USA with its radical "hard wing" sail. Photo Courtesy BMW Oracle RacingTen days to go, or not? I think we're there. Mutual consent withstanding, counterpart
Commodore's Fred Murray from the Societe Nautique de Geneva (SNG)and Marcus Young of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) continue to trade letters espousing their desires for an amicable America’s Cup, but contentions aside on who built what, where; the first race is still scheduled/ordered to start on February 8th in Valencia, Spain
With the utmost sincerity feeling that they are both somehow on the side of might and right the yachts in question this time around are not narrow, 80 ft. monohulls (1 hull) grasping to reach 20 knots, but behemoth multi-hulls 90 ft. by 90 ft on the load waterline, with carbon fiber masts that tower 200 feet into the sky. With more than 7,000 square ft. of sail area these boats can be expected to sail at more than 40 knots!
Pulling the purse strings are billionaires Larry Ellison, representing the GGYC in combination with his team BMW Oracle and Ernesto Bertarelli with Alinghi, holding sway over SNG. The sailors on board for the most part pay penance to their bosses and the legal teams involved are presumably the best and certainly the most expensive in the world.
BMW Oracle launched their trimaran (3 hulls)a 1 1/2 years ago in Anacortes, Washington and last July, Alinghi put a gargantuan catamaran (2 hulls) into the emerald waters of Lake Geneva, Switzerland and then into the mine laden Persian Gulf, for several additional months of training, before being ordered by the New York Supreme Court to pack up and relocate in Valencia.
These high tech wonders will ensure that the next America’s Cup will be the most spectacular design fest in history......if the warring factions can ever escape their escapades in the courtroom.
With all the ruminations over the choice of the venue,and now; sparring on issues over the "constructed in country" (CIC) provisions in the Deed of Gift, which will probably leave the NY Court little alternative but to say; "come back and see us when the racing is done."
The issue itself is relatively mute with an interesting array of factions lined up on both sides of the fence. With former Stars & Stripes teammates; and executives with North Sails John Marshall(BMW Oracle)and Tom Whidden (Alinghi) submitting affidavits of opposite opinions, the 33rd version of the America's Cup has become a terrible Civil War which will undoubtedly land back in court after the races are over.
For the last 2 1/2 years BMW Oracle has championed the Challenger's cause in more ways than even they would have dreamed possible. After Alinghi's poorly thought out Defender's power grab in 2007, the holder of the America's Cup has been left on the ropes with little or nothing left but to win on the water at all costs. The loser next week will be left with a bitter legacy and a trip back to court.
What we are left with is the possibility of the greatest spectacle in "yacht" racing! Again, who doesn't wants to see these foiled multihulls rip it out over the Mediterranean!
By Mark Wharton Reid
