The world turns in cycles – twenty years ago we had just seen the most amazing America’s Cup of the modern era in Fremantle. There was a 12 Metre World Championship underway in Port Cervo, Sardinia, and three British teams were forming to Challenge Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes syndicate – whenever Dennis finally got around to figuring out when and where he might hold it. I still have my Hawaii for America’s Cup t-shirt…
We all know what happened next.
And just as World War II followed World War I twenty years on, the Cup community seems to be repeating the mistakes of history. At least the consequences of this one are down the funny end of the tragi-comedy scale, rather than off-the-scale catastrophe. The difference for the Cup this time around is that a hell of a lot more money has been invested to get us to this point. There is more at stake.
So what are the latest plot twists?
If you want to see just how big the coach and horses could be, should Alinghi chose to drive them through their Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup, then there is an excellent story by Richard Gladwell at Sail-World.
While Disgusted, Valencia (otherwise known as the Valencia Sailing blogspot) reported on Wednesday that Club Náutico Español de Vela’s Deed of Gift required regatta-on-an-arm-of-the-sea (which is one of the Golden Gate Yacht Club's challenges to the legitimacy of the Spanish Club as Challenger of Record) might turn out to be a children’s Oppie training weekend…
And Louis Vuitton have finally, and to the surprise of precisely no one, given up sponsorship of the Challenger Series. Emirates TNZ can keep the cup, apparently…
Then there’s a rumour, apparently out of the UK, that BYM News are running that Club Náutico Español de Vela will withdraw as Challenger of Record. Hmmm....
Another story coming out of the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, has eight America’s Cup teams joining for a formal request for the current Protocol to be dissolved, ahead of negotiations for a replacement.
But Team Shosholoza have challenged the Swiss under Alinghi’s Protocol for the 33rd Cup. I suspect that this is not something that will endear them to the other Challenger teams, as the Challengers are only strong in negotiations if they remain united.
And the Golden Gate Yacht Club appear to still be waiting to hear from Alinghi, and have issued a further press release explaining their vision of the 33rd America’s Cup. They want it in 2009, in the same boats, in the same place (Valencia), with a global circuit of preliminary events, a neutral event management, a democratic challenger commission and a united effort to come up with a new design rule for subsequent regattas.
I could spend some time second guessing what all this means, and how it might all play out. But frankly, I’ve got better things to do than indulge in an exercise of literary wrist-slashing.
I’m going to have to find something else to write about. Something cheerful.
Anyone what to hear how the novel is going? No? Oh, all right…
Tour de France anyone?
But I spent ten minutes yesterday watching the Eurosport commentator’s breast-beating over pro-cycling’s latest positive drugs test, and German public tv’s response – pulling all live coverage of the race. But you know what? The Tour will survive, just like the America’s Cup - because too many people have been touched by it, one way or another, over the years. You can’t just conjure up 156 years of history any more than, it seems, you can conjure up an annual regatta on an arm of the sea…
There, I managed to be upbeat after all.
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©
We all know what happened next.
And just as World War II followed World War I twenty years on, the Cup community seems to be repeating the mistakes of history. At least the consequences of this one are down the funny end of the tragi-comedy scale, rather than off-the-scale catastrophe. The difference for the Cup this time around is that a hell of a lot more money has been invested to get us to this point. There is more at stake.
So what are the latest plot twists?
If you want to see just how big the coach and horses could be, should Alinghi chose to drive them through their Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup, then there is an excellent story by Richard Gladwell at Sail-World.
While Disgusted, Valencia (otherwise known as the Valencia Sailing blogspot) reported on Wednesday that Club Náutico Español de Vela’s Deed of Gift required regatta-on-an-arm-of-the-sea (which is one of the Golden Gate Yacht Club's challenges to the legitimacy of the Spanish Club as Challenger of Record) might turn out to be a children’s Oppie training weekend…
And Louis Vuitton have finally, and to the surprise of precisely no one, given up sponsorship of the Challenger Series. Emirates TNZ can keep the cup, apparently…
Then there’s a rumour, apparently out of the UK, that BYM News are running that Club Náutico Español de Vela will withdraw as Challenger of Record. Hmmm....
Another story coming out of the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, has eight America’s Cup teams joining for a formal request for the current Protocol to be dissolved, ahead of negotiations for a replacement.
But Team Shosholoza have challenged the Swiss under Alinghi’s Protocol for the 33rd Cup. I suspect that this is not something that will endear them to the other Challenger teams, as the Challengers are only strong in negotiations if they remain united.
And the Golden Gate Yacht Club appear to still be waiting to hear from Alinghi, and have issued a further press release explaining their vision of the 33rd America’s Cup. They want it in 2009, in the same boats, in the same place (Valencia), with a global circuit of preliminary events, a neutral event management, a democratic challenger commission and a united effort to come up with a new design rule for subsequent regattas.
I could spend some time second guessing what all this means, and how it might all play out. But frankly, I’ve got better things to do than indulge in an exercise of literary wrist-slashing.
I’m going to have to find something else to write about. Something cheerful.
Anyone what to hear how the novel is going? No? Oh, all right…
Tour de France anyone?
But I spent ten minutes yesterday watching the Eurosport commentator’s breast-beating over pro-cycling’s latest positive drugs test, and German public tv’s response – pulling all live coverage of the race. But you know what? The Tour will survive, just like the America’s Cup - because too many people have been touched by it, one way or another, over the years. You can’t just conjure up 156 years of history any more than, it seems, you can conjure up an annual regatta on an arm of the sea…
There, I managed to be upbeat after all.
www.markchisnell.com
Mark Chisnell ©