The 34th America's Cup

What has become of the America's Cup? On the one hand I feel this race has gotten away from the classic monohull boats that were the staple of the race in past history and on the other I can appreciate the advancements in design and cutting edge technology that exists today. Far worse is the fact that they have also made the race so out of reach for competition that it is almost not even worth watching. The money that it takes to be a competitive team is so unrealistic that it has become the race of billionaires and I believe is turning off it's audience.

Don't get me wrong, I am pulling for an American victory but with the most recent race still so fresh in my mind, it really was no big deal. There were only two competitors in a best of 3 races, which was decided in only 2 race because one boat way surpassed what the other team could put together. Add to that the trade off of gentlemenly sportmanship for the new age litigation and lawsuit mentality of today. By the time the race finally happened I felt myself almost pulling for who seemed to be the more gentlemenly and sportsman of the two, Ernesto Bertarelli and Team Alinghi.

Less we forget that the race actually suffers from the lack of interested commerical sponsorships. I don't understand why any company would want to spend the millions it takes to be a sponsor for such a short race series and such few competitors. With so many other major sailing races around the world, sponsors have their choice of more affordable and greater returns on investment with other races and race models. While we are on the topic of sponsorship, how much are the cities really getting out of it? The locations make all kinds of concessions on land and building on prime waterfront real estate to make this race happen in their area but I really have to wonder if Valencia got their monies worth for such a short 2 races in 2010.

So here we are January 2011 and it has been annouced that the race will be another Multihull race which will take place this time in San Francisco. I don't know any other details but I can't help thinking how much I would prefer a race consisting of multiple teams competing for the prize. Maybe even hoping for an affordable and mutual agreement on boat design so that it is realistic to have other competitors in the race. The result would be a race won by a team of sailors and not a design team beating out another design team.

So that's my 2 cents worth and I guess in 2013 we will see what has become of the America's Cup. I do have to admit this though, I have attached a cool video of what these multihulls are capable of and I have to acknowledge that the speeds are simply amazing. Boat design, all be it in the multi million dollar range, has come a very long way from the original America's Cup boats.