When I think of the America’s Cup, my thoughts are totally divided. On one hand I immediately think of its heritage; the J-class, the 12m – it is after all one of the oldest sporting trophies in history. The other half of me thinks of my contemporaries who compete in the AC, I think of money, court cases and more latterly, of course, of multihulls.
There is no doubt that this most prestigious of trophies (which dates back to 1851) has had a chequered history. One could argue that in recent years the court cases and controversy between men of unfathomable wealth has somewhat taken the magic out of it, and that is of course all before we mention the controversial move to mulithulls.
However, I am glad to say that I am not going to regurgitate through the AC’s past, and waste precious words on what could have been. Instead I am going to tell you why, after a day out in Plymouth, 2011 for me will be a high point in the Cup’s history.
I have attended many events in Plymouth – most of which I have competed in from OSTAR’s and Transat’s to Fastnet’s, all to do with sailing – all to do with offshore sailing, where Plymouth has been a start or finish venue rather than just a venue. I was worried, I must admit. The UK is traditionally hopeless at embracing large sailing opportunities when they arise, and hence we miss out.
As part of the America’s Cup World Series, Plymouth played host to a week of AC45 action in between Cascais, Portugal, and San Diego, USA. 9 teams spent a week battling out in mixed conditions, in Plymouth sound and I was lucky enough to experience a day with Emirates Team New Zealand, the overall winners of the week, thanks to their sponsors Nespresso.
The day’s excitement started prior to Nespresso’s hospitality, as on arriving in Plymouth I was given an exceptional tour of the TV setup, including their 120-strong team. This in itself was worth the journey, as I realised the true scale of the operation. The finance and technology behind the production, with the help of YouTube was exceptional. With 3-4 helicopters, and a few boats each with image stabilising lens’ on filming at all times, not to mention the 4 live cameras on each boat… keeping up with the streams from off the water, is no mean feat for the live directors. Every second of footage, is logged and stored, and that is without even mentioning, the technology involved with tracking, closing speeds, laylines, zones, and of course the new umpiring system!
With so much to take in, this tour reminded me of an F1 setup, and I suppose so it should, afterall the AC should be in the same league as F1. From there it was over the Hoe, past the facilities for the 110,000 spectators that Plymouth council reckoned came to watch racing and take in the many attractions that were laid on. The sailing base was situated in Milbay Dock – and equally impressive. With a container ship anchored outside Plymouth Sound, having dropped the boats, containers, crane, and TV studios off, it seems like a silly question asking Grant Dalton of ETNZ – how the logistics of the whole thing worked! But that is the whole thing about the ACWS – it has to work, and thanks to a huge injection of cash from it’s Godfather Larry Ellison – it does.
We are then given a ‘no fluff’ briefing from Grant Dalton in the ETNZ base – and we expect nothing less. He is coarse, blunt, and quite frankly doesn’t give a toss about people – let alone ‘bloody journos.’ Somehow this attitude is what we have come to expect from the master of ETNZ – and in a funny way I find it quite endearing. His success, of course, of ETNZ had largely been his ability to divert the attention away from his ‘stars’ leaving them to do what they do best! His attitude and persona – are all part of that strategy.
Within moments I am in trouble as my last minute dash to the loo almost impacts our departure time, but all is forgiven as he discovers I am the ‘extremely annoying chick that does the Extreme 40 coverage’ – I am flattered, and immediately upgraded from spectator boat to coach boat!
As racing starts, and 9 AC45’s streak in front of our ridiculously large rib, I am soon in need of a couple of moments to collect my thoughts. ‘Here I am, standing next to Grant Dalton, in ETNZ’s coach boat, watching the ACWS in Plymouth Sound…. Good Work!’
After that little moment, it was time to refocus on ultimately the bull’s-eye of this rather large dartboard – the boats and racing format. Extreme 40’s on heat is an understatement. These boats are as technically advanced as they come. As Matt Sheahan said in his own words after his 4th day as 6th man, ‘it’s taken me all week to get past the excitement of being on-board and actually focus on the technical intricacies of these boats,’ there is simply so much to take in. No wonder the guys are still learning how to sail them.
The race format for the day included one long race of about 40 minutes and 2, shorter races. This week we have seen plenty of other formats, and courses, from speed trials to match racing. And this is one of the areas I feel really works. Could you get bored – maybe, but think how many boring football matches there are.
My day out in the sunshine in Plymouth, was one of the best experiences at a sailing event I have ever had, as either a spectator, broadcaster or a competitor. I was so impressed on every level. Having not experienced it before, I was all too quick to judge the money being ploughed in, the new – ‘not so good’ format, the change to multihulls, and the bizarre choice of venues. Hand’s up – I was wrong. And I think Nespresso have been very smart using ETNZ to springboard their brand into New Zealand – especially after this week’s victory. I also take my hat off to Plymouth – why aren’t all your events that good – the reason, money. However I have just learnt that the AC being in Plymouth may have earned £10million for the city.
Of course the current format and infrastructure is not sustainable – with numbers like €350 million being batted around it’s no surprise. But someone with a vision needs to springboard this sport, internationally, to create the following it deserves. Bernie Eccleston turned F1 around, and with every bit of luck Larry Ellison will do the same for sailing – he certainly has my seal of approval and as Grant Dalton said, ‘Nice one, Larry – keep spending!’