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TexasLidig8r
5/16/2007, 09:01 AM
In an effort to continue to bring diversity to this site... the 32nd America's Cup is currently being held in Valencia, Spain. (the first time the America's Cup has been run off the shores of Europe since the inaugural race).

The first round in the Challenger Cup series ended with New Zealand, Spain, the US (Golden Gate Yacht Club) and Italy making it through to Round Two.

New Zealand, with the best record after Round One could select is opponent for the second round (best 5 of 9) and they chose... Spain.

After the first two races, the Kiwis lead 2 - 0, but in race 3, which is currently being run... the Spanish boat leads.

The US and Italians split their first two races and on leg 3 of the third race, the Italians have about a 5 boat length lead.

The two winning yachts will meet in the Louis Vuitton finals and will vie for the right to go against the defender, a Swiss yacht club.

For updates... www.americascup.com (http://www.americascup.com).

:D

sooner_born_1960
5/16/2007, 09:36 AM
That's a tailgate party I could get into.

mdklatt
5/16/2007, 09:38 AM
I was just about to start an America's Cup thread. I feel dirty. :O

It's hard to get too excited about the significance of the AC anymore. The American boat is really the "American" boat, cosponsored by BMW and driven by a bunch of New Zealanders. They show a BMW commercial during the TV coverage where the tagline is "help us bring the Cup home". To Germany?? :confused:

Once you get past the mercenary/free agent nature of the crews (it's no different than other professional sports), the sailing is fun to watch. I'd prefer everybody racing at the same time to match racing, though. It makes starts and mark roundings a lot more fun. If you hillbillies are interested, you can see live coverage on Versus (channel ~250 on Cox).

Right now we're in the middle of the Challenger semifinals. The Challenger finals will determine who gets to race the Defender (Alinghi, of the seafaring nation of Switzerland) for the Cup.

Petro-Sooner
5/16/2007, 01:13 PM
I'd like to learn the ins and outs of sailing.

bluedogok
5/16/2007, 09:41 PM
My boss is in Valencia right now for the Louis Vuitton Cup. I would like to be over there as well.

King Crimson
5/16/2007, 09:51 PM
i'm going to listen to Gram Parsons for an hour to cleanse myself of this.

mdklatt
5/17/2007, 12:41 PM
Reasons not to root for the "American" team, BMW Oracle Racing:

1. There's no "USA" or "America" anywhere in the name.
2. Larry Ellison is a dilletente.
3. Larry Ellison is a ******.
4. Oracle sucks.
5. BMW builds unreliable cars.

Instead, cheer on the home team, Desafío Español ("Spanish Challenge"). The name leaves no doubt who they're competing for, and isn't a blatent advertisment for their sponsors. Hooray for national pride.

DE had a landmark win against Emirates (NZ) yesterday to close the gap to 2-1 in a best-of-nine series. It was the first ever DE win against Emirates, and the first ever Spanish win in the semi-finals. They completely pantsed Emirates, forcing them into a penalty before the start, and then leading the race the entire time so that the penalty turn didn't even matter.

King Crimson
5/17/2007, 01:06 PM
i saw Larry Ellison speak at a Denver technology summit a few years ago. he seemed like a real knob to me.

TexasLidig8r
5/17/2007, 02:04 PM
Kiwis will close out the Spanish with three straight wins.

Oh... you forgot one last thing about the "American" boat.. it's being skippered by .... A KIWI !

The Italians appear to have a pretty good ride this time. They'd be up 3 - 0 if on the last leg of Race 2, they had raced conservatively instead of playing it loose.

An America's Cup competing in Frisco Bay would be pretty cool though.

Beef
5/17/2007, 02:07 PM
Sounds like a pirate ship needs to sail out there and kill 'em all.

OCUDad
5/17/2007, 02:07 PM
ORACLE = One Rich A**hole Called Larry Ellison

Petro-Sooner
5/17/2007, 02:09 PM
How strong is the El Salvador team this go around?

StoopTroup
5/17/2007, 03:25 PM
I'd like to learn the ins and outs of sailing.
Lets get you started then....

This is a sample of a sailboat.

http://www.sailfree.com/Equipment/sails_jibs.JPG

This is water. You use it to float your sailboat.

http://distinctiveestates.com/Pics/magwaterfront.jpg


Never sail with the trailer attached to the boat.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42041000/jpg/_42041878_boat_ap_220.jpg

Have fun ! ! !

:pop:

Skysooner
5/17/2007, 05:52 PM
My wife and I are going to be in Valencia during the off days just prior to the America's Cup. We are only going to be there one day, so we are going to spend that looking at the harbor.

mdklatt
5/21/2007, 05:00 PM
Holy cow did BMW/Oracle stink up the semifinals. They were behind at every single mark rounding. Ye gods. Their starts were awful, and the only time they were ever able to make up any ground was the last leg of the one race they won. Dickson, the skipper/helmsman, replaced himself with the helmsman who lost to China (their only win) in the round robins. Brilliant! Not that the new guy could have done any worse. Is Luna Rossa really that good, or did the SS Larry choke that hard? This was supposed to be the close semi-final matchup.

DE, on the other hand, has represented themselves quite well so far. With their back against the wall on Sunday, they had another great start and kept the Kiwis at bay with some excellent tactics. The inevitable ETNZ win has been put off for at least one more day. ¡Viva España!

TexasLidig8r
5/21/2007, 05:19 PM
DAMMIT ... I watched the end of the sinking of the BMW challenge yesterday.. What a JOKE!!!!!

To believe that the oldest trophy in sports today, the very sport, the U.S. defined, the trophy named after the first American ship to win the race, for another four years will NOT be defended off the American coastline is sacriligeous!

A Bavarian car company as the primary sponsor!!!

A friggin' Kiwi CEO and Skipper!! And, a skipper who QUIT before the last race!! And don't give me this crap about "replacing himself." He was getting his tail whipped by the skipper of the Italian tub (and.. oh when was the last time the friggin' Italians built a ship with a damn??? Oh.. that would be when Julius Caeser was chasing Pompey out of Greece!!!)

What happened to American know how? What happened to American ingenuity? What happened to the American can-do spirit???

The oldest athletic spectacle.. and we are reduced to.. observers..

Shameful.. disgusting and shameful. :mad: :mad: :mad:

mdklatt
5/21/2007, 05:59 PM
DAMMIT ... I watched the end of the sinking of the BMW challenge yesterday.. What a JOKE!!!!!

To believe that the oldest trophy in sports today, the very sport, the U.S. defined, the trophy named after the first American ship to win the race, for another four years will NOT be defended off the American coastline is sacriligeous!



Meh. Even before they started allowing multinational crews, the Cup had very little to do with patriotism and a whole lot do with the very rich boys and their very expensive toys. It's certainly not US vs the Soviet Union in the 1980 winter Olympics.

That's why I like DE. Their "yacht club" is actually the national sailing association of Spain, and they're more about representing their home (or adopted "home", as the case may be) country instead of a bunch of corporate sponsors. A little bit of credit to ETNZ--at least they worked the country name in there somewhere, and they have the highest proportion of native sailors. Not coincidentally, there are more Kiwis competing amongst all the teams than any other nationality.