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Chris Caswell dislikes the current iteration of America’s Cup racing, and he pounds that drum in his Sailing magazine column:
Disclosure: I love sports cars. I’ve loved them since I didn’t have a driver’s license and, since then, I’ve owned them, restored them, raced them and often sworn at them. It’s exactly like my relationship with boats.
Although I’m fascinated by cars of all ilk, I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the lunar moon rover. Yes, it’s a vehicle and it has four wheels, but it holds no thrall at all. I’ll probably never see one, let alone drive it or dream about it.
It’s the same way I feel about the America’s Cup these days. The waterbug-like craft that skitter around on foils with no spinnakers, no tacking duels, just sheer speed are the moon rovers of sailing.
I see no “trickle-down” from the America’s Cup. Sailors used to benefit from advances in everything from sail materials to better turning blocks, but I don’t see our marinas suddenly filling with foiled yachts. I’m long past wearing a skin-tight wetsuit, and I’d have to be dipped into liquid neoprene to get into one, though kids sailing Optimists have embraced it…
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