since when has any AC been "affordable"? This ain't the friggin Special Olympics...
Was Sir Lipton's campaign(s) "Affordable"?
Was the 12 meter campaign really "affordable"?
maybe define "affordable"... It's certainly affordable for the two finalists right now, and even some of the challenger teams..
It's always been a "yachting" event between uber-rich... why mess with it?
When else would you see this sort of technology/engineering really get tested on the world stage without some big $$ and ego behind it?
Would any of us even dream of foiling ANYTHING if we just watched 12 meter OD classes going round and round? Having watched the AC finals, it seems everyone all the sudden wants a foiling boat (cat, mono, swim fins, goldfish, etc)
heck, would anyone even watch the AC without these strange flying beasts? It was hard watching AC events of the past even when i WAS rooting for a particular team.. (the paint-drying analogy)
Precisely.
If I want to watch 60' monos race around then I can go to the yacht club and watch J24's dink around like rubber duckies in a bathtub. I don't want an "affordable" yacht race.
I want a spectacle.
I want something that I can show to my friends and coworkers and say "LOOK HOW COOL SAILING IS GUYS" and have them say "Wow ok this is awesome, what have I been missing out on?"
60 foot monos is snoozefest. I know orphan said that he spoke to kiwis saying that, but I spoke to a couple that said the opposite. I don't think we'll see AC72's in the next rendition of the AC but I think we'll see a smaller multihull. Maybe a MOD70 trimaran?
