Americas' Cup chances or hopes?

[Skyryder]

"Team New Zealand"? That's a joke.
They don't represent NZ at all - just themselves. For a start, the team tactician's a Murkn, and there's probably as many Kiwis on most of the other teams. And after years of AirNZ loyally sponsoring them, they sell out to Emirates.Yawn.

The cynic in me agrees totaly. The only thing that America's cup has to do with sport is that there is a winner. All other similarities to sport end there.

Skyryder

[Hitcher]

"Team New Zealand"? That's a joke.

Apart from the squillions of taxpayer dollars that are keeping them afloat, I'd agree. America's Cup racing has traditionally been the preserve of filthy-rich playboys who already own a Porsche Cayenne, an Aston Martin DB9, a stable of blonde bimbos with impossibly augmented tits, a Gulfstream III, a Premier League Soccer club, and who are looking for other ways of conspicuously flaunting their wealth. Why would the Gummint of a socialist banana republic at the arse-end of the world want to play with them?

[Finn]

America's Cup racing has traditionally been the preserve of filthy-rich playboys who already own a Porsche Cayenne, an Aston Martin DB9, a stable of blonde bimbos with impossibly augmented tits, a Gulfstream III, a Premier League Soccer club...

Oh, that's so 90's man. Those boys are considered poor in the millennium.

[terbang]

, a Gulfstream III?

We are shaving with those old girls now. Since then its been GIV, GIV-SP, GV and now G550.

[Big Dan]

Why? Are you particularly fond of sports where blokes touch other blokes and stick their heads between each other's legs? Got anything better to contribute than your load of utter twaddle?

couldn't have said it better myself

[Grub]

Why would the Gummint of a socialist banana republic at the arse-end of the world want to play with them?

Because if we win, they spend their filthy luca down here

[Hitcher]

That may well be, but at what cost? And who benefits?

[kro]

I get frustrated watching sailing, I spend more time watching the tender boats, thinking "man I bet that thing hauls arse with those twin mercs".

[Biff]

Can I just say, for a split second I was found myself getting mildly excited this morning when I watched Team NZ V China. Then I realized they were just jostling for position at the start, and that my I'd mistaken my excitement for the fact I'd just woken up and in need of my morning piss.

Sorry...die thread die.....

[oldrider]

The best skipper in the world is not allowed to be there? Competition? I still like it but only casually interested. John.

[slowpoke]

Not aimed particularly at the America's Cup but you've got to ask yourself how exciting something really is if the highlight is the commentary. If something requires commentary to make it exciting then obviously the actual event can't have too much going for it.

If I stumbled into Lords and watched the first ball of a Test match being bowled I'd be looking for the beer tent thinking to myself this is going to be a looooooooong day, commentary or no commentary.

If I found myself in a chopper overlooking the start of an America's Cup race I'd have the binoculars trained on the babes in the pleasure craft (was there ever a more apt name?) rather than the race boats, commentary or no commentary.

But if I found myself at the first corner as a field of Superbikes come howling into it then Liz Hurley couldn't drag me away, and bugger the commentary.

Yup, it's all subjective but to say something is exciting then certain criteria has to be met. To be exciting there has to be an obvious sense of speed, of danger, of pushing ones self to the limit, of physical endeavour, of mental fortitude etc etc.

Yep, yachting at this level has a huge amount of behind the scenes endeavour but it doesn't translate on the screen. Watching a tactitian doing the digital equivalent of putting a wet finger in the air (geddit?) and pointing in a certain direction doesn't make for fantastic viewing no matter how many millions of pacific pesos and man hours have been spent on that "wet finger".

Ask yourself if you would still be watching it if NZ wasn't involved. If the answer is no then how exciting is it really?

[xwhatsit]

Not aimed particularly at the America's Cup but you've got to ask yourself how exciting something really is if the highlight is the commentary. If something requires commentary to make it exciting then obviously the actual event can't have too much going for it.

If I stumbled into Lords and watched the first ball of a Test match being bowled I'd be looking for the beer tent thinking to myself this is going to be a looooooooong day, commentary or no commentary.

If I found myself in a chopper overlooking the start of an America's Cup race I'd have the binoculars trained on the babes in the pleasure craft (was there ever a more apt name?) rather than the race boats, commentary or no commentary.

But if I found myself at the first corner as a field of Superbikes come howling into it then Liz Hurley couldn't drag me away, and bugger the commentary.

Yup, it's all subjective but to say something is exciting then certain criteria has to be met. To be exciting there has to be an obvious sense of speed, of danger, of pushing ones self to the limit, of physical endeavour, of mental fortitude etc etc.

Yep, yachting at this level has a huge amount of behind the scenes endeavour but it doesn't translate on the screen. Watching a tactitian doing the digital equivalent of putting a wet finger in the air (geddit?) and pointing in a certain direction doesn't make for fantastic viewing no matter how many millions of pacific pesos and man hours have been spent on that "wet finger".

Ask yourself if you would still be watching it if NZ wasn't involved. If the answer is no then how exciting is it really?

I think you're missing the point. It's not really about visceral excitement, more about intellectual excitement, if you get what I mean (if you can still call that excitement). The same reason why people watch people play chess (sure as hell doesn't float my boat, but some people do). For people that understand it, then there's a hell of a lot of interest there in terms of the strategies going on -- I don't understand what's going on an awful lot, but that's where the commentary comes in, to educate me about it. Kind of like listening to the rugby on the radio, if you've ever done that. You don't have the raw exciting physical spectacle, but you have the bare bones of the actual game going on.

Don't know much about MotoGP, but in Formula 1 a large chunk of the sport is the team strategies; who will pit, who is carrying how much fuel, will they have to nurse it to the line to not pit, or are they running light with fresh tyres for a sprint to the finish? Also, much like Formula 1, the yacht racing has a large techie-factor, seeing who's running a new aero kit, who will have the advantage in the corners or be able to put down the power -- the boats themselves and how they handle compared to each other is something else.

Like I said, not for everybody. Some people are just interested in spectacle and fast thrills -- I've been to speedway nights before, and that's the major component in that, and it was pretty cool. But others see different things in sport.

[slowpoke]

I think you're missing the point. It's not really about visceral excitement, more about intellectual excitement, if you get what I mean (if you can still call that excitement). The same reason why people watch people play chess (sure as hell doesn't float my boat, but some people do). For people that understand it, then there's a hell of a lot of interest there in terms of the strategies going on -- I don't understand what's going on an awful lot, but that's where the commentary comes in, to educate me about it. Kind of like listening to the rugby on the radio, if you've ever done that. You don't have the raw exciting physical spectacle, but you have the bare bones of the actual game going on.

Don't know much about MotoGP, but in Formula 1 a large chunk of the sport is the team strategies; who will pit, who is carrying how much fuel, will they have to nurse it to the line to not pit, or are they running light with fresh tyres for a sprint to the finish? Also, much like Formula 1, the yacht racing has a large techie-factor, seeing who's running a new aero kit, who will have the advantage in the corners or be able to put down the power -- the boats themselves and how they handle compared to each other is something else.

Like I said, not for everybody. Some people are just interested in spectacle and fast thrills -- I've been to speedway nights before, and that's the major component in that, and it was pretty cool. But others see different things in sport.

Yep, fair comment....you can tell I'm bored on nightshift can't you?

I can see how people would appreciate the technological side of it, I'm just at a bit of a loss as to how they manage to get genuinely excited about this and a few other sports.

Then again, break all sports down to "fundamentals" (chasing a lil' ball into a hole in a paddock, using your bunch of blokes to get a ball past another bunch of blokes, racing a motorised bicycle around in circles) and they can all be viewed as ridiculous pastimes if you aren't "into it".

[skidMark]

A class cats are the way to go I reckon. Had a couple of goes years ago on one and Oooooeee those puppies get up and go!

please tell me it has an engine

silly question for you boatie types

why do they have boat speed in knots why can't it just be kph or mph?

something to do with nortical miles etc i assume?

and what exactly is a nortical mile, why can't they put it in km's or miles?

sorry just wondering.

cheers: Mark

[xwhatsit]

please tell me it has an engine

silly question for you boatie types

why do they have boat speed in knots why can't it just be kph or mph?

something to do with nortical miles etc i assume?

and what exactly is a nortical mile, why can't they put it in km's or miles?

sorry just wondering.

cheers: Mark

Knots are nautical miles per hour. It's mainly tradition, I think, but there's a convenience factor in using them for aviation and nautical stuff because one nautical mile is pretty much the same as one minute of latitude (in navigation). It means the captain with the beard and pipe in the map room can work out where he's going without a calculator.

I mean it seems a bit silly. But why do we keep measuring people in feet and inches, and talk about horsepower? They're not standard units for us any more, but it's momentum I suppose.