High Noon

Maybe a multihull match in '08 is the best next thing.

We're all tired of being mired. The pros who thought that America's Cup 32 was the launching pad to a secure footing know already how wrong they were, and compared to the abyss of legal appeals, six-guns at the back of the corral would do fine. It wouldn't be like '88, you know. People are confused about that.

In '88, Conner's cat just waltzed away from the Kiwi Big Boat, which was never really a good boat (in the San Diego slop, you could feel two waves at a time working the hull). The Big Boat was a very beatable boat, and if the defenders had matched it with their own big boat, that would have been one of the most celebrated America's Cup events ever. The world was keen. Sports Illustrated was ready to go large, and so were all the major news outlets. Until the catamaran defense turned it into a bilious mismatch—yes, I'm oversimplifying, and perhaps if I had been in the meeting, I'd have voted for the catamaran too—and until the endless court battles turned everyone nauseous, then off.

From the earliest decisions made by San Diego Yacht Club after winning in Australia to Michael Fay's decision to enter a sideways challenge, the 1988 affair was an avalanche of actions with unintended consequences. Would I be wrong to say that 2007, so far, fits the theme?

But with both camps armed with big multihulls, the match is not, in concept, a mismatch. Those who advocate racing the Cup in the fastest boats possible could see just what that means, and those of us who think it's a bad idea could be proven right or wrong and maybe, just maybe, we'd all come out smarter and feeling better, the way you do when you've just had a good vomit.

Meanwhile

The latest word, as taken from the Golden Gate Yacht Club web site:

Valencia, Spain, 14 December 2007: The New York State Supreme Court is expected to issue a Court Order on its November 27 decision early in 2008, the Golden Gate Yacht Club confirmed today

The Court will hear further submissions from both parties on January 14 and make an order some time after that.

- Ends –

Meanwhile again

I have received a gift from Alinghi, a lovely coffee table book chronicling the events of the team in America's Cup 32 from the Moet Cup match on San Francisco Bay in 2003 to the victory celebration of 2007 in Valencia. It's a great production. I wish I felt great while I look at it—Kimball