Americas Cup (Sailing)

[steveindenmark]

I was watching a bit on Eurosport.
I can’t say I really understood it much. It seemed to come down to who could push the limits of fair racing to the max without annoying the judges and getting a penalty.

The yachts themselves are nothing like a real sailing boat. Their sails are made of carbon fibre and They fly across the water on hydrofoils barely touching the water, so if the crew stalls then the boat drops on its hull and it’s very hard to get started again.

We have moved on a bit since Sir Francis Chichester and Gypsy Moth 😁

I have been making sails in Denmark for 21 years. We moved into laminate sails about 15 years ago and so they are not new.

When it comes to racing yachts, it is as technical as formula 1. But I still enjoy seeing white sails with our logo.

 

[albion]

Much is down to money, so GB might be favourites.
And I think Ben Aisnlie had already won the cup in his role at Team New Zealand.

The BBC might have shown it at the time.

 

[albion]

Seems the BBC showed the first two races. GB is 4-0 down. Next races Wednesday, probably not on the BBC.

Memory failing me, Ainslie it was who took control of Oracle USA, 2013 for the comeback of all time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sailing/24274103

 

[NorthernSky]

they will need a hell of a comeback, NZ seem to be all over this
they races are all on youtube live

 

[Dogtrousers]

How do the economics of this work? These boats cost bazillions.

Unlike, say, F1 or cycling it's pretty obscure and infrequent so while there will be some TV rights but the audience will be relatively small.

I guess the fact that the two competitors seem to be sponsored by Ineos and Emirates means that it's entirely sponsor funded. Is that right?

Judging by the recent fortunes of Man Utd and the Ineos Grenadiers I fully expect the Ineos sponsored boat to sink.

 

[NorthernSky]

How do the economics of this work? These boats cost bazillions.

Unlike, say, F1 or cycling it's pretty obscure and infrequent so while there will be some TV rights but the audience will be relatively small.

I guess the fact that the two competitors seem to be sponsored by Ineos and Emirates means that it's entirely sponsor funded. Is that right?

Judging by the recent fortunes of Man Utd and the Ineos Grenadiers I fully expect the Ineos sponsored boat to sink.

yeah this seems to be a sport for the elite and the money only they would possess
i've watched a few races and it's pretty cut and dry. if you get ahead that's it, you more or less get the win i.e. not that exciting
don't think it's an event i'll be pining for but will keep cheering the UK on while they have a chance

 

[Bonefish Blues]

How do the economics of this work? These boats cost bazillions.

You take a huge pile of money. You set fire to it. Think KLF.

 

[Psamathe]

yeah this seems to be a sport for the elite and the money only they would possess

And "sportswashing". And without talking about specific people, some (not a million miles away) need a bit of reputational "cleaning".

Ian

 

[Dogtrousers]

yeah this seems to be a sport for the elite and the money only they would possess

Is it the kind of thing that people who pootle around their local reservoir in a dinghy (or whatever - I know nothing about boats) like to follow - in the same way that people like me who trundle around on bikes watch the Tour?

Or is it purely powerful people having fun with money?

 

[BrumJim]

Is it the kind of thing that people who pootle around their local reservoir in a dinghy (or whatever - I know nothing about boats) like to follow - in the same way that people like me who trundle around on bikes watch the Tour?

Or is it purely powerful people having fun with money?

I'll ask a friend of mine whose brother enjoys pootling around the local reservoir in a dinghy. Competitively.

 

[Psamathe]

Is it the kind of thing that people who pootle around their local reservoir in a dinghy (or whatever - I know nothing about boats) like to follow - in the same way that people like me who trundle around on bikes watch the Tour?

Or is it purely powerful people having fun with money?

Difficult to say. I'm one of those "who pootle around their local reservoir in a dinghy" (although salt-water) but I used to have a larger offshore one-design racer.

I used to enjoy following it back in the days of monohulls but lost interest when it switched to multihulls. Others some follow, others don't so from personal experience no real pattern between the two criteria.

Ian