September’s Players: Who’s on First?

It’s said that in September Judge Herman Cahn in New York (not THE Herman Kahn of On Thermonuclear War year's ago's block-buster book fame) will be ruling and educating us all on trust law regarding BMW/Oracle’s challenge to Alinghi, covered in an article below.

Some key dates: Sept. 5 and Sept. 10 - - deposition delivery dates to the Judge to see if the case falls within his jurisdiction and court. The yachts are circling the starting line; they're selecting the proper genoas and readying spinnaker gear.

But the real fireworks may not start until October, it’s said, when all the LAWYERS (Non-sailors all? For shame!) fire their salvos at the broadsides of the Cup-sters - - holder and holder-wannabe.

Just how far back the judge may dig into the Cup's "dirty laundry" may taint the current legal challenge and help/hurt in determining its outcome, since there appears to be “some precedent” on both sides of the battle - - OK, it's really a stretch to say something like this has happened before. We're on thin, unprecedented, legal ice here, your Blog Host, The Biffster, notes.

Meanwhile, the America’s Cup Management (ACM) organization very likely isn’t just sitting around wondering how this all will play out. They have their own fresh and shiny (untarnished) Arbitration Panel ready to deliver its opinions. Welcome to the fray. Or maybe not, depending upon what they dream up.

We’ll see how this plays out . . . .

Coma Off Point Loma

Editor-at-Large Herb McCormick reminds us in a Sailing World article about America’s Cup 1988. That's 1 9 8 8. You recall . . . this one was the one that somehow Kiwi Michael Fay’s 90-foot monster-speedster got snookered into a match against Dennis Connor’s absurd (but really fast) catamaran.

Unless one was brain-dead, even non-sailors figured out in one glance that this so-called race was a fraud. Cries of “Fix!” and “Ridiculous” were heard around the world. Yet, everyone had to admit that it took a lot of nerve, imagination and just plain “balls” to pull off this so-called “win,” for the USA. Your Blog Host Biff recalls tipping his hat at the time to Mr. Connor, Mr. America’s Cup, as he refers to himself today. He did it; he conformed with the Protocol (rules) at the time. And won, weirdly and squarely.

But in this global Theater of the Absurd (a.k.a. America’s Cup politics), we may have to face something like this again in 2009, if one of the Challengers-to-be has its way.

Is Larry Ellison really asking the world champion Alinghi team to hope out of its winning sloop this coming year and race/face off against BMW/Oracle - - IN CATAMARANS - - to see who really are the best sailors? Why not in windsurfers - - wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper and they could almost be checked in as carry-on luggage and repeated in country after country? Maybe a two-man model? Stay tuned.

(Incidentally, sailing a catamaran takes an entirely different skillset that sailing America's Cup sloops. No matter who won, it still would NOT be a fair contest. America's Cup yachts traditionally are sloops, not cats. Why? They just are.

Lousy, Rotten Sailing Coverage

Just an opinion: I miss Herb McCormick’s free-lance articles in The New York Times. I know he’s apparently still an editor-at-large for Sailing World, but over the years, he’s had a lot of interesting things to report in this newspaper. Somehow they just don’t include his pieces any more. Tragedy. Sailing: The nonexistent sport, according to The Times. Not enough controversy, I suppose, or “too European,” lately?

Somehow, we have to get them "tuned in" to America's Cup 33 in 2009 before it's too late!

It’s a mystery how they fail to cover a sport that engrosses MILLIONS of sailors across the United States. And The Folks at The Newspaper of Record wonder why newspaper readership (and advertising dollars) are shrinking!

They have become so “politically correct” in all areas of the paper, even in sports, that it seems to be virtually impossible to have world events covered, if they are out of fashion (for whatever reason). They do make a feeble attempt to cover fishing, but that’s probably because some of these guys do this now and then.

But who sails at The Times? There has to be someone. I know that Walter Chronkite sails and was always interested in sailing sorts of things on TV, but when he retired, that was the end of that.

Here's a tiny, funny story: A couple of years back, the U.S. Navy’s longest commissioned ship (the USS CONSTITUTION) actually “sailed” again.

They had sails made (made of kevlar more or less from North, as I recall), they scheduled a formal sail around Boston Harbor, and Navy ships escorted her out of the harbor (Your Blog Host Biff Halyard was there in his Navy uniform, by the way, but that's another story...).

No one really new if the 200-year-old-plus ship would even hold together with these massive new sails pulling on the standing rigging - - rigging that hadn’t been put to the test, adjusted or tweaked in hundreds of years (obviously the Navy did replace a lot of the standing AND running rigging prior to this amazing sail).

The story: When famed announcer Walter Chronkite took the helm, surrounded by news media, the first thing he jokingly said was: “Let’s prepare to come about!”

Needless to say, everyone who knew ANYTHING about sailing turned pale, until he muttered something to the effect: “Just kidding.”

There’s Always Going to be a Lawsuit . . . From a Loser

And why not sue, Biff asks > >

Here’s a summary of the pending suits:

http://33rd.americascup.com/en/index.php?idContent=10&idPage=1

There’s an Arbitration Panel underway.

There’s also the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (a.k.a. Larry Ellison/BMW/ORACLE et al) suit against the Challenger of Record for America’s Cup 33 (in 2009). We wanna be the Challenger of Record, GGYC says. Let’s keep things fair. Ok, let’s race again in Optimist dinghies, and we’ll see who the best sailor is.

And a more convoluted motion by GGYC supporting a timeframe change on the release of critical AC33 information (like what boats are we going to sail, guys) and why not have a preliminary race between GGYC and Alinghi to make things more interesting and leave a much better taste in the mouth of Larry Ellison?

Of course, when the lawyers come in, both sides’ cases sound like Ma and Apple Pie, forgetting the real action was perfectly legit out on the water (or at least as “perfect” as ANY RACE can be when it might have been cheaper to stitch $10 dollar bills together to make a spinnaker than using whatever hi-tech fabric they used). Sailboat races remain messy undertakings. You pit unequal boats, spending unequal amounts of money, racing with as many skippers and crew “ringers” one can hire, in an attempt to “buy” each race before the first gun goes on.

Alinghi thrashed all comers and retains the cup. If you don’t like this, how about a rematch where EVERY SKIPPER AND CREW trades boats after every regatta to see if it’s the boat…or the competitors, who are the winners.

Alinghi’s guys out-tacked, out-maneuvered, out spinnaker-set, out sail-changed, rebounded from poor positioning/bad starts/poor tacks/tearing sails/and poor recoveries from wind shifts – just a little bit better, or a LOT BETTER in some cases, against ALL COMPETITORS, fairly and squarely, as much as everyone hesitates to admit. Let’s get on with the business of preparations for the next match races, OK guys????? Save courtroom antics for another day.

About all Alinghi didn’t win was in the HUMILITY DEPARTMENT…but did anyone actually expect them to say something like: “Great job Larry. You tried hard and we appreciate your spirit. Best of luck in the future?” No way, not with this sort of money and talent involved. Just hold up that cup and prance around, just as at football games and tennis matches. The winners parade for the cameras; the losers wish they were dead and grit their teeth in interviews. That’s the game.

On the other hand, suing and overturning life’s events is an AMERICAN DREAM. What’s the harm, any way? There’s face to be saved and awards/honors to be taken away.

Gotcha….!

WIND: Best America’s Cup Movie – Bar None

FROM THE MASTHEAD: Biff Halyard

I’ve said it. This little sleeper movie, WIND, usually gathering dust in the $5 bin at your local DVD shop, takes the cake, in fact, the whole party as maybe the best sailing movie EVER MADE. The sailing seems authentic, and the drama touches on critical themes campaigns faced, in recent years.

It’s a must-see for sailors all. Action, drama, technology and a silly love story (Matthew Modine and Jennifer Grey) - - what else could one want in a sailing movie?

It cleverly begins, not on America’s Cup boats, but on Australian trailer-sailors in small, super-boats with outsized rigs and fearless sailors. America’s Cup skippers take the helms and call the shots. Places change quickly; a small sense of what’s to come on America’s Cup boats begins to take hold.

Later, the sappy plot thickens, but the on-water sailing photography stands your hair on end. This is the real (Hollywood) deal. Muscles bulge, tempers flair, skippers rage, boat parts strain (some break) and sails shred.

Themes of extreme teamwork under fire, needless intrigue and financial uncertainties mirror many of the ACTUAL EVENTS that have marred previous matches.

Post cup presentation, the yelling and screaming the moneyed many, the America’s Cup boat sits silently back at the dock—sheets akimbo and gear askew. The winners and losers mostly at the bar, but the boat sits quietly, back at the barn. Waiting. Effortlessly floating among other, mere cruisers, racer-cruisers, one-designs and custom one-offs.

What awaits this tireless Cup warrior—this Old Man of the Sea after a handful of important races? What lies ahead for this one-regatta winner? Hopefully, not the bone yard or being put on sorry display at Disneyworld, the way that high-end three-hulled monster used in that ugly movie “Waterworld.” This Cup Veteran awaits the hopes and dreams of the next eager sailing syndicate willing to risk all for races that can be won and lost by one, tiny second.

Webster’s Def.: Law Suit—See America’s Cup

Biff Slogs Through the Tedious Legal Stuff:

Lawsuits and the America’s Cup go hand-in-sailing glove, it seems, with no end in sight. Who’s doing the suing? Hint: It ain’t the winners!

Now, we have the spectacle of another USA suit against the winning America’s Cup team. Since suing and the USA also go hand-in-hand (sailing glove to sailing glove), it isn’t all that surprising. Ample supplies of sour grapes abound worldwide in ANY COMPETITIVE SPORT.

Today, it seems, BMW Oracle Racing (Larry Ellison), moves ahead with his suit launched by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) against Team Alinghi’s Ernesto Bertarelli regarding the newest Protocol (overall binding rules for the next match races).

Some say: Wouldn’t it be cheaper of these two Super Businessmen just got into a boxing ring and duked it out once and for all?

Back in July the law firm of Latham & Watkins, LLP, representing GGYC, presented the formal legal challenge to the Societe Nautique Geneve (SNG), the Defender Alinghi’s long-standing and supportive Swiss yacht club for America’s Cup 33 in 2009. Plaintiff GGYC gave SNG, the Defendant (and, oddly, Defender), 30 days to answer their challenge in the Supreme Court (it’s the local court, by the way, and not very supreme) of the State of New York, County of New York.

In a nutshell, GGYC says the Spanish yacht club “Club Nautico Espanol de Vela” (CNEV) - - the first 2009 challenger (they issued their challenge, apparently, TWO DAYS BEFORE the America’s Cup's final gun, in doing so they guaranteed themselves the coveted title of Challenger of Record (a.k.a. leader of ALL the challengers) - - FAILED to meet the requirements of the1887, that’s 1 8 8 7, Deed of Gift, the trust instrument (mostly) governing the Cup (mostly, subject to amendments and assorted legal challenges/threats/whatever).

The USA yacht club challenged the Spanish club’s validity, saying in the court papers: CNEV is a “brand new yacht club that it had never had an annual regatta before it was specifically created to collaborate with SNG… (and they) sponsored a sham annual regatta for children.” (At least, the GGYC should be the Challenger of Record, it says, because it hosts an annual regatta called the “Sea Weed Soup Perpetual Trophy” in San Francisco harbor, it claims.) One could ask: “It this regatta a real race between consenting yachts?”

Second, GGYC claims the new Protocol document fails to specify that the next Cup challenge’s venue, date and boat design (true), giving Team Alinghi a head start in its preparations over all competitors. (That’s probably true, since the Protocol notes dates when it will be issuing these specifics LATER this year.)

Third, GGYC elaborates on how the Defender appears to be negotiating with itself (Defender and SNG, Swiss to Spanish) on the resulting Protocol, since most rights of the Challengers have been retained by the Defender, or by the Defender selected America’s Cup Management (ACM) organization, the Defender appointed Race Committee, Measurement Committee Umpires, you get the idea.

SNG, Alinghi and ACM respond to all this, saying it’s “very disappointed” that BMW Oracle Racing has moved ahead with their legal challenge. SNG indicates they want the next race to be “even better,” with a new class of boat that showcases new technologies and exciting racin, in an even higher profiled event, comparable with the world’s best sporting events. (This may rub Louis Vuitton the wrong way, since they just pulled the plug on their long-standing sponsorship of the Challenger regattas.)

SNG continues: “Larry Ellison is holding the Cup to ransom for competitive gain…. He lost on the water in 2003 and in 2007.”

In the words of Alinghi Skipper Brad Butterworth: “He (Larry) is now pretending to be the good guy, representing the interests of all stakeholders, whereas in reality they have gone to court to force an earlier private match on their terms without the involvement of other competitors.”

He goes on to note: “While their legal teams are busy destabilizing the 33rd Cup and the preparations of the existing challengers, they are simultaneously snapping up sailors left, right and center. These underhand(ed) tactics make it particularly hard for the small teams who rely on sponsorship, which is very heard to secure under these circumstances, and shows disregard for all (of) the legitimate competitors.”

The fun continues shore-side. On the water, bet all of the skippers are making preparations for WHATEVER races they face in the months ahead. AC or no AC, these guys know how to retain their racing edge by racing in regattas worldwide, in boats large and small, matching boat for boat their worldwide (and jealous) competitors.

Defender: Big Target for Armchair Skippers

Isn’t it just swell how everyone is an “instant” expert these days on WHAT the winning Alinghi Defender SHOULD BE DOING about the NEXT America’s Cup.

Hello: Doesn’t anyone remember the standoffish way that the New York Yacht Club conducted its “winning defenses” way back when when they where kings of the Cup? They pretty much did whatever they wanted to stack the deck in their favor before each challenge. The challenges got little if any say in any matter, ever. It was inevitable that one Challenger would find a way to bend the rules in his favor and win the thing away from the stalwarts.

(The simple fact here, however, in taking the cup away from the USA, Australia also seems to have taken away the USA AUDIENCE. America’s Cup Commentator, America’s Cup Veteran and Sailing Expert Gary Jobson claims that fewer than 70,000 USA households actually WATCHED the 32nd Cup Challenge (while the cup folks claim millions did, billions globally—I ask: Who? Where? When?). I keep asking around and haven’t found ANYONE to saw more than a few minutes of it here in Connecticut. It seems cup TV coverage only thrives on USA ownership of the Cup, controversy when we lose it, and Olympic-type country-on-country competitions. And it doesn’t have to be friendly, either, in this winner-take-all event. Unfriendly equals better TV?)

Now, the (expected) USA challenger (with initials LE), has launched the opening salvo on how the CHALLENGERS should be setting up the rules of the next engagement. Wrong? That ain’t happening, guys. Never has; never will. It was a quaint thought back in the 1800s to keep things “sporting,” but that’s a non-starter.

To the winner shall go the spoils: If they want to race the America’s Cup in 15-foot Laser dinghies…so be it. If they want to ALSO race in the preliminary trials, not just in the final venue, to test their boat speed…so be it. If they want it raced in five-foot long sailboat MODELS, such as the one’s they have at the Larchmont Yacht Club in New York during Larchmont Race Week (so the big-boat owners can race each other on equal footing), then…so be it!

This is a race, not a democracy; it’s purposely stacked toward the Defender; it’s a regatta with a gloss of “fairness,” and heavy dose of “We wanna keep it right where it is.” Always has been, certainly since the good ‘ol USA gave token roles to the Challengers. (You don’t keep a magnificent trophy such as this one without bending the rules a bit in your favor.)

And, if the Defender wants to wait a few months before announcing the new boat requirements…so be it. After all, trying to get ONE boat designer to agree with you on something is a challenge. Trying to get a syndicate or COMMITTEE to agree on ANYTHING, including what color foul-weather gear a team should wear, can be virtually impossible.

And, if the Defender (Swiss) wants to accept a Challenger of Record from a new yacht club in Spain - - the sailing venue - - so be it. And dang the lawyers…full speed ahead!

And, what about the Defender selecting the “appeals judges” . . . . so be it. Passing out the rules, ditto.

By the way, Biff Halyard thinks America’s Cup 33 in 2009 should be held in NEW YORK HARBOR, media capital of the world. How about that for a keen idea guys? It’s a perfect, natural harbor, with steady winds and thousands of potential viewers - - that’s just counting the one’s who are looking out of their office windows into the harbor!!! Every country who’s anybody has a presence here - - a mission or embassy, a bank, a money-losing hedge fund a Wall St. office of somewort, and who knows what else. It’s a natural venue, as are London and Hong Kong, but neither have the right SAILING conditions. Further, Mr. America’s Cup Dennis Connor is ALREADY here, with America II and two of his 50-foot training yachts sitting right in the North Cove Marina that he lends his name to, at the foot of Manhattan.

Just call the mayor and he’ll fly right over in his jet to meet with you. No charge, Biff would guess!

Coutts to Hire Crew for 90-Foot Monohull?

Biff from the Masthead - - Heard on the streets of Valencia:

Can it be that three-time America’s Cup Winner Russell Coutts, newly minted Chief Executive Officer of the BMW/ORACLE Team (Larry Ellison’s USA hopefuls), sees the handwriting on the wall and is out scouting crew for the Alinghi-preferred 90-foot MONOHULLS -- while Larry is out talking up having the preliminary elimination heats sailed in Dennis Connor-like CATAMARANS - - with the first races pitting the Defender guys themselves against BMW/Oracle-ers?

It makes sense that CEO Coutts would be out recruiting on the docks in Cup venue Valencia, Spain, to cover all bases (all hulls, too - - mono and duo), since one doesn’t win that Auld Mug three times without knowing what the heck one’s doin’. Getting an early start on hiring deck-ape pro’s seems the right thing to do.

At this point, Defending champs led by Ernesto Bertarelli have indicated that they favor the building of an entirely NEW America’s Cup boat, “more exciting” 90-footers, for the next races. But Oracle CEO Ellison has already announced he favors early challenges to be sailed in “neutral” boats - - totally new styles and shapes (not even in sloops with main, genoas and spinnakers, but in superfast, superbad, two-hulled thrill-riders) - - to prove once and for all that his team can best the Alinghi juggernaut…and do it REALLY FAST, too.

Guys, guys. Why not go ALL THE WAY and sail in one of those giant new offshore TRIMARANS (If two hulls are good, aren’t three even better?), like the one that just came into New York Harbor. They CRUISE at 20-30 knots and can top 40 knots in ideal conditions, as well as tow three water skiers faster than most would ever want to go!

America’s Global Red Face

All right. Let me put this on the table. Way back when, the United States of America took the winning cannon shot for the America’s Cup 25 times more or less in a row since 1851. They had bested all comers in this the world’s third largest sporting event, time and time again.

Along the way, they also had rigged the rules of the game so that every conceivable thing was tilted in their favor – the venue, the boats, the sails, the judging, the restrictions, even the weather it was sailed in. If anyone could beat them under these circumstances, they knew they had really accomplished something.

Of course, despite all these advantages, the USA finally managed to lose the cup in 1983 to Alan Bond, representing far away Australia (Royal Perth Yacht Club). Who knew they took sailing so seriously “down under.” Anybody seen the movie “Wind?” This slice of sailing perfectly captured the “Aussie” spirit of competition and good sportsmanship.

Until 1983, sailboat designers hadn’t really tried Ben Lexcen’s “unorthodox innovation” that the Australian’s used on the keel. (Mr. Lexcen, a New South Wales citizen and marine architect, passed away in 1988.) His keel innovation, however lives on, appearing even today on racing and cruising boats. Why? Because these wings actually do two things: They enable designers to shorten the keel while adding graceful wing-like appendages that added lift going upwind and (maybe) some push on runs. The more the boat heals, the longer the draft became, adding significant additional pointing ability upwind.

Now much imitated, those wings instantly seemed to add an entirely new dimension to the sport. They have gotten longer, fatter, wider and every imaginable shape in the search for more speed at no additional cost.

Several boat manufactures jumped on the bandwagon and began lightening keels, adding all manner of wings and winglets, even to big cruising boats, which sailed faster and were able for the first time to enter much shallower harbors. Now buyers had choices of traditional deep keels, or shallow scheel keels (short and squat), or attractive somewhat scary-fast looking “flying keels.” The wings kept getting bigger and bigger, for a while, until things began to calm down.

(Cruise ships, by the way, have also picked up on this concept: Some have added the equivalent of “airplane wings” that extend way out (under water) from their sides to reduce, almost eliminate, the dreaded heal and rock & roll, which so upset passengers’ stomachs,.)

What did that first USA skipper (Dennis Connor) to be defeated by the Australians do about re-energizing the country’s honor and pride in this competition? First, he had to suffer the indignity to watching the America’s Cup being unbolted from a gorgeous display case in the center of the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan, amidst wood-paneled walls and priceless, carved half-hulls of previous America’s Cup beauties. Then he had to dream up a quick way to win in back fast, which he did four years later through hard work and world-class sailing. He went on to win it twice more a while later, and made a run at it in an unconventional, unbelievably fast, catamaran.

But the winged-keel idea has stayed with us, much as numerous other America’s Cup technical innovations, including such things as carbon-fiber blend sails (nearly black in color), colorful synthetic lines for sheets, halyards, minor sail adjustments, and titanium this, that and the other, and countless other innovations large and small.

America’s Cup trickle-down theory incarnate.

FLASH FORWARD to this year’s event. Here’s how Ernesto Bertarelli commented in Sailing Magazine regarding winning the cup: “It was much harder that I thought it would be,” which appears to be another way of saying, “Guys, we just about killed ourselves winning this thing, much as everyone else, and we’re very respectful of the Challenges and their efforts.” Win one for sportsmanship and the camaraderie of sailing!

How about some appropriate words from a few of the Challengers ("Ernesto, you guys outsailed us and won fair and square. Congratulations!"), including some kind words in defeat from the USA team that was knocked out early on, not just another lawsuit! America's red face continues....

Why the Champ Wants Change

Let me ask: Why would the Defender, the winning team, decide to change two of the key rules, even if they seem to “penalize” them in no small way?

By specifying in the Protocol for America’s Cup 33 (AC33) that the next regatta should be conducted in 90 footers, the Alinghi champs are saying: “Hey, we’re willing to toss out our winning design and winning boat to EVEN UP the odds, guys. We can win - - in larger boats, too, with more crew, more massive sails and faster (scary-fast) boats, just watch us. And, we're willing to put our money where our mouths are!”

Second, by specifying that AC33 should be raced only TWO years away, instead of four, the Defending Champs seem to be saying: “Not only can we beat (out sail) all Challengers, we can do it WITHOUT four long years of testing, tweaking, agonizing and training. And in doing so, we probably can even let everyone save a little money along the way!” But why would they be willing to give up the Cup in only TWO years instead of FOUR?

Any why not? Thanks, guys! Gutsy, gutsy.

Two Alinghi Choices Stun Sailors Worldwide

America’s Cup 33 - - Helm to Lee: From Biff at the Masthead

In case you haven’t heard, the Defender recently announced TWO new tacks (huge changes) for upcoming America’s Cup 33, both without much fanfare in the mainstream news media. THESE ARE BIG. BIGGER THAN BIG. REALLY, REALLY BIG items. Jibe ho, slam-tack and more.

FIRST and foremost, the next event will be conducted only TWO years away, not the usual FOUR. WOW. The venue starts all over again in 2009. Everything backs up sooner for Defender and for the Challengers.... Maybe there won't even enough time for the rumored NEW race for the Swiss cup holder to race a Challenger or two/ten prior to "the big event?" It hasn't, however, been ruled out.....

That’s less time to design and build a boat, less time to hire a skipper and crew, less time to de-bug the thing, and less time to prepare all of the computer programs and such, including polars, and ideal tacks, etc.

SECOND, the cup holders have decided they’d like to sail for the cup in REALLY, REALLY LARGE boats, maybe 90 footers or more. This should separate the “men from the boys,” so to speak, and require a lot more of them…which, of course compounds the so-called “chaos factor"—adding a single additional crew can compound the problems by two times or more….some say, by a factor of four, six or more!

Not to forget trying to just “hear” what the skipper is saying (did he say "Tacking" or "Take Down" the genoa: If you are positioned from abeam forward, will communications become a serious problem? (We've alreaady beent through the "failed mikes" drill.) How about failed headsets? And how about judging how and when to tack when rounding a buoy? And how do you successfully trim such gigantic sails, let alone hoist them and get them set up correctly. Just imagine the size of the battons, the booms, the sailbags, masts!

And, of course, every single bolt, fitting, line of the standing and running rigging will be subject to more stress, more failures, and just more cost. And masts and the required “sliding” (up/down) keels will be subject o incredible stresses when entering shallower harbors.

What’s a Few Seconds Among Friends? A Lot!

Interestingly, when all was said and done - - the sails were perfected and tweaked, the hulls were laid up, the rigging was customized, the crews were trained - - America’s Cup 32 this year was won by an average of just 24 seconds.

Here’s how the seconds played out each race:

• Race One: Won by Alinghi by 35 seconds
• Race Two: Won by Emerates Team New Zealand by 28 seconds
• Race Three: Won by Emerates Team New Zealand by 25 seconds
• Race Four: Won by Alinghi by 30 seconds
• Race Five: Won by Alinghi by 19 seconds
• Race Six: Won by Alinghi by 30 seconds
• Race Seven: Won by Alinghi by 1 second

Imagine if Emerates Team New Zealand had just changed the settings on its vang, outhaul, Cunningham, halyards and such to drive their boat ONE SECOND per mile FASTER - - They’ve have won it all!!!!!!

In race Seven, of course, if one crewmember just hadn’t sneezed, or coughed, or moved from one side to another, or not missed that jib set, or had just pulled in the main or genoa a little slower or faster, or the skpper glanced at a competitor a few seconds - - they’re team would have won it all!!!!!

All them all up, you have wins by a total of only 168 seconds! And they say one team or another is "in the bag" before the races begin because they spent X millions or hired this or that crewmembers. As they say in Brooklyn: Forgetaboutit! This was racing at its very best.

Who's Won the Ol' Mug the Most Times?

Which skipper can boast winning the America’s Cup the most times?

These FOUR skippers won it THREE TIMES each since 1851:

- C. Barr in 1899 on Columbia (USA) for J.P. Morgan/C.O. Iselin/E.D. Morgan against Shamrock (UK) – owner Sr. Thomas Lipton
- C. Barr in 1901 on Columbia (USA) for J.P. Morgan/E.D. Morgan against Shamrock II (UK) – owner Sr. Thomas Lipton)
- C. Barr in 1903 on Reliance (USA) for C.O. Iseline and syndicate against Shamrock III (UK) – owner Sr. Thomas Lipton

- H.S. Vanderbilt in 1930 on Enterprise (USA) for W. Aldrich and syndicate against Shamrock V (UK) – owner Sr. Thomas Lipton
- H.S. Vanderbilt in 1934 on Rainbow (USA) for H. S. Vanderbilt and syndicate against Endeavour (UK) – owner T.O.M. Sopwith
- H.S. Vanderbilt in 1937 on Ranger (USA) for H.S. Vanderbilt against Endeavour II (UK) – owner T.O.M. Sopwith

- Dennis Connor in 1980 on Freedom (USA) for the Maritime College at Ft. Schuyler Foundation, Inc.) against Australia - - owner Allen Bond and syndicate
- Dennis Connor in 1987 on Stars & Stripes (USA) for the Sail America syndicate against Kookaburra III (AUS) – owned by K. Parry and syndicate
- Dennis Connor in 1988 on Stars & Stripes (USA) for the Sail America syndicate against New Zealand (NZ) – owner Michael Fay

- Russell Coutts in 1995 on Black Magic (NZ) for Peter Blake and Team New Zealand against Young America (NZ) – owned by Pact 95 syndicate
- Russell Coutts in 1995 on Black Magic (NZ) for Team New Zealand against Luna Rossa (Italy) – owner Prada Challenge
- Russell Coutts in 2003 on Alinghi (Switzerland) for Alinghi/Ernesto Bertinelli against New Zealand (NZ) – owner Team New Zealand

A Few Cup Ironies, Oddities

It’s hard to know where to even begin when counting the number of ironies and oddities associated with the America’s Cup. Here are just a few:

• For starters, the so-called “neutral” country, Switzerland, once again successfully competed in this global challenge. So much for their passivity and even-handed stance on life. They sponsored some tough competitors, played hardball and won.
• There was only one Swiss citizen aboard the winning "Swiss" boat: Harvard MBA grad Ernesto Bertarelli. There also were six team members from New Zealand, three from the USA, two Italians, and one from Canada, The Netherlands, Australia and Spain.
• George L. Schuyler donated the “Deed of Gift” and coveted silver (plate) trophy for the America’s Cup more than 150 years go as a “friendly competition between foreign countries,” if you can believe this. Today’s yachts, with their global crews and skippers - - do they really qualify as “foreign nations," or just foreign skippers and crews when compared to the owners' countries of orgin...
• This past year’s regatta, sans nationality requirements, was raced on the winning yacht by a lot of New Zealanders “representing” Switzerland on the winning yacht, New Zealanders who previously had won the race in and for New Zealand in 1995, and then defended it again in 2000. Didn’t New Zealand win? Shouldn't the skipper receive a Mini America's Cup trophy he/she can take back to the home coountry?
• According to the Protocol document regulating the next America’s Cup, this is a partly a "design competition" and partly a "sailing competition." In addition, there will be anti-doping restrictions and anti-gambling restrictions. The successful cup Defender, receives 50% of the Net Surplus Revenue generated by the America’s Cup Management organization. Does anyone know what this was?
• Members of the next America’s Cup Sailing Jury and its appeals Arbitration Panel may be from any country, including competitors, EXCEPT for the State of New York, without obaining permission of the America’s Cup Management. What are chances? Zero?
• This year’s Notice of Entry for the next America’s Cup includes a requirement for a 50,000 Euro entry fee and a bond to be posted for up to $950,000 Euro’s at some unspecified point in the future.
• Here's a Catch 22: If they make the races longer (than 12.6 nautical miles; 3.15/leg; 40 minutes or so), it might be even more boring to watch from a distance. But if they keep them relatively short, a good start is almost impossible to beat. What to do? So far, no one has come up with a better answer. Maybe more buoys, random direction starts (downwind, reaching, spinnakers, etc.)?

Cup Appeal: How to Build a U.S. Audience

There you have it. I've said it.

The major TV networks won't cover it. The Cup event is filled with its own jargon. Sailing itself has its own mumbo-jumbo. The rules, both for racing and for this specific event, require armchair lawyers to interpret. What's a guy got to do to build an audience for this fabulous sport!

Seems to me America's Cup 33 guys (teams, managers, etc.) could use a hand getting the word out.

Idea: Can't someone - - ANYONE -- VISIT each of the major U.S. TV networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, then the major cable guys.

Tell them you've got a great story to tell and are willing to share it with them.

Remind them about your giant audience, the availability of sailing commentator/experts, the exciting highlights of the last few events.

And, finally, that it's gonna take FULL SUPPORT of the COUNTRY to win this baby back, not not the millions and millions of dollars from a few of the Big Boys.

Of course, these are BUSINESSES first, then NEWS OUTLETS. Bring along a few potential NEW advertisers for them to temp their palates.

I mean, I defy a SURVEY to be taken of people on any sidewalk in America - - Did you see ANY of the America's Cup action on TV? What about on the World Wide Web?

You didn't? Would you have liked to? Are you interested in this sport?

Can you name ANY of the teams that raced? How about ANY of the countries represented?

Come on guys. You have time now to begin setting the stage for a MAJOR presense in the U.S. media market.

On your mark, get set - - GO GET 'EM. Pretend you're selling soap...and mean it. (Remember, there's a long, long line ahead of stories ahead of this one.)

- Biff Halyard, Blogster

America's Cup 33 Blog: Helm to Lee!

Blogger Hoar:
Biff Halyard

The 'Swiss' Win

Protocol Lives

Mug Survives

33rd Looms . . .

. . . Biff Says:
"All Hail. We are not worthy!"


For 99% of the participants, it's time to slink home and wonder what happened. What did happen, anyway? We had new sails. We practiced and practiced. We bought the best skipper and crews money could buy. And our designer--What a guy! We had everything. We spent a few bucks, but hey, who's really counting...after the first million or so.


For the lucky one-percenters, winning is sweet--you get to build your own trophy case, make (up) the new rules, choose the next venue, pick the judges, select the boats...in short...do just about anything to make things most favorable for you and your countrymen, and less so for your fellow racers. This isn't just winner take all, it's winner owns the building, boat and challenge. Just the way the New York Yacht Club designed it be. Sweet!


- Biff Halyard At the Masthead