There’s less than a week before the action restarts in Valencia, and I’m thinking this is a good chance to get some work done on the novel. I’ve got this problem, you see…
A few months back I turned the prologue into chapter one, because a couple of people were asking me questions about my last book that didn’t make any sense. When I quizzed them to try and find out why, it emerged that they hadn’t - and never did - read the prologue.
So, the prologue became chapter one. Then I realized that I’ve now started the book with a scene that doesn’t include either of the two main characters, which is one of those Creative Writing 101 no-no’s… But actually, when I think about it some more, former-prologue-now-chapter-one works really well as chapter three – structurally, this is a great solution. Unfortunately, the scene is now two months later in time, and that means that my 1936 pheasant shooting party, is going to have to become a fox hunt. Damn…
I’m sat here, getting my head round this rewrite, when I think… I might just have a quick check around the blogs and see what’s what in the Cup… And it turns out that there are a couple of things I should bring you attention to…
The first is a great piece on the BOB about a Reuters story doing the rounds of the papers – Tom Ehman is an old Cup-hand and his take on Hamish Ross’s interview is well worth reading if the Cup’s future is something that keeps you awake at night. Or even if it doesn’t.
Then there’s a bit of a scuffle going on in the background over the Notice of Race – Stuff.co.nz are all over this one… see Cup Boss Could Force Feuding Teams to Race and Cup Rivals' Dispute Over Rules Deepens
And finally, there are some nice images of the bows of the Cup contenders from those clever chaps at Cupinfo.com.
While the Cup’s future is the hot topic, here's a thought on a fix for all those 5-0, 5-1 matches we keep seeing (anyone remember the last time the Cup match wasn’t something-to-zip? Yup - 1992).
The ETNZ strategist, Ray Davies, made the comment during the Louis Vuitton final that the same sailors come back from desperate positions on the match race tour all the time. But, although Ray thought that there was no reason why Luna Rossa shouldn’t do the same, it turns out that they didn’t, and history prevailed once again…
What’s the difference between being 1-0 down in the final of a Match Race Tour event and the America’s Cup? Chances are you didn’t have to follow the other guy around for ninety minutes, and then go home and sleep on it, dwelling on your apparent inferiority, before you got the chance to do something about it. On the Tour, the gun for the next race is going before you’ve barely had time to process the fact of the defeat.
So why don’t we do the Cup this way - make each day a best of three short races, one lap races – maybe a two mile beat and run. The importance of the start and first cross will be much reduced, as the trailing boat will almost certainly round close enough to attack on the run - and since it’s just down to the finish, they have every chance of turning it round. And even if they don’t, the gun is going for the next one before they’ve even got used to the idea of losing… The first to win two races, wins the day and gets a point – first to five points wins the match.
Apart from giving the guys that lose the first race a much better chance of digging themselves out of the hole, wouldn’t that be more fun to watch? There would be a lot more of the good stuff (pre-starts, first crosses and finishes), and with the importance of both the start and boat speed reduced, given the unpredictable nature of yacht racing it would surely be impossible to win 5-0…
But more importantly, now that I’ve said all that, Sod’s Law should dictate that we get a 5-4 Cup match…
America's Cup Live Race Commentary at:
www.tackbytack.com
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©
A few months back I turned the prologue into chapter one, because a couple of people were asking me questions about my last book that didn’t make any sense. When I quizzed them to try and find out why, it emerged that they hadn’t - and never did - read the prologue.
So, the prologue became chapter one. Then I realized that I’ve now started the book with a scene that doesn’t include either of the two main characters, which is one of those Creative Writing 101 no-no’s… But actually, when I think about it some more, former-prologue-now-chapter-one works really well as chapter three – structurally, this is a great solution. Unfortunately, the scene is now two months later in time, and that means that my 1936 pheasant shooting party, is going to have to become a fox hunt. Damn…
I’m sat here, getting my head round this rewrite, when I think… I might just have a quick check around the blogs and see what’s what in the Cup… And it turns out that there are a couple of things I should bring you attention to…
The first is a great piece on the BOB about a Reuters story doing the rounds of the papers – Tom Ehman is an old Cup-hand and his take on Hamish Ross’s interview is well worth reading if the Cup’s future is something that keeps you awake at night. Or even if it doesn’t.
Then there’s a bit of a scuffle going on in the background over the Notice of Race – Stuff.co.nz are all over this one… see Cup Boss Could Force Feuding Teams to Race and Cup Rivals' Dispute Over Rules Deepens
And finally, there are some nice images of the bows of the Cup contenders from those clever chaps at Cupinfo.com.
While the Cup’s future is the hot topic, here's a thought on a fix for all those 5-0, 5-1 matches we keep seeing (anyone remember the last time the Cup match wasn’t something-to-zip? Yup - 1992).
The ETNZ strategist, Ray Davies, made the comment during the Louis Vuitton final that the same sailors come back from desperate positions on the match race tour all the time. But, although Ray thought that there was no reason why Luna Rossa shouldn’t do the same, it turns out that they didn’t, and history prevailed once again…
What’s the difference between being 1-0 down in the final of a Match Race Tour event and the America’s Cup? Chances are you didn’t have to follow the other guy around for ninety minutes, and then go home and sleep on it, dwelling on your apparent inferiority, before you got the chance to do something about it. On the Tour, the gun for the next race is going before you’ve barely had time to process the fact of the defeat.
So why don’t we do the Cup this way - make each day a best of three short races, one lap races – maybe a two mile beat and run. The importance of the start and first cross will be much reduced, as the trailing boat will almost certainly round close enough to attack on the run - and since it’s just down to the finish, they have every chance of turning it round. And even if they don’t, the gun is going for the next one before they’ve even got used to the idea of losing… The first to win two races, wins the day and gets a point – first to five points wins the match.
Apart from giving the guys that lose the first race a much better chance of digging themselves out of the hole, wouldn’t that be more fun to watch? There would be a lot more of the good stuff (pre-starts, first crosses and finishes), and with the importance of both the start and boat speed reduced, given the unpredictable nature of yacht racing it would surely be impossible to win 5-0…
But more importantly, now that I’ve said all that, Sod’s Law should dictate that we get a 5-4 Cup match…
America's Cup Live Race Commentary at:
www.tackbytack.com
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©