America's Cup Kicks-Off Today (1 Viewer)

[The Military Workshop]

I just heard some comments on the radio.

NZ Govt spent $35 million to fund the team with view to get race to Auckland.

However the shocking news, to me, was that the USA boat was designed and made in Auckland and tweaked in USA
by Kiwis. Sounds like treason to me !!!!

Hope the Kiwi members of USA team are not recognised at the airport when they return to NZ.

Take out the dollars of Ellison and based on crew members, skippers, tacticians, designers etc USA would be
lucky to come 4th after NZ, Oz and UK in terms of actual skill.

Maybe next time the "mercenariies" can represent Quatar. Somebody there might have a spare $100 million
to spend.

Overall sad to see NZ lose considering they actually were representing their country. Team USA represents a
US billionaires large wallet.

 

[Rob]

What a superb sporting event that was, big congrats to both sides for putting on a wonderful spectacle, great competitive advert for sailing. And a big well done to Ben Ainslie from UK who has a habit of winning:salute::

Rob

 

[The Military Workshop]

What a superb sporting event that was, big congrats to both sides for putting on a wonderful spectacle, great competitive advert for sailing. And a big well done to Ben Ainslie from UK who has a habit of winning:salute::

Rob

Rob,
Would have to disagree.

Not sure that it is much of an advert for sailing if you have to spend $100m to win and only two of a 24 man
USA squad are from USA. Even their boat was made in NZ !

Would be interesting to know how much Ellison paid to get his crew together compared to what NZ crew were
paid. I would also bet the two USA citizens on Team USA were way down the list in terms of recruiting and
pay compared to the "mercenaries".

Sad thing is although the Kiwis generally look like having best sailors and designers (particularly when consider
NZ population smaller than many US states) they may not be able to participate next time due to the costs.

What next, some Arab bazillionaire decides to play and buys the better team ?

I am not even Kiwi and I am outraged.

Brett

 

[Rob]

Yeah point taken Brett but I wasn't really talking about the politics of it all, just the enjoyment of seeing two obviously talented crews working their nuts off to win it, in that regards it was a wonderful sporting event. I enjoyed it as such. I'm sure there are lots of financial politics etc going on as you say, but sometimes you just got to love watching two teams go at it like that. I'll be watching next time for sure.

Cheers

Rob

 

[The Military Workshop]

Yeah point taken Brett but I wasn't really talking about the politics of it all, just the enjoyment of seeing two obviously talented crews working their nuts off to win it, in that regards it was a wonderful sporting event. I enjoyed it as such. I'm sure there are lots of financial politics etc going on as you say, but sometimes you just got to love watching two teams go at it like that. I'll be watching next time for sure.

Cheers

Rob

Rob,
Agree. It did look good.

Now can you get on the phone and help out George for his next Chicago show ?. Nic at Crown Miniatures has thrown
down the gauntlet regarding "eye candy" and I am sure George would appreciate your influence with Ms
Anniston (a recreation of a scene from We are the Millars springs to mind).

Brett

 

[Rob]

Rob,
Agree. It did look good.

Now can you get on the phone and help out George for his next Chicago show ?. Nic at Crown Miniatures has thrown
down the gauntlet regarding "eye candy" and I am sure George would appreciate your influence with Ms
Anniston (a recreation of a scene from We are the Millars springs to mind).

Brett

^&grin

I would but she took that , oh what do you call it, oh yeah ' injunction' thing out on me:wink2:

But not to let all my friends and fellow collectors down, but if I get any influence over her I won't be using it about TS shows!:wink2::wink2::wink2:

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

This is something I didn't generally pay attention to because it's a rich (and probably mostly white) man's sport. However, having the "US" win is like having the US win the World Cup with a combination of Spanish and Brasilian players.

 

[The Military Workshop]

^&grin

I would but she took that , oh what do you call it, oh yeah ' injunction' thing out on me:wink2:

But not to let all my friends and fellow collectors down, but if I get any influence over her I won't be using it about TS shows!:wink2::wink2::wink2:

Rob

Rob,
I forgot about the injunction. How inconsiderate of her.

Probably for the best as I thought about the idea a bit more.

Think about it......... Crown V Minutemen. Which side should we be on ?{sm4} ^&confuse

Now I know George is a nice guy but he is from Boston and I seem to remember they mistreat tea over there. However Nic on the other hand goes by the name Scarlet Pimpernel. SP was a member of British aristocracy who saved French aristocrats from the rebellion and clearly a shining example of British daring and chivalry. I did consider the irony of a guy called George calling his business Minutemen but overall I think my sympathies lie with the Crown^&grin. Best to stay out of it. Unless of course George gets Rosario Dawson to turn up then I might have to reconsider my position.

Brett

 

[Rob]

Rob,
I forgot about the injunction. How inconsiderate of her.

Probably for the best as I thought about the idea a bit more.

Think about it......... Crown V Minutemen. Which side should we be on ?{sm4} ^&confuse

Now I know George is a nice guy but he is from Boston and I seem to remember they mistreat tea over there. However Nic on the other hand goes by the name Scarlet Pimpernel. SP was a member of British aristocracy who saved French aristocrats from the rebellion and clearly a shining example of British daring and chivalry. I did consider the irony of a guy called George calling his business Minutemen but overall I think my sympathies lie with the Crown^&grin. Best to stay out of it. Unless of course George gets Rosario Dawson to turn up then I might have to reconsider my position.

Brett

^&grin

George is a very good friend of mine and if it's between him or the Crown I'm with him. Why? Simple! He has always said if ever I am back in his neck of the woods to call in , I go past Queen Lizzie's pad every week and she NEVER invites me in !! :wink2: I think actually she is a member on here but under a different name^&grin

I do admire the Scarlett Pimpernel though, it was only in series three I learned he was in fact Blackadder!

Do you think Miss Aniston would go for my 'Do you wanna come up and see my collection' ? :wink2: Knowing my luck she would and would then start pointing out scale issues.............................................................on my Tanks of course!!!^&grin

Rob

 

[Harper (aka Spitfrnd)]

What a superb sporting event that was, big congrats to both sides for putting on a wonderful spectacle, great competitive advert for sailing. And a big well done to Ben Ainslie from UK who has a habit of winning:salute::

Rob

I must disagree as well. To me, this technology driven pseudo sailing spectacle was really not the least bit interesting and I very much enjoy sailing. Real sailing is actually a hobby than can be enjoyed at all levels and the old 20 meter boats were the closest thing to real sailing that the America's cup has seen. I could go with the later larger mono hull boats but ever since they allowed Cats, the race has become a joke. Now it is simply a bigger joke. Technology is fine but just as it Formula 1 and NasCar, there should be some limits that make it more about skill and tactics and yes, weather and less about how much your boat cost. I do not agree that the sport is not interesting because most of the sailor / owners are white but I do think they should have some connection with the sponsoring country, just as is required at the world cup level of soccer. So all I can say is they added another page to a miserable distortion of what was once an epic event. Nice job Oracle on turning sailing into an X-game wanabe on water.

 

[Desertkiwi]

I must disagree as well. To me, this technology driven pseudo sailing spectacle was really not the least bit interesting and I very much enjoy sailing. Real sailing is actually a hobby than can be enjoyed at all levels and the old 20 meter boats were the closest thing to real sailing that the America's cup has seen. I could go with the later larger mono hull boats but ever since they allowed Cats, the race has become a joke. Now it is simply a bigger joke. Technology is fine but just as it Formula 1 and NasCar, there should be some limits that make it more about skill and tactics and yes, weather and less about how much your boat cost. I do not agree that the sport is not interesting because most of the sailor / owners are white but I do think they should have some connection with the sponsoring country, just as is required at the world cup level of soccer. So all I can say is they added another page to a miserable distortion of what was once an epic event. Nice job Oracle on turning sailing into an X-game wanabe on water.

I don't disagree at all, you'll be interested to hear that the word coming out of the Oracle camp is that the cause of their sudden increased speed last week was simply due to a new piece of tech-kit (software) that automatically trims the Cat and gives it optimum windage at all times. The Kiwi Team became aware of this, but had no answer given the time-limits, funding etc......now does that sound like sailboat racing....??

 

[BLReed]

......Real sailing is actually a hobby than can be enjoyed at all levels and the old 20 meter boats were the closest thing to real sailing that the America's cup has seen.......

You might enjoy these. A bit of a recap of past grace and majesty.

[video=youtube;k94GZz-B-fo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k94GZz-B-fo#t=0[/video]

 

[lancer]

I don't disagree at all, you'll be interested to hear that the word coming out of the Oracle camp is that the cause of their sudden increased speed last week was simply due to a new piece of tech-kit (software) that automatically trims the Cat and gives it optimum windage at all times. The Kiwi Team became aware of this, but had no answer given the time-limits, funding etc......now does that sound like sailboat racing....??

Not to me. Just another example of technology taking human knowledge and ability out of what should be a test of human capability. Read the wind, the sea, know your boat, and have at it. What's the point of letting technology win for you? When do they get to the point of not needing anyone but a tillerman? Go back to single hull, wooden construction, and human skill. Leave speed boat racing to the internal combustion engine. -- Al

 

[BLReed]

Another one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6VSgKkdhBE&feature=player_embedded

 

[Rob]

What is the time gap between this and the next America's cup, does anyone know?

Rob

 

[Harper (aka Spitfrnd)]

What is the time gap between this and the next America's cup, does anyone know?

Rob

Hopefully 100 years if they are going to continue in the vein. Sorry to be a bad sport but calling this monster tech show abortion the America's Cup just fries my buns for all the reasons I have noted. It is rather akin to running the Kentucy Derby with ultra high tech motorcycles. It sure would be faster but the only thing in common it would have with the orginal race would be the character of the track.

Thanks for the memories BL.^&cool

 

[Panzer ace]

What is the time gap between this and the next America's cup, does anyone know?

Rob

3 years I think.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Teams for next competition :

Microsoft sponsoring Australia
Facebook UK
Google NZ
IKEA Sweden (boat will be flat packed and assembled using one of those allan key things)
Oil Quatar

Human crew will be optional and may the biggest wallet and best robots and computers win.

 

[Rob]

3 years I think.

That's quite a gap then, thought it may be more often than that. I enjoyed watching them race and had never watched much competitive sailing up until the last couple of Olympics.

Rob

 

[The Military Workshop]

Newspapers in Oz today pretty much highlighting the Aussie team members in Team USA. 4/11 of final race crew were Aussie. 8 of USA team were from Oz. See final race crews below.

This Daily Mail article below is interesting for those who missed earlier part of the series.

"In desperation (after race 6), Ellison sacked his tactician, an acclaimed yacht-racing genius named John Kostecki (USA), who had made a series of errors, and replaced him with Ainslie (British), who had been included in Oracle’s team only to sail their trial boats, and — having won four Olympic gold medals in a very different form of sailing — was not considered experienced enough to play a major part in the America’s Cup".

Link below has link to another article where Ainslie talks about British team for next Cup and needing 25million per year to do it.

Article worth a read and mentions 203 people in Team USA.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lie-compared-Nelson-Americas-Cup-victory.html

ORACLE TEAM USA Crew List
Skipper: Jimmy Spithill Oz
Tactician: Ben Ainslie British
Strategist: Tom Slingsby Oz/USA
Wing trimmer: Kyle Langford Oz
Jib trimmer: Joe Newton Oz
Off-side trimmer: Rome Kirby USA
Grinders: Shannon Falcone Antigua, Joe Spooner NZ, Jono MacBeth NZ, Gillo Nobili Italian, Simeon Tienpont Dutch

Emirates Team New Zealand Crew List
Skipper/helmsman: Dean Barker NZ
Tactician: Ray Davies NZ
Wing Trimmer: Glenn Ashby Oz
Trimmer: James Dagg NZ
Bow: Adam Beashel NZ/Oz
Pit: Jeremy Lomas NZ
Pedestal 1: Chris Ward NZ Pedestal 2: Rob Waddell NZ, Pedestal 3: Grant Dalton NZ, Pedestal 4: Chris McAsey NZ, Float/Grinder: Derek Saward ?