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Monday November 26th 2001, Author: Sian Cowen, Location: United Kingdom
From Mikael Ahrenberg
What do you think went wrong? Hello! It is not so much a question of what went wrong, than a question of pushing the boats constructions to the limits. These boats are very special constructions where utmost performance is the number one target. In constricting machines like these the way between success and disaster is very thin.
Of course loosing a keel is a disaster, and could also be a dangerous situation for the crew, but when you take in consideration the constructions of these boats it is no wonder. The boats are like greyhounds - slender, efficient on the track and quite fast - eg. stripped of anything that could give them any extra weight etc. I would say this is a boat class at its top of evolution. This gives you effectiveness over durability.
Never the less I think we here have a combination of beauty and efficiency in the same package. Unfortunately we have lost the Int 12 Metre yachts from these races, but as earlier pointed out these boats are the result of technical evolution! I'm very much looking for the Louis Vuitton Cup next fall as I will be on the site to check these beauties out. It will be very interesting to see these boats perform "live".
From Simon Clarke
Is the only good America`s Cup news the bad news? To comment on Mark's question of getting across the real feel of Cup sailing. I recently watched the official Louis Vuitton video for the '99 Cup with a few friends. Generally we where very disappointed.
Until the last 15 mins (the final) all we saw where pictures of the boats sailing and then mainly views of gear failure. Yes I admit that such footage was pretty amazing and scary at the same time, but there was no racing to speak of. Only when we got to the final between Paul Cayard and Prada did we start to see any boat to boat action (that had been exclusively collisions up to then ! ).
Unfortunately this only lasted for about 15 mins and involved no commentary what so ever. The clips where just small parts of the races and it was altogether very frustrating. My overall view of the video was Louis Vuitton saying, wow look at all the pretty boats and don't they break easily. This might be alright for people who want to get their first view of the boats, but serious sailors are just as (if not more) interested in the actual racing. The sad thing was that his was the only video we could actually find of the Cup. PS - If anyone does know of any more race orientated videos of the last Cup, please tell me.
From Daniel Gay
The America's cup is boring. It contains none of the adventure of single-handed transatlantic or round-the-world racing; none of the unpredictable action of dinghy fleet racing. I am disturbed that so many millions of dollars can be frittered away on a class that ends up virtually one-design. Surely there are more worthy causes on which to spend money? The last America's Cup final was so predictable it was like watching epoxy dry. No wonder the media isn't interested.
Continued on page two...
Until the last 15 mins (the final) all we saw where pictures of the boats sailing and then mainly views of gear failure. Yes I admit that such footage was pretty amazing and scary at the same time, but there was no racing to speak of. Only when we got to the final between Paul Cayard and Prada did we start to see any boat to boat action (that had been exclusively collisions up to then ! ).
Unfortunately this only lasted for about 15 mins and involved no commentary what so ever. The clips where just small parts of the races and it was altogether very frustrating. My overall view of the video was Louis Vuitton saying, wow look at all the pretty boats and don't they break easily. This might be alright for people who want to get their first view of the boats, but serious sailors are just as (if not more) interested in the actual racing. The sad thing was that his was the only video we could actually find of the Cup. PS - If anyone does know of any more race orientated videos of the last Cup, please tell me.
From Daniel Gay
The America's cup is boring. It contains none of the adventure of single-handed transatlantic or round-the-world racing; none of the unpredictable action of dinghy fleet racing. I am disturbed that so many millions of dollars can be frittered away on a class that ends up virtually one-design. Surely there are more worthy causes on which to spend money? The last America's Cup final was so predictable it was like watching epoxy dry. No wonder the media isn't interested.
Continued on page two...
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