doesn’t say when, where, how or why. Two Sabots and weighted down Clorox bottles for buoys might qualify nicely. Or two Sabots and one America’s Cup yacht with PHRF ratings of 350 and -10, respectively.

The Alinghi guy’s think the Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV), a spawn of the Spanish Sailing Federation, qualifies as a club, albeit a new one and was paper-based (don’t all clubs start with reams of paper?), and it certainly “exists” as much as some of the previous Challenger clubs that were accepted in yesteryear by various Defenders.

This is actually the SECOND time an America’s Cup lawsuit has gone to trial. The first time, back in 1989, Dennis Connor’s high-end catamaran went up against a giant J-Boat-like vessel, and David slew the dragon. The rest is history.

The judge neatly sliced through the legal (no so) briefs, targeting three areas for discussion:

* The legitimacy of the Challenger of Record club, certainly as an appropriate “balance of power” of all the Challengers against the Defender
* The seeming “outgrowth” (read “taint”) or birth of this club from Amerca’s Cup 32 (July 2007), the immaculate conception of the Spanish Sailing Federation (which, in part, is responsible for bringing the sailing event to Valencia, Spain - - read, the “money side” of the Business of the America’s Cup match-race, read possible conflict of interest
* The easily verifiable holding and/or scheduling, or lack there of, of a sailing regatta, a particularly difficult thing for a paper-club to pull off, since most yachts require notice and changes in their crowded racing schedules to add a new event to their calendars. An event can be held and no one might show except a few local stalwarts

In any case, Hamish Ross, representing Alinghi, advised Yachting journalist John Rousmaniere afterwards that “with every passing day, Alinghi’s hoped for deadline of July 2009 (for the next match-up) becomes less likely.”

As John summed up: “After about 30 minutes of lively discussion, the judge announced, “There will be a decision shortly.” (read—2 weeks). Out in the lobby, nobody declared victory, but nobody declared defeat, either. Later, the two sides reserved a meeting room at the New York Yacht Club for Tuesday morning.
One of the great things about America is how effectively a little judicial pressure can bring sense and civility to even the most bitter disputes.”

Real Contrast: Cup Sailing vs. The Courtroom

This past weekend your Blogster taught an American Sailing Association course on Coastal Cruising aboard one of Dennis Connor’s 50-foot America’s Cup-type boats called Formula 1’s. (No fools we didn’t sleep aboard, we over-nighted in a local club.) We sailed UP Manhattan's East River, right in front of the United Nations (!), through Hell Gate, and on into Long Island Sound. We managed to hit Hell Gate at slack tide, rather than fight the 3-6 knot tidal currents. We navigated to a local club and later to Stamford, Ct., right into your Blogster's backyard.

The 2 ½ -day class introduced adult students (an NYU professor, an art buyer, a sourcing manager and some financial types) to “life” aboard one of these gorgeous America’s Cup-type boats. All passed the course and became ASA certified, acing the exam the final day of the class.

Formula 1’s draw 10 feet (!), making “cruising them” a bit impractical, since many harbors in the New York area run out of water at about 8 feet. We moored these two scaled-down America’s cup yachts at the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, which also happened to hosting the annual Long Island Sound “Fall Series,” attended by a number of local speedsters. Needless to say, everyone had seen our arrival and had marveled at our sailing skills catching a mooring (Well, maybe not the latter, but we were an impressive sight with our 75-foot masts, fully battened mains, and massive sail plans!).

One J-105 sailor said they had topped out that afternoon at about 11 knots. Aboard the Formula 1’s, we easily topped 14.9 knots in modest breezes, romping quietly over all sailboats in the area, even some motorboats. These flush-deck rockets feature low freeboards, double wheels, and massive winches. They also are no frills down below (OK, it’s empty and rough down there), and feather-touch steering. Students learned grinding, tacking and gybing these powerful rigs. The boats accelerate upwind at speeds approaching planning, and turn with even the slightest motion or twitch of the wheel by the driver. This must be just a FRACTION of the fun (and physical strains) aboard a full-sized America's Cup yacht, from man-handling the main, to dragging up headsails from a dark pit within the bow.

What CONTRAST in a single week: One day happily blasting around the Sound in the fastest boat around. The next, sitting in a claustrophobic courtroom filled with attorneys and TV crews arguing the finer points of history and common law. Sigh. America, what a country!

Which venue carried more “sex appeal?” One guess. (It had hanks, halyards and smiling crews.) Yes, let’s get out of the courtroom and go yachting!

NY Supreme Court: “Is that Being Practical, Guys?”

“Let’s get on with it. We’ve only got two years. Let’s go yachting. We can’t wait much longer,” says Hamish Ross, General Counsel for Alinghi/Ernesto Bertarelli, out on the front steps of the New York Supreme Court in downtown New York City, following the much-anticipated Day in Court.

Forty-five minutes before, he and an army of lawyers in gray suits, packed into a musty, wood-paneled courtroom, and met with Judge Herman Cahn regarding the legal action brought by BMW/Oracle (Golden Gate Yacht Club). AT ISSUE: The selection of the Challenger of Record for America’s Cup 33 in 2009, against Defender Alinghi (Société Nautique de Genève). IN DISPUTE: The validity of the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, selected shortly after the conclusion of the final match race.

The judge appeared to be the only person smiling in the room. In fact, he seemed most jovial and relaxed, almost to be enjoying himself, as he stressed being “practical” regarding the legal arguments concerning LEGITIMACY of the federation or yacht club status of the current Challenger of Record, a group pulled together for the purpose of organizing and overseeing the next batch of Challengers for the Cup. Absent in the current America’s Cup 33 process? Any U.S. entry, including Larry Ellison’s BMW/Oracle, previous Challenger of Record, and his prickly legal-eagles.

In about two weeks, the judge will issue his ruling, amid his other case-load of trials involving rapists, murderers and local felonies in a city of 10 million. (No wonder he was smiling: This was one of those days, if only a piece of it, where he could preside over affairs involving “legal technicalities” and civil tongues, some of whose owners sported rep ties and discrete pins from various clubs.)

The judge mumbled a reading of the complaint and courtroom attendees strained to hear every word. A man dressed in athletic clothes who was seated in the very last row said he was an avid sailor who happened to be walking by with his son and saw a bunch of sailors and lawyers heading to court. All rushed through airline-type security inside the massive building resembling the U.S. Supreme Sourt in Washington, D.C. Next to him, his son, anticipating great courtroom action, almost immediately fell asleep. It was that sort of 45-minute hearing: Some animated comments by opposing sides, talking about the definition of a yacht club, versus the Deed of Gift’s interpretation and common law practice as rolled out under prescribed Protocol rules for the event. There was, one had to admit, a lot of dead air and empty dialog. The words were all in the massive documents that each side had filed.

“Let’s be practical,” the judge chided the attorneys. “They’re a club. I don’t see what’s so terrible about this. Who’s to say if it’s strong enough or what difference a federation or trust or club makes,” he added, seeming to agree partially with the Alinghi legal team, or not.

The BMW/Oracle legal response noted that the definition’s “so important” because no one should be accused of trying to “steal” the Cup, by setting up a sham Club to control the Challengers, as though this had never been attempted or done before by a U.S.-based yacht club (no names, NY Yacht Club).

On the other hand, the deed clearly defines a club as ANY organization, that’s foreign and licensed, that may challenge for the Cup, countered the Alinghi squad. Previous sailing committees AND the New York Yacht Club have accepted such challenging clubs, with specifics and at least three examples spelled out in massive legal (not so) briefs filed by each side.

Alinghi: We’ve already promised the Challengers that THEY can basically choose the “displacement” (size) of the next America’s Cup yachts, if they are afraid that Alinghi is secretly designing and getting ready to build a new monster boat, before the Challenges have a close look at the specifications. We’ve also made a number of other concessions to the Challengers (a.k.a., Russell Couts, representing BMW/Oracle, as skipper and team senior officer).

“We are happy with the way the hearing went and look forward to a result,” commented Alinghi General Counsel Ross. “The argument is a technical one. It is a straight out legal interpretation of the Deed of Gift.” He said BMW/Oracle was trying hard to shift the legal question to matters of the Deed of Gift or the Protocol.

Both sides stood before news media TV crews both inside and outside the courtroom. Media representatives included cable TV, radio, the Associated Press, and a few (well-dressed) sailing Bloggers (all on good behavior, your Blogster might add).

Both sides claimed to be “pleased” with the outcome, and the treatment they had received in the courtroom.

Question: When they bring in the lawyers, is the sport dying?

Answer: Let’s hope not. There have been massive legal challenges in the past. None seems to have quite “killed” the sport, but none also seems to have “strengthened” it either.

Heard outside during a TV interview of the BMW/Oracle spokesman: Questioned when they and the US would mount a Cup Challenge, since, to day, NOT ONE U.S. team has as yet mounted a formal challenge, his response (oddly): “We’ve already mounted a challenge. This is it.”

Both sides continue a dialog and in some sense appear to want to settle the legal issues “out of court” and in an “appropriate resolution.” One can only hope . . . before this gets too far a field and the next Cup is either postponed…or….

Your Blogster Drives America's Cupper

It’s like no sailing I’d ever done before, sailing aboard America II last week, one of Dennis Connor’s “12 meter” yachts built in the 1980s. Obviously, it’s fast, long, low, can be wet and powerful. Less obvious: It’s also extremely sensitive to tiny changes in steering from one of the two wheels and just a blast to sail. I was sailing with Michael Fortenbaugh, head of the Manhattan Sailing Club and School in New York Harbor as part of the first Classic Sailboat Race around the bay in front of the Statue of Liberty.

It was awesome in speed (we topped 9 knots in modest winds), leaving vintage schooners in the dust. A couple of brand new, custom 76-footers (Wild Horses and White Horses), flying spinnakers, actually beat us across the finish line, but we didn’t really care. Just sailing an an America’s Cup boat is its own reward!

Down below on this America’s Cupper, there’s literally nothing at all. Nothing: No head, no seats, no stove, no bulkheads, no windows, no floor. And it's dark down there. There's nothing, just ribs and ugly industrial stuff. There aren’t even steps to drop down into this “aluminum hell hole” filled with sailbags and loose extra gear. You hop down onto a pipe step, of sorts, to gain access to this private hell. Spending any time down here would be both claustrophobic and irrational.

Most exciting, when you sail these boats, EVERYONE IS YOUR FRIEND: Even those oblivious Staten Island ferry captains, water taxi drivers and other mega yachts. All try to come alongside to wave and go ooh-ah. Photo-op! Kodak Moment! These sailboats sail impressively, with their massive sails and sleek lines. There’s no mistaking their uniqueness. No thinking they might be private yachts. These beasts are a whole different thing.

The enormous “barrel winches” seem like overkill - - giant drums linked to one- or two-man grinding stations, that operate with a smoothness reserved for only the finest mechanisms. Pulling in and easing out the sheets takes some planning and thought, since it involves EVERYONE. You just don’t want to get any of your clothing or fingers into any of these devices. Picture extreme pain, lopped out appendages, lots of blood and screaming….

Right at the dock we identified “safety zones” where you could sit and be relatively safe, away from these massively powerful lines and fittings. For example, the vang on this particular boat is attached to a semi-circular track, onto which a car travels to its own tune. Getting a hand, foot or clothing trapped under this car could prove immediately debilitating!

I hovered around the little pit next to the mast where the halyards end up in little net bags, though I also steered and handled most every other job, now and then. All the while, your heart pumps, your smile lingers, you stand taller and feel like king of the hill and everything else in view.

There actually are THREE of these America II “Challenger” yachts (a.k.a., Stars & Stripes): US-42, US-44 and US-46. This final one was the one that Dennis Connor raced in the Challenger series, then he switched to US-55 and won the Cup in Fremantle, against Australia, in 1987. (Some of the exact history here is imprecise. Further research is necessary before quoting me.) The other two America II’s still sail and are birthed in Greenwich, CT, US-42, and in Maui, Hawaii, US-44, where the public also may also take thrilling sails.

The decks are abrasive non-skid, so it’s pretty easy to get scraped knees if you kneel down. The lifelines don’t continue all the way to the bow, so the last 15 feet or so you’re on your own, balancing on an increasingly narrow, pitching deck if you choose to “go forward,” stand by the headstay,and see around the giant genoa. These boats shout practicality and functionality, not creature comfort, sort of like a stock car versus a regular car you or I might drive on public streets.

Raising the main first involves removing the sail cover, a major operation - - you literally have to climb up onto the boom, well above eye level (no I didn’t volunteer for this), to unzip the thing. Falling off the boom at the dock would get your day off to a lousy start, and maybe involve a trip to the local hospital. Again, most every operation involves group discussion and participation to avoid breaking or tearing sails and ruining expensive gear – not to forget bruising or breaking parts of your body. Carrying the genoa from below and unfolding it involves at least three strong people. The fabric feels like it could repel bullets.

The boat’s forward momentum is impressive. Its turning radius and sensitivity to minor changes just amazing. (You wouldn’t think that one person moving from one side to the other would make that big a different. Change in the boat’s sailing characteristics were actually dramatic, if you did so, though unless everyone hiked out, there wasn’t much difference in healing. The sails are that powerful. It took all hands on the rail to make modest healing corrections.)

Upwind, we literally could steer right at a mark, even if it were directly upwind. The boat could easily “coast” around it with its momentum. Coming about, you could sit a few moments head-to-wind while sails are adjusted (pulled in mostly) before heading out onto the new tack. Doing this in most other boats would mean sitting helplessly in irons the no-sail zone.

The masthead fly (Windex) is way, way up there, mostly superfluous, since the winds up there could prove to be somewhat different that what you were feeling on your face. The gigantic, flat main did show some artificial luff or backwinding, caused by the huge genoa, but it was easily removed with sail adjustments. We didn’t crank on most of the minor sail controls (outhaul, Cunningham, etc.) in this relatively easy race, since we definitely did NOT want to break anything, draining the maintenance budget.

All in all, it was a revealing, humbling sail. Sailing one of the proposed 90-footers in 2009's mastch race is most unimaginable. It’s going to be beyond human experience, at least those of the typical sailor. These guys will have to be tough, focused, STRONG, BRUISERS. Best of luck - - you heard it here first!

Sailor, Businessman, Philanthropist

Few have clue one about the background of the current America’s Cup holder (not Alinghi, the boat, but Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss billionaire). He’s actually an avid sailor, businessman, philanthropist and family man. He himself served as navigator aboard Alinghi during his first America’s Cup win in 2003, then as afterguard runner and grinder - - GRINDER (!) - - aboard Alinghi in 2007, when they again won the Cup. (Two cents says he steered now and then, but that’s probably just a guess….)

First, despite his name, Mr. Bertarelli actually spent the bulk of his life in Switzerland. He moved there in 1977 from Rome, his birth city, at the age of 12. A graduate of Babson College, just outside of Boston, he went on to earn a coveted Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School.

In 1966, he was named Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chairman of Serono, SA, a global biotechnology firm, which he inherited from his father. From 1996 to 2006, revenue skyrocketed from $809 million to $2.8 billion. Sereno had discovered a natural hormone used in the treatment against female infertility. The big payoff came to Mr. Bertarelli in 2006, when he SOLD the company to Merck KGag of Germany for $13.3 billion, which formed a new company called Merck-Serono.

Second, sailor-yachtman Ernesto won some prestigious international sailing competitions before going after the America’s Cup, including the world-class Sardinia Cup in 1998 and the Bol d’Or FIVE times. He also finished third in the grueling Fastnet Race in 1999.

One of the first Alinghi boats was, in fact, his high-performance CATAMARAN, the 12.5 meter Alinghi IV. In it, he won (as a crewmember) the 12m “Worlds,” the Swedish Match Cup in Marstrand. From here, he finished FIRST in the FARR 40 WORLDS - - as helmsman - - certainly among sailing's MOST COMPETITIVE REGATTAS.

Your Blogster estimates that few other America’s Cup winner/director/sponsors have had such illustrious sailboat-racing careers. It seems he didn’t just BUY the cup after all!

Just last month, his Team Alinghi finished first in the Challenge Julius Baer, the multihulls’ season championship on Lake Geneva. And he keeps on racing here and there on a grand scale.

Third, in 2000, he founded the Team Alinghi syndicate, representing the Swiss Society Nautique de Geneve club. Three years later, he was to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, the the Challenger elimination matches leading up to the America’s Cup, then went on to win the Cup, beating Team Zealand in Auckland, their home turf.

He won it on his first attempt and brought it back to Europe. He beat ‘em again in 2007, but it was darned close - - a one-second victory in the final match-up, winning 5 of the 7 races. (Your Blogster: If he'd stop hiring some of their best guys, maybe they could win it back, but just about all's fair in love, war and the America's Cup races!)

Fourth, his two America’s Cup victories garnered for him the Knight of the National Order of Merit and the Legion d’Honneur by France’s President Jacques Chirac, and the Cavaliere di Gran Croce by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic.

Fifth, in 1999, Ernesto Bertarelli and his family started a foundation for promoting a better understanding of the cause and cure of infertility. The Foundation FABER, in Lausanne, and the Bertarelli Foundation in Trelex, Switzerland, merged in 2006.

They focus on supporting research and development in the field of MALE and FEMALE infertility, assisted reproduction technologies, andrology, genetics and endocrinology. They also support training, education and international/national information exchanges in these areas via grants. They promote education regarding couples’ infertility and the recognition of the condition as a DISEASE.

In addition, he serves as a director of UBS AG, the global banking empire, and a director of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows, having previously served as a member of the PhRMA Board and BIO Board in the United States. He’s also Chairman of Kedge Capital Partners Ltd., an investment management firm specializing in hedge funds and private equity portfolios.

Last but not least, he and his wife have three children, all of whom reside in Switzerland.

Two Class Acts: USA Hosts Alinghi Chief

Without fanfare or public announcement, Ernesto Bertarelli, 42 (!), two-time America’s Cup winner (Alinghi) hopped into his jet this past week and zoomed over to New York and San Francisco to “drop in” on two famous local yacht club venues - - you guessed it - - the New York Yacht Club on Manhattan’s West 44th Street and then the famed St. Francis YC. American-born Ed Baird (Alinghi helmsman and impressive sailor in his own right) joined the parties.

As all sailors know, the New York YC held the America’s Cup in its clutches for 132 years. It was securely housed in a gorgeous glass case (your Blogster saw it there a few years back) virtually in the entranceway of the club, among the stunning scale models of America’s Cup boats of years gone by. The San Francisco club hosted Ernesto, who spoke sans notes for 35 minutes, having sold out the event in 49 minutes. His reception was both upbeat and pleasant.

Anyway, both clubs rolled out the red carpet and, and in one case, lobster and Italian wine, your Blogster has been told, welcoming Mr. Bertarelli seemingly as a long lost relation – with open arms and all the camaraderie and respect that could be garnered from these high-end, global racers. The New York City-based club has already placed a photo of the visit on its web site at http://www.nyyc.org/ .

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Mr. Bertarelli had BROUGHT WITH HIM the ACTUAL America’s Cup for everyone to see (but not touch, without white gloves, and not without permission if its two “body guards”). Needless to say the private dinners at each club were “sold out” and great fun for all. Members lined up outside like it was a Bruce Springsteen concert at the Meadowlands arena in New Jersey.

New York Yacht Club Commodore Charles Townsend hosted an exclusive dinner for about a dozen of yachting’s elite. Startlingly, the Cup was placed more or less in its original place during the visit and, apparently, seemed quite at home (“No hard feelings if we keep it awhile, Ernesto?” someone must have thought to ask…but didn’t.) No insider info available on this confab, sorry.

The next day, Mr. Bertarelli was back at the NYYC in spaces, which they graciously made available (remember, he’s got THE CUP with him), to meet with variety of news media big- and small-fry, while attempting to re-new and expand interest in this august event. Media included radio and print journalists, asking everything from what’s the cup made of, to what did he have for breakfast that morning, it seemed. One "reporter" (Cory Friedman of Sailing Scuttlebutt) pretending to be a public defender, tried to rattle Mr. Bertarelli with convoluted legal questioning, but Defender "defended" himself with credibility and style, it's said.

To one and all, the current cup holder answered with an engaging dignity and the credible humility required of world-record holders, your Blogster has heard.

No TV bothered to show in NYC or in SF. Maybe this visit conflicted with local criminal activity or Hollywood puff pieces from Paris Hilton.

Anyway, what did they serve the Defender while at the New York Yacht Club?

Maine Lobster Salad, Herb Crusted Lamb Boil and Lamb Porterhouse, and Fresh Berries “Napoleon” with Mascarpone Cream and Crème Anglaise. It was all prepared by Executive Chef Antonio Cinicola. They washed it all down with a fitting Montaribaldi Moscato d’Asti (2006). Just thought you’d like to know.

Slaughters: So Many America’s Cub Races

If you look back at America’s Cup races since 1851, you’ll notice that a significant number of these match racing events (more than 20) were totally one-sided affairs. The DEFENDER won ALL of the races; the CHALLENGER didn’t win a single one. None.

How can this be? Were the Challenger boats THAT AWFUL, or were the winning boats so much better?

It could be argued either way, but let’s consider:

There’s a rule of thumb in sporting events that winners tend to get better each round (more confident, rise to higher levels, make things “click” more often) while losers tend to get discouraged or demoralized faster, take bigger chances, go for that long-shot tack, and compete so hard that the team begins making (silly or basic) mistakes or just implodes internally, making failure almost inevitable. (You’ll see them out there: They’re the ones touching mark, by rounding too close, bending the rules a bit hoping no one saw them, tacking and jibing too aggressively, taking unnecessary chances.)
While it’s not IMPOSSIBLE to come back from a series of losses, several things must occur: A shake-up of the team, an investment of money, careful study of one’s competitor(s) and some L U C K. Really looking at their boat sometimes helps: How are sails set? What adjustments are they making and when? Where’s everyone sitting or standing? What are they doing when their boat surges ahead?
But sailing is a little different than other sports. Here’s why:

Sailors, by nature, tend to be VERY INDEPENDENT SORTS. Even on a boat filled with crew, only one person calls the shots, after consulting, or not, with teammates. One person. Very few sports allow this much independent thought and action by an individual. Others frequently intrude.

America’s Cup boats at the highest levels tend to be somewhat similar in speed. In fact, if you took the winning crew off and put them on the losing boat: They might still win, most of the time.

Naturally, racing sailors like winning (which for most comes inconsistently, since there can be only ONE winner in a sailing regatta and a score of ALMOST WINNERS). The great ones earn respect from their crews by calling race strategy correctly, beating other boats and winning races, consistently.

Yet, how is it that these sailing experts seemingly lose all momentum and “throw” so many America’s Cup match races?

For some, their boat designers just didn’t do their jobs: Their boats sail slowly and there isn’t much sailors can do about it. They might be able to “out-think” their competitors, but when it comes to boat-on-boat races, they’ll lose most times.

For others, their practice sessions may have focused on the wrong things, and their team just couldn’t survive the grueling conditions of the racing.

Finally, for some, their boat’s equipment may have failed at a critical moment - - a spinnaker shredds, a halyard breaks, a winch freezes, a line snaps, etc., making winning races less likely.

However, some sailors have successfully OVERCOME some or all of these failings and gone on to win regattas. How’d they do it? Probably by getting great starts, grinding down the competition, passing boat(s) at every mark, and never, ever, every giving up until the final few feet of the final leg. It is absolutely AMAZING how many races are won or lost in the lasts few hundred yards (or feet) of a regatta.

Great sailors have discovered these tricks, which take HEART, SKILL, PERSISTANCE, STAMINA and some LUCK.

(Of course, knowing the racing rules backwards and forwards helps, as well as completing thousands of races in dozens of different types of boats. And pretty much as in any other sports, participation in sailing and racing seminars can’t hurt, and teaching some now and then can pay big dividends.)

Finally, much as anything else in life, the best sailors have made all the mistakes, but they never make them again. Ever. (Or at least they try not to.)

Why do so many America’s Cup yachts score so poorly when push comes to shove on race day? Perhaps some need the equivalent of a “sailing psychiatrist” to help them save the day. Or maybe it’s something else…..?

A Club is a CLUB

Part of the legal battle being waged by Larry Ellison’s BMW/Oracle Racing team regarding the next America’s Cup event concerns the matter of the definition of a yacht club.

By some measures, it’s said to be a group that sponsors major sailing events and appears to offer the many functions of a typical yacht club: Holds meetings, operates a marina for members' boats, sponsors regattas, offers a restaurant...and a some have bars (imagine!) ....

Just moments after the 2007 America’s Cup was awarded to Alinghi, the America’s Cup Management organization is said to have received an immediate application from a so-called yacht club called Nautico Espano de Vela. A few reporters raced to the Internet to obtain more information about the club. It didn’t exist, in the general sense. What was this club and why is this important?

It’s VERY IMPORTANT because the first application received by the Cup organization becomes the Challenger of Record - - with duties to oversee activities of ALL of the other CHALLENGER yacht…potentially a big deal as the Cup rules evolve and disputes arise.

BMW/Oracle, the Cup’s PREVIOUS Challenge of Record, naturally challenged the validity of this new “phantom” club. As it turns out, previous America’s Cup events have had a variety of different “clubs” participate, according to a recent on-line article in Sailing World Magazine, written by Stuart Streuli.

He writes that Alinghi’s legal counsel, Hamish Ross, has named six yacht clubs that challenged for the Cup, and were accepted and raced competitively, despite their lack of performing “traditional” yacht club functions.

Specifically:

* Sun City YC, which sponsored Alan Bond's Australian challenger in 1977, is said to have been formed to create interest in a land development in Perth, Australia.
* Canada's Secret Cove YC, formed just for the Cup, held its first regatta AFTER its Challenge was accepted.
* Japan's Nippon YC, formed just for the Cup, was so lacking in purpose that it was never actually incorporated and imploded after the races!
* The Australian YC, sponsor of Syd Fisher's campaign in 1995, was (what what that club, anyway?).
* The Southern Cross YC, which John Bertrand formed to sponsor the OneAustralia syndicate, and was incorporated AFTER its challenge was accepted;
* The Cortez Sailing Association, conducted meetings in a bar and backed Dennis Conner's challenge in 2000.
* Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Challengers for the Cup in 1987 and 1992, won it in 1995, and defended it successfully in 2000 before losing it in 2003. The Club wasn't incorporated until 2003.

So, when is a club a CLUB when it comes to the America’s Cup events? Probably WHENEVER IT WANTS TO BE ONE. The function of the CLUB is to represent either a city or country in its challenge for the Cup - - not to lay claim to anything else, as GRANDFATHERED BY COMMON LAW into many America’s Cup races.

Winning America's Cup Skippers

Date - - Yacht, Skipper, Country Representing
2009 -- Alinghi, Brad Butterworth, Switzerland.
2007 -- Alinghi, Brad Butterworth, Switzerland.
2003 -- Alinghi, Russell Coutts, Switzerland.
2000 -- NZL-60, Russell Coutts, New Zealand.
1995 -- Black Magic, Russell Coutts, New Zealand.
1992 -- America3, Bill Koch and Buddy Melges, United States.
1988 -- Stars & Stripes, Dennis Conner, United States.
1987 -- Stars & Stripes, Dennis Conner, United States.
1983 -- Australia II, John Bertrand, Australia.
1980 -- Freedom, Dennis Conner, United States.
1977 -- Courageous, Ted Turner, United States.
1974 -- Courageous, Ted Hood, United States.

See this site for a complete list:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/sailing/03/02/cup.winners.ap/index.html