Editorial Andrew Hurst A decent start
If there is one lesson to take away from the first AC World Series in Portsmouth, surely it is this: when will organisers learn to under-promise and over-deliver?
Given only two brief races were possible in the difficult conditions, those races held were quite exciting, if a little distant for spectators. But there were other distractions to hand, especially for families, so a decent day out was there to be had.
On the other hand… Tickets were expensive as were food and incidental purchases in the Cup ‘enclosure’. Online coverage was very poor and much-heralded TV broadcasts extremely limited. But it’s early days and with big bucks – apparently – on tap the lessons can be logged and future events can be made a lot better. The point is that Round 1 was not bad at all; the event was primarily let down by the fact that it had been promoted in advance as a spectacle to rival the Super Bowl.
There are many frankly stupid parallels drawn between the America’s Cup and motor racing. The worst-informed reference Formula One… This is wrong in so many ways and, once again, it serves to set up the America’s Cup in particular and sailing in general for serious image damage. Under-promise over-deliver. Formula One is off the scale compared to the Cup in every respect. Media exposure, image, drama, colour, technology, massive and diverse public interest, personalities, investment, growth… the list is endless. No sailboat race will ever get close. But there is a parallel with motor racing, though not one ‘the Cup’ seems to respect. At most Grand Prix, among support races there is GP2, a category regarded as one tier down from F1 and very challenging. Only extremely good drivers win races. GP2 is close to one-design; cars can be tuned and adjusted but effectively they all emerge from the same ‘mould’. There is ‘sponsor ship’ in GP2, though like an increasing chunk of F1 (commercial reality is a bitch) it comes primarily from the drivers and/or their patrons, it is not procured by the teams. GP2 races are close and exciting, often closer than F1. One-design racing does that. The closest Cup racing ever got to F1 (and it was not very close) was in the brief, mad, wild era of the AC72. Near-unlimited budgets, unlimited technology, huge boats, maximum speed, maximum demands on crews, plus lots and lots of action. AC45F and AC48 racing, meanwhile, share qualities with GP2. Similar cars/boats. Limited tweaking. Top drivers/crews. Big, though not unlimited budgets (a GP2 season costs a driver €2.4-3.5million). GP2 racing is a serious test of drivers and in Bermuda the AC48s will be a magnificent test of sailors.
But… and it’s a big but, GP2 is primarily viewed on the specialist motorsport channels and, although the rounds are held during Grand Prix weekends, races run off-peak and spectators number hundreds – very occasionally a couple of thousand – compared to the 100,000 or so who may watch the F1 race. Great racing alone does not guarantee spectators. And the worst thing that you can do to any spectator you do get is allow him or her to go home feeling short-changed. A solid start but more to do.
AND ANOTHER THING
Talk to those who watched the World Series and the lack of national team identities remains a major downer. This has been raised before but it needs to be flagged up again and again. Those top folk at Cup-central have acknowledged this needs addressing, but it needed addressing in 2013 and it will probably be overlooked again in the future.
What is it with highly intelligent people who travel so widely yet are unable to see beyond the bubble? Is it really just as Dennis Conner always tells us, ‘self-interest’. How sad is that?
ONE FOR THE FUTURE ‘ HE DIDN’T
I’ll never endure a humiliation like that again
– John Bertrand, as Australia II goes 3-1 down
See… when you win the Vendée Globe you get shiny new toys. This is the new maxi solo trimaran for Vendée winner François Gabart that launched recently. Gabart and his sponsor Macif led the campaign for a new 100ft singlehanded class with the end goal of a new solo race around the world – probably in late 2017
In the Volvo your competitors are your friends, they’re the ones who’ll haul you out of the Southern Ocean; in the America’s
Having added wing area for the previous AC45s during the last Cup cycle, for light airs, a removable top section should have been incorporated this time to facilitate racing in stronger winds. Had racing under small rigs been possible in Portsmouth the locals would still be talking about it today. Much as the good burghers of Plymouth still remember that wild and spectacular AC45 regatta back in 2011.
NOW THERE’S A QUESTION
Six teams are in the Cup game right now; of those five can win if they make the
right decisions – Sir Russell Coutts
I don’t really want the Chinese coming in if they are not going to be competitive; we’ve had Chinese teams before and frankly they’ve been a bit of an
embarrassment – Coutts
Cup they’ll bury you
any way they can – Grant Dalton
My next appointment is rescue boat duty at our Junior Regatta and racing with my kids
– I’m going home – Ian Walker, Abu Dhabi Racing
After Florence, to lose
Laurent is too sad – Christian Février,
photographer extraordinaire and Laurent Bourgnon’s routeing co-ordinator
Rather than querying the nationality of America’s Cup crew, we should wonder why no genuine American is deemed capable of
sailing these machines – Adrian Morgan ENDAXI
The Greek debt crisis can only be resolved
with adults in the room – Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director
Seahorse magazine and our associate raceboatsonlybrokerage site are both at:
seahorsemagazine.com The editor is contactable by email at:
andrew@seahorse.co.uk
SEAHORSE 9
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OLIVIER BLANCHET/DPPI
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