Image credit: ACEA / Giles Martin Raget.
Bob Fisher: America's Cup in turmoil.
With only two weeks to go to the Opening Ceremony (as this is written), the America’s Cup is in turmoil. The disastrous accident to Artemis has resulted in the proposal to change 37 safety regulations and these don’t happen overnight. Without them, the necessary permit to race on San Francisco Bay may not be forthcoming. So a “giddy-up” was needed, but will that be enough to prevent the outcome being determined on a “last man standing” basis? It’s a question that has been on many observers’ lips for several months, ever since the first AC-72 took to the water and the Oracle capsize did nothing to alleviate these concerns; rather the reverse. And, none of the teams has so far had the added pressure of full-on competition. True, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa were sailing in close company in Auckland, but that had none of the necessity to push either boat to its limit. Oracle briefly lined up with Artemis, which only went to prove how wrong the Artemis design team had been. Some months ago, I observed that the AC-72 had not been the glorious success its promoters had hoped. I continued: “True, the boats are
July 2013 6
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67