What an amazing series. If this was fiction, no one would pay attention. It's just not plausible. Oracle Team USA used superior grit, organization, technology, strategy and luck.
to Jim Cox and all your country I extend my sympathies. From this morning's sailingscuttlebutt.com newsletter:
From Gregory Scott:
On a note we all have to agree on. What we just got to experience has so much to do with the huge commitment of all the people in New Zealand. That country decided to fund the boat and throw resources toward an event and they deserve a gigantic thank you from all of us in sailing and everyone in San Francisco.
Without their efforts, the event would have been a shadow of what we saw. The breakthrough in hydrodynamics came from their program. The breakthrough in boat handling came from them. Two teams had disastrous crashes taking the life of a sailor. The ETNZ team's skills were then adopted by all others.
Without their breakthrough, we may not have even seen racing. So, toast New Zealand tonight if you enjoyed what you saw. Without that nation's full on commitment, this day would be very different and holding that cup would mean far less. Without a worthy opponent, no victory is ever sweet.
Rumor has it that the NZ government and Emirates Airlines will both pull their sponsorship. There were 2 other teams this time, sponsored by Prada and a Swedish billionaire that were significantly off the pace, but Ellison is thought to have spent a lot more than them and usually the biggest money wins. So there might not be anyone to put up the $200M + necessary to fund a team next time.
I heard on the news that the yacht clubs were whining about the rich kids ruining the sport with all their money. I found that too funny and ironic.
This is about as important and interesting as World Polo Championships ....
