Alinghi Wins Cup

[chippie]

Congratulations to Alinghi on winning the America's Cup.
Without a doubt the best team won. The boat seemed marginally faster on both upwind and downwind legs, and it was the fortieth consecutive cup race win for Russel Coutts.

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[tjfmmaes]

Absolutely - great win, great composure - by far the most deserving.

One question though - I had to pay to "watch" it on Virtual Spectator, saw some coverage on Eurosport (with watching for it whenever I could). I Definitely bored the wife to tears during the Louis Vuitton Cup, but not a peep during the Americas Cup as we (and that included she) did not catch a glimpse. I am even up at 03:30 to check it out (well, I'vee just come back and had a few and all that...)


Anyway,

Given that the next one will be in Europe (we think), can we get a) an apology out of the BBC for the fact that they, once again (?), managed to miss an event that will bring back an english institution to britain ( after about 152 years). In effect, that alone should make it a peer among a very few equals....
b) that they won't do it again
c) that they will produce a significant programme of the complete Louis Vuitton Cup
& Americas Cup and screen it and publish it where someone (who is in the least interested) will be able to see it.

I am sure that GBR Challenge woulnd't mind....

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[Guest]

BBC coverage etc; The best sailing footage I saw during the entire AC was in a Hollywood film "Wind", broadcast a few days ago on Sky movies. Plot was thin but the actual sailing was excellent(I think Ted Turner was an advisor).
Perhaps the Beeb could show it as a hook for the next major sailing event!
Iain

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[chippie]

There seems to be a momentum towards Portugal being the Venue as it would be neutral by virtue of not fielding a challenge. , it will be interesting to see.
I think Oracle has been named the challenger of record against Alinghi so two big dollar contenders are shaping up.
The level of management expertise that Alinghi showed was incredible, and it sounds as if the parent company is handled with the same level of finesse.

Amongst the after race interviews screened here in NZ was a commentator from the British yachting press (whose name I forget) who seemed well informed and fairly enthusiastic towards a GB challenge being successful in a couple of challenges time when Coutts and co. are starting to show their age. He based his view on the depth of young talent coming up in British yachting.
The Wight Lightning challenge was certainly very popular over here.
Coutts has said he will be staying with Alinghi irrespective of the size of anybody elses offer that might be made.

Re the TV coverage: TVNZ did an excellent job; its a pity that they never managed to sell wider coverage to the rest of the world, but yachting is of mainstream interest here and because we have a population of only 4 million the event has made a significant economic impact on our overall economy. It would be hard to imagine it having a similar impact on a much larger European economy wherever it ends up being held.

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[Guest]

Don't quite understand the comments of tjfmmaes, especially the reference to 'bringing an English institution back to Britain'. The cup will now be defended somewhere on the coast of the continent. The America's Cup was not an 'English insitution'. Although the cup itself was purchased by the RYS for a one off race around the island in 1851, it was first offered for perpetual international racing by the owners in New York in 1858 and the first challenge was not sailed until 1870 owing to the American Civil War. So it is really an American instituion, if any.
By the way, the coast of Portugal is a most dubious idea for a series. The northerly Portuguese trades blow with various ferocity all summer, as all who have sailed that coast know. No doubt the organizers will make a proper meteorological investigation of any possible waters. Local mayors and commodores will always say that their own waters are ideal!!




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[davidhand]

How about the bit to the right of Cape Vincente, the Algarve I believe it's called, say out of Lagos or Villamoura? What's the weather like there?
I agree about the local mayors and commodores though, neither the mayor of San Diego or the San Diego Y.C. had shown any interest in the A.C. until Connor won it and suggested defending elsewhere. Then you should have heard the noise they made.

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[tcm]

They are talking about Sete or Marseilles. But for big-bucks fun, these are dubious places, catering more to dinghies and lowbudget midrange boats than the superboat set.

St Tropez is historically the spot for French med big-boat racing qv Nioulargue now "Voiles de st tropez" in October, for example, so i wd guess that they would be in with a shout.

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[Viking]

The DVD and/or Video will be out soon no doubt

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[Viking]

Yes well done ALINGHI
Well I hope the Swiss take better care of the cup then the Kiwis. My Father spent a month rebuilding the Cup when it was all but destroyed the first time NZ won it.

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[chippie]

Your father did a great job and the security around it got a serious upgrade when it was returned.
I thought it was great that it was repaired by the same company that originally made it.
I view it in the context of the interesting history of the cup.

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[Viking]

The AC was made by Garrards but they do not have their own silversmiths now. So it was then sent out to my fathers firm to do the repairs.
As a point which maybe of interest, my father in his time as handle all the major sporting cups and trophies. I have held both the FA and the League Cup. His work included looking after the Queens personal silver and a lot of the presents that were presented at Royal events ie Silver Jubliee, Royal weddings etc. He was also involved in making the model of the Australian yacht which first took the AC from the USA. If you remember it was on display at the London Boat Show.

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[PeterGibbs]

Re: Am Cup future.

Having made the pilgrimage to see the whole of the AM Cup in NZ I offer the following observations on the future of this event:

1. It is difficult to imagine any setting rivalling the Hauraki Gulf for sailing drama, on-shore facilities, easy access ashore and at sea by spectators, and local participation. TV coverage on racing days was for not less than 9 hours, with evening re-runs, and every aspect was presented in such detail as can only be dreamed of in the N Hemisphere. It was fascinating, and I say this as someone who now knows just a little about this event, and knew absolutely nothing on arriving.

2. The money now thrown at each entry is formidable, possibly only rivalled by formula one racing. No wonder Oz retired, Prada too, and I am sure others will follow. The cost of entry in Europe will be higher by several factors. New entrants can hardly be expected; this is not in the interests of the event, arguably the world championship of formula yacht racing

3. Public access is critical to making the most of this sport (as any other) and I fear this will crumble when the Cup is raced for up here. I see costs of admission plastered on everything, resulting in an elite direct audience. The event will be the poorer for that.

4. The success of Alinghi stems mainly from the wholesale purchase of the sailing team that so soundly trounced Prada in 2000. This resulted in a challenge of unsurpassable skills. If no limits are introduced to such transfers the national team element can hardly flourish as it should. The Swiss can hardly take pride in winning since most of the talent came from overseas, and the money to pay for it was earned outside Swiss borders! It makes no sense to continue to pretend the challenges are club efforts - the money and the talent come from anywhere but the sponsoring clubs; this is now history - it is a national event, and only a national effort can secure the Cup.

5. There is much talk of reducing the length of the whole challenge, the Louis Vuiton Cup etc. but I doubt if sudden death races will inspire challengers to come forward. Besides the event and the shore-side sponsors need plenty of time to recoup their investment. No one, except perhaps the media, wants the challenge reduced to a fast Saturday morning (not to clash with soccer!) clip round a rock!

And now the bidding for the site of the next challenge has begun. I met a cameraman on the way home this week from Auckland who confided the deal had already been done between Alinghi and Cascais in Portugal; he was Portuguese himself so maybe not smitten with objectivity on this occasion! Most contributors to this site can imagine, as I do, the shennanigins about to unfold in smoke filled rooms around Europe. Who has the deepest pocket? Is Mr Bertorelli a commercial animal and does he want a return on his investment? It's time to vote off the shallowest pocket...

Somehow I doubt I'll be able to attend the next Cup, but those who are more driven should start an AmCup ISA right now - they'll need it.


Peter Gibbs


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