tell me mr. Conner...

[seb]

After beating the almost unvincible GBRChallenge, I suppose you think everything is going to be easy in the cup...oneworld is nothing, isnt it? Well, if that is so, then why on earth do you call upon rule two against oneworld? I mean, you ARE supposed to be the number one sailor concerning this cup. Coward is the name.

Meanwhile, poor britains exit left us all in tears...I think Prada is going to win this time, or coming second place with Alinghy first...but...the americans...I dont think they will win this time.

 

[claymore]

Well, I wouldn\'t be betting against Dennis

His experience in the finals has to be worth a lot and he's just doing what he always does right now in terms of using the rules. He might be difficult to like as a person but he has a massive sailing talent.

regards
Claymore

 

[davidhand]

Yes I too was sad to see the early exit of the British entry. I did not expect them to win first time out, but I hoped they would stay in a bit longer. They did not seem to improve on their round robin performance. Still with the likes of Ellen MacA and the performance in the last olympics the Brits still put in a strong showing in the yachting world. However I have not seen a lot of interest shown by the Brits in AC at least not on this board.
I would say calling Dennis C a coward is a bit strong but I agree his sportsmanship would seem to be in question. I don't know what he will prove, he is apparently going to call Sean Reeves as a witness but Reeves is under a federal court order to make no further disclosures in the One World matter.
Who is going to win the L.V. cup? toss up between Allingi, Oracle, and Prada, and whoever win that I would bet on to take the AC cup from the Kiwis. I would have mixed feelings about Oracle winning it as I have a boat on S.F. Bay and I fear bearth rents would go sky high, but it would be nice to go out and root for a Brit boat, assuming they enter.

 

[claymore]

You don't see good old Larry buying the whole shoot and giving free berths for 5 years to existing holders - just through the sheer joy of winning then?

regards
Claymore

 

[davidhand]

No I don't, however the word is he got into row at the St Francis Y.C. (the rich folks Y.C. on S.F. bay) and went along to the Golden Gate Y.C. with about 100 grand to bale them out of impending bankruptcy. He can't be a bad bloke though, supports the British economy, drives an imaculate Rolls Royce convertable.

 

[bob_tyler]

"However I have not seen a lot of interest shown by the Brits in AC at least not on this board."

That is right - just look at the few entries on the Americas Cup dedicated board. The whole thing is vastly boring.

 

[Viking]

Re: Dennis Conner

A friend of mine was a Admirals Cup* measurer as well as a 'AC*' skipper. He used to measurer the AC* enters. He alway said that DenisConners sails where to the mirco mm. always exact. Which could not ways be said for others who use all sorts of tricks to try to fool the measurers. Including folding in dumbing seams etc.
He's what the 'yanks' call a 'winner' and will use all means, within the rules, Which others have laid down, to do so. ie using a 'cat' to try and win back the Americans Cup. But making sure he himself is clean!

 

[Twister_Ken]

DC has never been one to go to all the trouble of winning on the water if he can win in the committee room.

 

[Martin_Billings]

Ah, but that's the point isn't it? Go back to the first race in 1851 and America's win achieved by sailing inside the Nab Light. Fast forward to today when with no off the water intrigue it would just be two boats going up and down, up and down (but not if there's too much wind or not enough wind). I imagine your average billionaire owner wants to see a bit more action for the money than that.

 

[Viking]

See below. DC play to the rules which others have laid down. He makes sure that hes clean. If other people make mistakes or flout the rules DC "being clean" will jump on them. He's there to win.
So dont flout rules or make balls up and you can face him on the water - easy!

 

[bedouin]

I find it a bit rich for DC to be trying to use Rule 2 to protest OneWorld!

 

[pugwash]

Dennis si jsut being Dennis

He sails with more lawyers than split pins. What happens on the water is only half the battle, the rest is in the committee room. But the Yanks have always done this and others do the same when it suits them (like the Italians' 5th-race protest against NZ for using a bowsprit at San Diego in 1992). I think the Brits (when they've appeared) and the Kiwis (under Blake) have been more sporting than most, but does that make us "nfair" or does it make us "feeble"? I think Blake demonstrated that fair play is a kind of strength that helps you win races: Black Magic in 1996 had no in-house lawyers at all, but the team made sure it was always within the rules. In my opinion, NZ showed how to do it.

 

[davidhand]

It is also true that if the race had been run in later years when rating rules were in effect "America" would have got line honours but probably wouldn't have corrected out first.