Wired:
Watch as Oracle Team USA CEO Russell Coutts, a four-time America’s Cup winner, flips an AC45 in a practice race last summer. The AC45, named for its length, is 70 feet tall, 22.6 feet wide and weighs 3,086 pounds. Now consider that the boats racing in next year’s Cup finals are twice as big and have a top speed north of 30 knots.
The big cats are back on the Bay.
I’m not a fan of Larry Ellison but I think he deserves props for livening up the America’s Cup Series. As much as I loved the “old boats”, these new ones are like F1 race cars – hi-tech and dangerous. I’ve seen some of the racing on TV and the new “yachts” are amazing and the new rules are designed to make the racing a real live TV sporting event. I wish Ellison luck.
I have to admit, as an older sailor of mono-hull pleasure sailboats, I prefer the previous monohull America’s Cup That said, I wish the America’s Cup would take a page from other areas of competition* and have and have these super fast multi-hulls in an Unlimited Class and leave traditional looking craft in their own class.
I know, it’s wishful thinking and “old fogie” talk but I still wish it so.
*Motorcycle racing and competitive handgun target shooting are two that come immediately to mind.
I loved to watch the AC45s trial this summer. Gorgeous, fast, and really interesting to watch.
I’m waiting for the next evolution, where Ellison reinvents the America’s Cup with catamarans with active weapons on board.
Given the concerns about weight, cannons or a 50 cal machine gun are out of the question. In the best nautical heritage this would indicate the weapon of choice to be a harpoon (carbon fiber, of course). Make for an interesting video game, no?
BTW, for me, there already is an “active weapon on board,” it is the strategic and tactical mind of the captain.
Which “traditional looking” craft are you referring to? It’s not like America’s Cup monohulls didn’t evolve very dramatically over the years. Remember how apeshit everyone got when Australia II made its debut?
Screw the cannon. Deploy the laser sharks and be done with it.
Also, Larry Ellison is my idea of the movie-villain billionaire who actually succeeds in killing James Bond.
I’d certainly make it more…challenging for sailors who flip their cats.
Good points, all. For me, the mono-hulls of the early 2000’s still resemble what I see in my mind when I think of “sailboat.” I know I am of a provincial mind but the silhouette of a sailboat in my mind is a ketch, sloop, schooner, catboat, sunfish,or yawl, etc and just does not come out as a racing catamaran or trimaran.
When I think of a motorcycle I see the silhouette of a Triumph Bonneville not a Formula racing crotch rocket.
All right! I am an old fogey!
To paraphrase Jim Croce,
“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, pull the mask off of the Lone Ranger, and no one kills James Bond.” Not even Larry who would make an awesome and formidable villain. I’d go for them to have a draw and future encounters. It is a really cool idea you have come up with.
Only one problem… can Ellison act without mugging?