CUP, continued from Page 63 fith Show expressing the most doubt. Today’s younger sailing enthusiasts seem to feel that what their parents thought of as “futuristicâ€? yacht designs were actually pretty conventional. They had about as little apprehension about their appropriateness as they have about using the iPhone in a romantic four-star restaurant. (“Dude‌so what if the jib has been replaced with a wing?!â€?) To build interest in the actual defense, which is to be hosted by San Francisco in September 2013, Cup racing promoters scheduled a series of races at various yachting Meccas, including Cascais, Portugal; Plymouth, England; San Diego, and the above-mentioned Italian venues. Involved in the racing were teams from the United States, France, Italy, Korea, New Zealand and Sweden. Designated as AC45s (America’s Cup 45 footers), the carbon-fiber cats in the AC World Series were all built as one-designs by Core Builders of Warkworth, New Zealand. For the main event, the AC45s will be scaled up into AC72s (yes, 72-footers), and will be built by the syndicates of each challenger. Think of the 45s as trial-size contenders that are working out yacht-construction details and a myriad of other technical issues pertaining to hulls and rigs. The World Series format is also a test of sorts of fan related logistics since the races now have, like NASCAR, viewing areas on terra firma, but close by the racecourses. Naturally, there were still spectator boats and a well-developed Race Village on the north lawn of Fort Adams was colonized around July 1. Based on a great deal of scuttlebutt I overheard during the Series, it appears that Cup fans liked two things MUCH better than the way they were around Newport in 1983: the inshore courses and the TV coverage. The courses for both match and fleet racing
were set so that viewers at Fort Adams, Goat Island, and even on the Jamestown shore, could easily see the action – even without binoculars. With binoculars you could pretend you were actually on the boats. In the “old days� the 12-Meter boats would be towed out of Newport Harbor in the morning, disappear for hours, and then someone would telegraph in the race details to the news outlets. Talk about restricted access! And the TV coverage was absolutely superb, with onboard cameras, and cameras on chase boats, and as many as Emerites Team three low-hovering helicopters New Zealand capturing the dramatic action. added a NASCAR The running TV commentary element while was excellent, and the ability to capsizing. superimpose graphics on video screens showing courses as well as starting and finish lines (like NFL line-of-scrimmage graphics) helped those new to yacht racing to really understand what was Photo by Gilles Martin-Raget happening and what was going to happen next. To get an idea how dramatically the Cup races have changed, think skiers and snowboarders. They both traverse the same ground, but that’s about it. Frankly, Newport race fans seemed to be more interested in the revolutionary boat designs; accessible, viewer-friendly courses; and spectacular TV coverage than they were in the team results. That skipper Russell Coutts and Oracle Team USA won the well-orchestrated Newport match-racing series was almost a footnote. But now that America’s Cup fans have gotten answers to a lot of pre-series questions, expect them to focus more on the actual racing and teams in the events leading up to San Francisco. Greg Coppa has been sailing on Narragansett Bay for over 50 years in Blue Jays, Lightnings, Ensigns, assorted Bristols and Pearsons, and most recently in a Sabre 28, Coppacetic.
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