Wish I could have been there. We were there last Oct and saw the AC Park. They are saying that they now have to find a way to make it affordable so more than four teams can enter next time. Hope they do. Please share some photos!RickI was there watching. Man, this was one heck of the spectacle. I have a ton of photos. My 8-year old wants to sail like that (me too!) . Trouble is - daddy does not have $20 mil to spare and Larry Ellison is unlikely to give her a ride...BTW, still unclear what they will do with AC72s now.Regards,Stan
I thought I heard a NASCARism out of Spithill yesterday. The starts were very exciting.Coming from decades of off road racing I can attest to the fraise " rubbing is racing" but we always waited to get passed the start line! Races 17 1nd 18 are the best if you are a disbeliever watch those two starts and you will stay for the whole race! I just wish it was the best of 51 not 19!
While I agree in principal it is really weird that USA team had 1 USA citizen on board... Thing is - name at least 5 top-shelf ACTIVE american racers involved in match racing? Or big boat professional racing? Can you? I can't. Google brings up a number of great dinghy sailors, but for most it's a hobby, not a profession.
Competitive sailing in USA is perceived by most as either elitist or weird. Big boats are a subject of class warfare. How many comments did I see in local press about billionaires and their toys? Way too many to count. Many SF "taxpayers" actually want Ellison to move AC35 somewhere else.
All this is not encouraging youngsters to get into sailing, much less - top competitive one. So, local talent pool is - hmm - quite thin. Thus, OTUSA used hired guns
BTW, Spithill probably will get a USA passport soon.
Regards,
Stan
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I caught one day of the AC72s to take these pictures. I was at Chrissy Fields near the first mark after the start. The boats had to head straight for the beach then downwind. These were shot with a 200mm lens.