Well it’s been a week now since Team New Zealand claimed the America’s Cup. I was hoping the event would have lasted a few more days and been more competitive. But good for the crew of Emirates Team New Zealand.
As a result of New Zealand taking the cup back home there are a few ideas being tossed around regarding the next challenge. I recently read that one idea under consideration is that whatever country enters the event, ALL of the sailors need to be from that country. Stephen A Van Dyck, who was involved in the America’s cup from 1971 until 1980 noted that “from its inception, the Cup was supposed to be friendly competition between nations. If a nation is not first and foremost its people, then what is it? How is it possible that in the final race, no real American is on the American boat? How is it possible that a large majority of Cup event sailors are all from New Zealand or Australia? How is this a competition between nations?”
The other thought under consideration is that as cool as it is to see the new high tech foiling boats fly through the water at 30+ knots, perhaps it’s time to go back to mono hull sail boats with blending the technology of wing keels and perhaps foils along with increased emphasis on match racing and strategy. Having been a sailor most of my adult life I think I would support this.
However it turns out, I’m looking forward to attending the next event in person. I just hope they can get it all together sooner rather than later.
