While I compliment your attempt to post on topic
cut-n-pastes, this is kind of poor.
Smithers one of 1000's wrote:
Leave it to the Swiss to try to reinvigorate and reinvent the America's Cup.
The 32nd America's Cup
Returning to Europe for the first time in over 150-years,
The America's Cup was never held by any European country.
The trophy itself was offered by an English yacht club and
won by the schooner 'America' in 1851. After lying around
for almost 20 years, during which time the owner(s) left it
collecting dust in a closet, then considered melting it
down, then told a butler to throw it away (the butler
disobeyed), finally offered it as the 'America's Cup' to be
awarded for international sailing yacht racing 'to promote
amity among nations.'
http://www.alinghi.com/en/32ndac/history/index.html
http://cbs.sportsline.com/sailing/americascup/history
There is an ambitious four-year schedule of regattas commencing in 2004,
each one a distinct Act in the drama of the 32nd America's Cup. The climax
will be the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup Match itself in 2007.
A brief explanation might be in order, since so few people
here would know what the above means.
The America's Cup is a match race, in other words one-on-one
competition. This is a very different sport from racing
against a fleet, because maneuvering & tactics play a much
bigger part against a single opponent.
I mentione earlier that the America's Cup is an
international competition- and as a match race, that means
one yacht from a challenging country against one defending
yacht from the host country (or to be more precise, the
yachts represent clubs, not whole countries). The Louis
Vuitton Cup is the challenger's elimination series. In the
past it was the Canadian, Australians, New Zealand, Swiss,
Italian, English, French, Swedish, etc etc yachts against
each other for the right to race against the American yacht
(from the New York Yacht Club 1870 ~ 1983). Now it will be
the Americans, Australians, New Zealand, Italian, English,
French, Swedish, Chinese, and South Africans racing for the
priviledge of challenging the Swiss.
Never before has the America's Cup consisted of such an ambitious programme.
For the first time, the America's Cup season consists of more than just the
Louis Vuitton Cup and the America's Cup Match.
These opening Acts will be a mixture of fleet and match races in a variety
of venues, and open to all.
This concept of a series of Acts is a big evolution for the America's Cup.
In the modern era, post 1958, the gap between competitions has been as high
as five years; a situation described by one notable Cup sailor as being
"rather a long time between drinks."
In an effort to make America's Cup racing a more regular feature on the
sailing calendar, the series of preliminary Acts has been developed to
ensure there is America's Cup competition in each year leading up to the
2007 Match. These Acts allow the teams to measure themselves alongside their
fellow competitors at each event, and keep race fans firmly focused on
America's Cup racing.
Each successive Act will take on increasing importance as the Match draws
nearer, and each is expected to be a ranking tool for the early rounds of
the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2007.
What we currently think of as the America's Cup - the Louis Vuitton Cup, and
the Match itself - will be much shorter than what we've experienced in the
recent past. While these events were spread across five months over the past
four America's Cup cycles, they will be concentrated over just three months
in 2007, a short, sharp, intense period of racing.
Overall, the new schedule represents an important evolution for the
America's Cup. While the Cup season itself is much shorter, the leading Acts
ensure meaningful, dramatic, America's Cup racing takes place each year, and
allows the America's Cup to go 'on tour', visiting different venues, and
bringing the excitement and spectacle of this wonderful event to new
audiences.
And not only that, it will increase the value of the
America's Cup (tm) as a promotional event, making it more
attractive to advertisers & sponsors. Funny thing... there
are a lot of other yacht races competing for
advertising/sponsorship dollars nowadays.
IMHO since there are 11 teams willing to raise the $15+
million it takes to field a boat in this event, they should
try to make it MORE expensive & exclusive... in the past,
there were only two or three willing/able to go for it. What
we have nowadays is a watered-down America's Cup
In 2007, the final Act will be an opening Fleet race, for all the
competitors of the 32nd America's Cup.
Which is really a distraction from the one-on-one match race
elimination series. But the fleet races are a grand
spectacle. Frankly it's a shame that they can't seem to get
the IACC class (the Cup boats, an open design) jump-started
for competition outside the America's Cup, in the way that
the Twelve Meters always enjoyed.
Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.americascup.com/en/americ...cial/index.php
or
http://www.hickoksports.com/history/americup.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Cup
Also, don't forget the Int'l Catamaran Challenge aka the
Little America's Cup, many people consider that more exciting.
Fresh Breezes-
Doug King