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Editorials

Earls Court Boat Show
Surfacing from the Underground at Earls Court it was difficult to know, at first, whether the hallowed halls were exhibiting the wonders of distilling or sailing. Whisky was galore - all along the tube station entrance and draped over the exhibition hall's facade. But not a boat was there on the entrance courtyard...

Once down among the action I fought my way through jungles of wet suits, and rack loads of surf boards and was beginning to feel this was a show for a splinter group of humanity called youth until I came across the majestic rigs of the 8 metre classics - Truant, gaff and Ierne, Marconi rig. They are to race each other for the first time in a century later this year.

Next came the chastening group of battered small boats which have been rowed across various oceans. Some, poignantly, were semi-wrecked and sported legends which told how their occupants had been 'lost at sea'. Among them was the James Caird, the whaler which carried Shackleton and four others to safety. To actually be able to touch the topside of a boat I had revered as a child while reading her story at a winter's fireside was surreal.

It's a good show, but feels a little diminished from the Boat Shows of yore. In the terminology of a magazine design guru there is 'a little too much white space.' But I'm sure James Brooke and his team will fill that up given time. -- Dick Durham, read his full editorial on his blog: www.ybw.com/ym/blog/dick_durham.html

America's Cup
It is no accident that the America's Cup is in crisis at more or less this moment.

If it hadn't been Ernesto Bertarelli's eensie-weensie, oh-so-minorly-adjusted, you are all my prisoners and trust me because I'm doing this for your own good, protocol of 2007, it would have been something else.

It's about the development of a viable professional racing scene, not under the table any more, with a broader market lying ready, especially in Europe. We've come a long way from the days of Newport, when the America's Cup was an industry that supported 400 people. And no, for those of us who are just sailors, this is not our problem. But it's a reality. Remember that Larry Ellison too has a different "vision" of what an America's Cup event can be, though it does not appear to involve the depth of change that Bertarelli proposes. And any change risks losing the dimension of grand nonsense that has kept the America's Cup above all else. - Excerpted from Kimball Livingston's editorial at sailmagazine.blogspot.com/index.html

Vive La Difference
If someone who knew nothing about sailing were to ask you what is the pinnacle of the sport, what would you say? Is it the America's Cup, the Olympics, the big round-the-world races? Or something else?

Sometimes it can be difficult - particularly for us media types - to explain the complex web of grade one sailing events in the world. Whereas Formula One is the undisputed Everest of motor racing, competitive sailing is a whole Himalayan range of different pinnacles.

At times like these, it makes you thankful that sailing offers more than one mountain to climb. Right now, the America's Cup is a disaster, the future of the Olympic Regatta is not as assured as it could be, but at least the offshore racing scene is in rude health.

Ian Walker has just announced the launch of the Irish campaign, Team Green, for the next Volvo Ocean Race. A double Olympic medallist, Walker is another Star sailor who finds himself following in the footsteps of other Star champions Paul Cayard and Torben Grael who have made a successful transition to a seemingly unrelated part of the sport. It just goes to show that a great sailor is a great sailor, no matter how long or short the race course.

Meanwhile, plenty of racing and excitement in the IMOCA Open 60 scene, with broken masts and broken records aplenty (499 miles in 24 hours for Hugo Boss) in the Barcelona Race.

But what about Francis Joyon, who is hammering around the world singlehanded aboard his multihull IDEC 2, shattering the singlehanded 24-hour record with a new distance of 616 miles and almost 2,000 miles ahead of Ellen MacArthur's record-breaking pace after just 20 days at sea! Amazing stuff from the 51-year-old! -- read Andy Rice's editorial in full at sailjuiceblog.com

The Storm...
The outcome of the latest legal volley from SNG, backed by CNEV, is that the uncertainty surrounding the America's Cup has increased substantially, and that it is clear that the Defender wishes to delay the multihull Match for as long as possible, and if still in control, the 34th Match to 2011 or beyond.

The move will cause maximum hardship to other Challengers, of which 14 were represented in a recent Challengers meeting hosted by the new Challenger of Record, Golden Gate Yacht Club.

It will not be until Justice Herman Cahn has finally signed the Settlement Order that the intentions of SNG and CNEV will be known. Once that document is signed they have 30 days in which to lodge an Appeal, which would appear to be mid- January 2008.

Golden Gate YC have consistently stated their intentions are to hold the 34th Match for the America's Cup in Valencia in July 2009, which would give the required certainty to Challengers. But to achieve that goal, they would have to be able to sail the 33rd Match in July or October 2008, become the Defender, and then roll into a full America's Cup, with a Challenger Selection series the following year, in Valencia.

Subsequent to writing this story, Sail-World received the following response from Golden Gate Yacht Club to the New York Supreme Court after the new legal team from Societe Nautique de Geneve wrote to the Court seeking changes to the draft settlement order being written by Justice Herman Cahn. The effect of the letter is for the outcome to be further delayed until a hearing on 14 January 2009 which maybe determine the final Settlement Order. However it would also seem that an Appeal will be lodged by SNG. The process is then for the Appellate Court to decide whether the Appeal has merit, and if so a Hearing date and process will be set in place. If not it will be declined, and the Settlement Order will be binding. -- Richard Gladwell in Sail-World.com. The full article includes the letter from GGYC's lawyers to Judge Cahn and plenty more for AC aficionados... www.sail-world.com

Multihulls will be OK..
Judge Cahn spoke, and it appears most likely that we will see multihulls going at it next summer. And that will be OK: the path will clear up again. As a marketing exec recently remarked "all this will add appeal to the surrealism of this surreal event". One can only keep marveling at the staying entertainment power of the AC: all the ingredients are there and the most amazing part is that the particular mix was concocted over 150 years ago!

What we are witnessing could be a cyclical cleansing, obeying to some odd natural law, on the aftermath of the AC 32nd commercial euphoria. Reshuffling is not new to the AC, and the Event always got stronger because/out of it. It is not long ago that the basic concept of multiple challenges did not even exist, let alone was easily accepted.

Upon years of observing, the feeling is that the AC endures through the people more than through its institutions. From an Alinghi to a China Team, the AC journey is quite similar in its intensity, a journey of passion, dedication, quest for excellence, at all levels: technology, strategy, people, people and people. One has yet to see a player turning its back on the fascination. We do need to recognize and thank all those who- often for the pure love of the sport- have relentlessly acted to uphold the Essence of the AC: Patrizio Bertelli, Bruno Trouble, Gary Jobson, Dennis Conner, Tom Ehman, Dyer Jones, Luigi, Bob Fisher and the nautical scribes, and many others using or just reading your columns.

Stepping back from the daily back and forth, if the AC is today alive and well, we do need to thank the Ernies and Larrys for their passion. --Laurent Esquier

On The Coffee Table This Weekend....

Alinghi Book 2007
Hardcover, 168 pages, CHF 100.00 / Euros 60.00

OK, so Alinghi's been getting a bit of bad press lately. Let's keep in mind that Alinghi is more than just one (much-maligned of late) man, Ernesto Bertarelli, it's a team of hundreds of sailors, designers, builders. And they've had quite a run in the last two America's Cups, building superb boats and sailing them expertly.

This immense book, big enough to stand under in a rainstorm, is a fantastic photoguide to the history of the team through both America's Cups, and features some of my favorite photographers, including Thierry Martinez, Carlo Borlenghi and Sally Collison.

Captions/descriptions are in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. A rosetta stone of Romance Languages, a good book for aspiring polyglots.

Note: not shipped to anywhere other than Switzerland and the EU

Available through Alinghi's online shop.

Tuiga 1909
Hardcover, 166 pages, 199 GBP

Tuiga's story begins in 1909, when she was built by William Fife, at the request of the Duke of Medinacelli, a close friend of the King of Spain, Alphonse XIII.

William Fife designed Tuiga in the image of Hispania, so that the two 15-metres could race together on equal terms. The resemblance was so strong that it was very difficult to tell them apart. The building of the ship took only six months.

Tuiga collected a long succession of second places, always behind the royal Spanish yacht. From these results and their similar designs, these two vessels created a lot of questioning, to such a point that rumours abounded that the owner preferred to "curb" his yacht, not wishing to beat his King and friend, Alphonse XIII, a situation that would obviously have put him in an embarrassing position.

Tuiga 1909 traces the history of the yacht through its early races, its years in Norway, its restoration in the Fairlie Restorations ship yard by Duncan Walker and subsequent purchase by the Yacht Club of Monaco. All text is in both French and English.

The book is nearly as beautiful as the yacht.. red leather binding, library case, gold tooling, gilt edged leaves and a separate blueprint by William Fife III. Only 60 copies remain for sale at £199 through Yachting Heritage.

The Last Word
No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities. -- Christian Nestell Bovee