Covering All Bases to be Sure

Your blogster hears that Team Alinghi is out on the water again practicing intensely in Valencia, Spain, but this time it's on 40-foot catamarans. They’re also racing on Far 40 speedsters to keep their “small” monohull skills sharp (they just finished racing at Key West Race Week, finishing a distant 9th, after having won the Far 40 division the previous year.). Hey, you can’t win them all! Tiger Woods certainly doesn’t! But he and they are still the world’s best at what they do.

Among those assembled for the Alinghi practices are Brad Butterworth, Team Captain, and Ed Baird, Dean Phipps, Yves Detrey, Warwick Fleury, Murray Jones, Lorenzo Mazza, Francesco Rapetti, Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen, Juan Vila, Nils Frei, Curtis Blewett, Rodney Ardern, Nicolas Texier, Luc Dubois and Pierre-Yves Jorand. Imagine these guys on your boat at the next around-the-buoys regatta. Whoa! That spinnaker would never be launched and doused quite as fast, and mark roundings would be a walk in the park. Give me chills just imagining the confidence you'd have at the starting line.

Brad says they have already set up a busy summer racing schedule on both monohulls and cats, since it still isn’t clear either the TYPE and STYLE of the boat for the next America’s Cup regatta, or the DATES of the eliminations and final series. Hint: Monohulls, sail the boat flat, boys; cats, get that pontoon out of the water upwind! Tacking, keep the boat moving and accelerate, accelerate, accelerate! Nothing beats a good start, pass a boat at every mark, and it ain't over till the pointy end crosses the finish line. Many a race has been lost in the last five feet by an over-confident crew or skipper.

A New York judge, who’s probably NEVER EVEN BEEN ON A SAILBOAT has the dubious honor of deciding what’ll be what in the next America’s Cup match-up. Go figure.