America's Cup 2024: who likes it?

[Uguccione]

the longest wining streak in sporting history crumbled to Ozzie’s

I remember that thrilling final very well (Australia lost the first few lines and seemed on the verge of losing the trophy but then won all the others). I was rooting for you; nothing personal against the Americans, but I wanted to see someone else win, even if only for sensationalism.
But I also have to blame you for having laid the first brick to build what the America's Cup has become today, because I think that if it had always remained in the United States, the formula would never have changed. Maybe.

 

[VDL_Piper]

I remember that thrilling final very well (Australia lost the first few lines and seemed on the verge of losing the trophy but then won all the others). I was rooting for you; nothing personal against the Americans, but I wanted to see someone else win, even if only for sensationalism.
But I also have to blame you for having laid the first brick to build what the America's Cup has become today, because I think that if it had always remained in the United States, the formula would never have changed. Maybe.

Agree but like the old saying goes, if you want to make an omelette you have to break some eggs and Bertram and Bond just operated within the rules but certainly pushed the boundaries. The current racing, whilst incredibly technical has certainly lost that old charm for sure but we see technological advancement in every sport now. Larger racquets in tennis, Michael Jordan bent the rules with his air Jordan’s, formula 1 is a shadow of itself from when Ayrton Senna drove on the brink like no one before him. I miss the pure sport for want of a better way to describe it but technology is here to stay and is sure to be exploited given the amount of money now involved in sport.

 

[Uguccione]

Today in the first race American Magic clearly beat Alinghi; Team New Zealand massacred Britannia and in the third race Luna Rossa beat American Magic by virtue of a better start, but the two boats seemed close in terms of performance.
The last race (New Zealand vs Orient Express, the French boat) was not a fight due to a failure of the French boat that did not even start.

I must admit that this type of boat puts on a show; if I have to find a limit it is that below a certain wind speed, these boats do not lift off the water and are practically stationary.
I don't even think a race with light wind can be held.

 

[Uguccione]

The feeling - if the morning is a good indicator of the day - is that it will be tough for anyone to beat Team New Zealand.