In the days when the America's Cup was played out in Newport, Rhode Island we all knew it was happening and we read the details of every race in our daily sports pages. Sadly, in most major cities today, the sports columnists don't cover boating and the main stream media focuses more on the price of the boats and the wealth of the owners than they do on the sport itself. And, so much has been written and spoken about the law suits surrounding the upcoming America's Cup that most of us have trouble staying aware of the realities of what is actually going on.
And what is going on is nothing short of amazing. Whether you are a sailboat owner thinking that 8 knots is really cool or a powerboat owner who thinks that sailboats take forever to get where they are going, the new AC boats are a revolution in sailing.
Imagine a sailboat that can sail at 30 knots in 10 knots of wind. Yes I am serious. Then close your eyes and imagine a rigid, winged shaped spar that is 190 feet tall and replaces traditional sails. Yes these are the boats that will meet in Valencia, Spain from February 8th to 12th to vie for the "Aulde Mug".
The boats are BMW Oracle, a 90 for trimaran, versus Alinghi 5 a 90 foot catamaran. The tri does have some incredible technology on board her and right now has the technical edge in the contest. Folks used to say that watching the Cup on TV was like watching paint dry. Well, at these speeds you may not have time to go back to the fridge for another cold one in case you miss the action