Coming Soon!
Usually, when I watch a sporting event, I cheer for one team or the other. At this point in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, I am cheering for the regatta itself. Please let’s complete a full race with both boats crossing the finish line! After three days, we have seen three races and only one boat finish each race. Is this America's Cup going to get rolling?
Read more: AC Report #4: What Will Happen Next in the Louis Vuitton Cup?
By Gary Jobson
September 25, 2013
Today's victory by Team Oracle USA concluded an America's Cup that will add quite a unique chapter to the long history of this regatta. At the post race press conference, team owner Larry Ellison was on stage. He was gracious, funny, respectful, interesting and happy. I sat among the 100 or so journalists, thinking to myself, "Where has this guy been?" Ellison explained that he was absent because he simply wanted to support his team, and let them run the defense. There was no doubt, however, who was in charge. Alongside Ellison were the Australian skipper of OTUSA, James Spithill, the Australian strategist, Tom Slingsby, and the British tactician, Ben Ainslie. The team leader, New Zealander, Russell Coutts was not on stage, and he was missed. Ellison gave Coutts considerable credit for pushing the team to improve when they were behind. Something happened during 19 races over the past 19 days that took the American team from awful to spectacular.
By Gary Jobson
September 24, 2013
The 34th America's Cup defense has turned into more of a people show than a boat show. Sure, the boats are amazingly fast, technological marvels, but the emotional highs and lows that we are feeling while watching and listening to the sailors compete is the epitome of human drama. How could anyone write a script for such a compelling narrative?
Think about these story lines: The America's Cup has been won and lost by the most successful business leaders of their eras. This is the oldest continuously contested trophy in international sports, dating back to 1851. The score is tied at 8-8.
By Gary Jobson
September 23, 2013
President Bill Clinton had a great expression when meeting people with troubles. He always connected by saying, "I feel your pain." To paraphrase Mr. Clinton, "We are feeling Emirate Team New Zealand's pain." The fading, near-winners of the America's Cup just don't seem to have an answer for the remarkable comeback by Oracle Team USA.
By Gary Jobson
September 22, 2013
Can Emirates Team New Zealand dig into their collective inner soul and find a way to win the 34th America's Cup? The way it is going, the Kiwis are in deep trouble.
Oracle Team USA is on a roll. They are winning starts, sailing really smart, and at times they are blazingly fast. The USA still needs to win four races to successfully defend, while NZL only needs one victory to take the Cup down under. Race 16 on Monday will mark the longest period in Cup racing days since the first defense in 1870.
By Gary Jobson
September 20, 2013
How would you like to have four-time British Olympic champion, Sir Ben Ainslie, calling tactics for you in the biggest race of your life? Adding to the collective wisdom of the Team Oracle USA afterguard is another Olympic champion, Australian Tom Slingsby. The USA team (with only one American on board) took another step closer to defending the America's Cup.
By Gary Jobson
September 19, 2013
The champagne was on ice. Blue blazers were at the ready. But Oracle Team USA's Australian skipper James Spithill ignored everything around him except winning the start of Race 12 of the America's Cup. He steered USA 17 into the starting box at 35 knots from the favored port side. Emirates Team New Zealand was late entering from the starboard side. Kiwi skipper Dean Barker maneuvered toward the starting line early. The ebb current was beginning to flow out of San Francisco Bay. The leeward end of the line looked to be favored. Barker wanted that position but he had to kill a lot of time. Spithill stalked his prey from behind as the two boats approached the line. Barker was at risk of jumping the gun.
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