Anyone else pumped for the 33rd America's Cup?

[ttsather]

Years of litigation, and they're finally going to settle it on the water! (hopefully) And in ridiculous multi-hulls to boot!

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U6Cp5x-Sbr8/SYg33TQFFEI/AAAAAAAAHc8/72MUXeqeEEc/s400/bmwo01.jpg

Wooooo BMW Oracle! USA! USA!

 

 

. . . . *crickets*

 

[JimH5]

That boat looks awesome!

 

Years ago, it was a pretty big deal when Dennis Connor and the Stars and Stripes and Buddy Melges were involved. ESPN devoted a lot of air time to those races. I think I could get into it again, particularly if it's in HD.

[brewers4eric]

I was at the World's Fair in New Orleans in 1984. We toured the Australia exhibit and their presentation included a jab as Australia being the home of the America's Cup. My buddies and I started booing and the rest of the crowd joined in.

[Patrick425]

That boat looks awesome!

 

Years ago, it was a pretty big deal when Dennis Connor and the Stars and Stripes and Buddy Melges were involved. ESPN devoted a lot of air time to those races. I think I could get into it again, particularly if it's in HD.

Was this back in the 80's? I remember watching a lot of this back then..perhaps it was Ted Turner at the time.

 

 

[ttsather]

Both Connor and Buddy Melges (A Wisconsinite, btw), were involved through the 80s and much of the 90s. There were regularly multiple American teams then, which hasn't been the case recently, the rarity of the present situation aside

[Baldkin]

I remember the huge controversy in 1988 with the America's Cup race, when Star's and Stripes was a catamaran.

[jrodbrewcrew]

My dad used to record those races all the time when I was younger, since they were usually broadcast at 1 or 2 in the morning. Now that he's upgraded to a DVR, I'm sure he's psyched about it.

[JoeHova]

I remember seeing a commercial for this on OLN years ago, even before the last one happened. I would have totally forgotten about it if not for this thread. I can't claim I care a whole lot about it but I'll probably watch a little anyway. Also, the cup is named after the first winning boat, not the country (although the boat was surely named after the country).

[MadScientist]

I remember a going to a couple of them in San Diego. The biggest problem was that watching them on TV was a bit dull, and being in a spectator boat meant taking the waves at bad angles with fast turns thrown in. My stomach did not like the races one bit.

[ttsather]

Well, several days into the match and no races have been sailed. Abandoned once for light wind and once for heavy wind. Such is life in February in Valencia. No idea how they're actually going to be able to set a decent windward leg over 20 miles.

[ttsather]

It's over!

 

The cup is coming back to America! Finally we'll see a return of several monohulled challengers and maybe even a bit of relevance among sports media.