[Leica] America's Cup - BORING

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

 To a real sailor the America's Cup race is a joke. It is a contest between 
multibillionaires, using thoroughly impractical boats, and hired crews 
racing around a very limited course. True, the boats are fast. Up to 40 
knots in the right wind conditions. But that's slower than the speed of a 
bicycle racer. Perhaps it is faster than watching grass grow, but not much. 
The boats fly across the water on hydrofoils. They are so delicate that 
races are cancelled when the wind is over 20 knots. Wing foils the height of 
a 13 story building cannot be reefed and, of course, will not pass under 
most bridges. Naval architects claim that the adaption of America's Cup 
technology to commercial waterborne transport is almost impossible. 
Commercial ships actually have to carry cargo not just a passel of hired 
crank turners. Besides the races are BORING. Watch one and see.
Larry Z