"During racing Marjatta was involved in a collision with Harlekin. Fortunately no one got hurt!" Is that all the reporter has to say about an incident that reminded me of the infamous Nioulargue incident, from the photos at least? An incident I witnessed first hand from the lee rail of Kentra. "No one got hurt"! Come on, that's not good enough.

Interesting that the Mayor uses the words: "highlight San Francisco as the only location for this event". Following on from RC's presentation definite hints at a multi-venue proposal.

Give up the funny farm Ben. Sail the Olympics and win!

I think Ainslie should go for the Olympics

TeamOrigin core crew will be competing at the Bermuda Gold Cup during the TP52 Worlds and the Emirates Team NZ TP52 has been sold to an Australian and is heading down under

question. why are both team origon and emtz racing??

“It’s hard not to be impressed by the commitment BMW ORACLE Racing, Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison have made to fix this thing,” Is this deliberate, or a slip of the tongue? I would say that they've fixed it up good and proper with their choice of boat!

Very nice article. The bullfight analogy is excellent.

The AC45s look set to be build, all or in part, at BMW Oracle Racing's own facility in Warkworth, some 50km north of Auckland. So say reports in the NZ press: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/rodney-times/4131802/Cup-batt...

KingMonkey: Hiring Alinghi's engineers, added to all the French expertise used for Dogzilla, would have to discourage the eight teams that Coutts says they are expecting, or at least hoping for. It would seem self-defeating if they have corralled all the know-how, but in the next months we'll hear the details. Another protocol stumbling block could be regards the 'Use of Patented Products', where "Use of a design or process for the Hull, appendages, Masts and other spars, rigging, and sails for which a patent has been granted or is pending is prohibited unless the design or process is available to all Competitors on a reasonable commercial basis." If brilliant new wing technology is expected, isn't it a complication if everyone is supposed to have equal access to it? But since BMWOracle have probably more patent-related gear than anyone else, maybe this is an example of magnanimity... ... I like to keep in mind that the hosts for the AC34 have celebrated their annual highlight with the famous 'Seaweed Soup". And it's outrageous, because there is NO SEAWEED in it! http://www.norcalsailing.com/archives/Entries/2010/3/7_Seaweed_Soup_Reci...

This website issue is a matter of developing content and traffic. See for example the "Media Commitments and Public Appearances" in the protocol. A lot of elaborate content is planned on being generated, and it isn't intended as a charity for the rest of the internet. The individual teams will probably benefit, they are promised 'exclusive use and control of all their content', so for instance Alinghi's webpages from AC33 would have been OK except for any 'moving or still images or animations of racing during the Event or Event information'. But you can imagine how the master website might have problems if it does not appear neutral between the teams. Any editorial bias in relation to good news or bad news (or bitter arguments between rivals, which fits in both categories) will cause trouble. You recall how BMWOracle set up their own completely separate show during AC33. They had their own internet broadcast with sympathetic announcers, interviews etc. all in defiance of the parallel efforts by the AC33 hosts. I'd say it looks like the protocol contains features meant to prevent anyone else repeating that behavior.

After the fiasco of AC33 I vowed never to waste time or money on visiting another Americas Cup. I have now changed my mind! For an ordinary sailor there is not much that beats the adrenaline rush of a highly technical cat like an F18 or A-Class. The development of an AC45 one design cat and the prospect of an AC72 cat for me has brought back excitement to the Cup. Once the date and venue for the World Series is announced I will book my ticket.

Actually from a pure standpoint of fair and balanced protocal and even start for everyone, this seems by far the closest to even as you will get. In the past the event has always been seriously slanted towards the defender so if the only area in which they have an advantage is with the boat, then there is not much to complain about. There is plenty of talent out there on the design side available and with the introduction of the 45's as a starting point you have the ability to get up to speed quickly. Anyone further interested should probably contact some of the c-class gurus, which has already begun happening. I hope though that this does not adversely effect the C-Class itself.

What is the point of not being able to have their "own" websites? I would be interested in hearing from someone who could "actually" explain that one...

The Americas Cup is no longer the yacht racing event it once was, it is now a commercial exercise the main objective being to attract media interest, viewing figures, sponsorship and ultimately cash. 72 foot cats hurtling around a racecourse at 20 knots plus will make a fantastic spectacle, but it will also make for a pretty boring match race which is what the AC is supposed to be about. There is no doubt that monohulls are the best boats in which to go match racing and make for the closest racing; exciting for people who understand the finer points of the sport, but pretty boring for the general viewing public. Perhaps the time has come for people to stop referring to the Americas Cup as the ‘pinnacle of our sport’, it may be the pinnacle of sailing but is not the pinnacle of the sport of the sailing.

Why are they always affraid of no close racing, the Little AC saw plenty of this with only 3 basic rules guiding the design of the boat, length, width, sail area. What was so great about the 2010 AC was seeing the different approach taken by each team. In the end, boats will converge, but we have to remember, this is a race that starts NOW, it is a race in the first instance of the designers and builders, and then they get to test and race on the water. Dont constrain the design more than you have to in fear of what probably will not happen!

Well,,,,is this progress??? We will all see,,,,I am glad that there is some hope fro developing youth sailors,,,just what this sport needs...

"The fairest cup ever", and yet the elephant in the room remains and - as I have just found out from this article - is actually much larger. Coutts fobs off their 3-year experience practicing match racing in multihulls, and designing a similar, if not entirely identical, boat as not being relevant. Now we hear that, not only has he hired, in the Alinghi engineering team, the only other people who could have helped other syndicates catch up, but also, the BO design team have just put together - with the headstart that only the defender could have had - the design for an AC72 miniature in the shape of the AC45 one design. I'm afraid in my view, anyone who doesn't see that as an absurd, unsporting advantage is pretty deluded. And hiring 'most of' the Alinghi engineers before anyone knew what the boat was is pretty cynical.