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The Americas Cup is now dead in the water

31st July, 2009
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31st July, 2009
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That once grand and noble sporting institution, the America’s Cup, having been in perpetual relevance deprivation since the mid 1980s, had its final nail firmly hammered into it this week, courtesy of a New York court decision allowing mechanical and computerised engines to be used in competition.

While sailing, and in particular, sailing of the super-maxi match race variety, has long been considered an elitist snob-fest (who among the general public really cares about overweight billionaires slugging it out on their $4om yachts?), the America’s Cup had at least until recently still maintained some aura of competitive sporting relevance courtesy of its extraordinary history and grand tradition.

Yet early yesterday, two time defending champions Switzerland, who are planning a hat-trick of victories by racing a catamaran off the coast of Valencia in 2010, won a court battle heard in New York to allow their multi-hull to operate its sail trims with the assistance of mechanised engines.

While American’s are often guilty of pushing the boundaries of sporting credibility, respect must be given for the response to the decision by next year’s Cup challenger, the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

“We are very pleased that today’s Court decision gives us clarity regarding the design rules that will govern AC33 (the 33rd America’s Cup). It is now crystal clear that racing rules 49 through 54 will not apply.

However, without racing rules 49-54, SNG (Nautical Society of Geneva) is breaking with the long standing history and tradition in yacht racing that prohibited the use of non-manual power. For the first time in the Cup’s history, engines will be used to trim the sails, and computers can be used to control and steer the yachts. This, we believe, is a sad day for the America’s Cup.”

Switzerland’s 90ft entrant, Alinghi V, is in itself a stunt to launch sailing into the modern technological age and draw the attention of a younger audience, despite a court ruling back in 1988 which initially ruled multi-hull craft such as Alinghi V ineligible to race in the America’s Cup.

That decision was eventually overturned yet most nations chose, out of good sportsmanship and a desire to protect the legitimacy of the Cup, not to enter catamarans for competition.

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Until now.

Perhaps sailing is one sport where the basics of machine and crew battling the elements and each other should be enough to attract a following.

It is no surprise the Vendee Globe and Velux Five Oceans races, where solo sailors are tested by the brutal force of nature and loneliness as they circumnavigate the globe, have in recent years gained immense popularity and media interest.

The sporting public see those events for what they are – a challenge, a battle, a genuine contest of skill and tenacity, bravery and daring.

By stripping the race of all these elements and relying on a chip in a motherboard to do the work of experienced sailors, The America’s Cup has now ensured it will never relive its glory days.

History and tradition should still count for something.

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