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….!