Copied from yesterday's Scuttlebutt- now looky here at some some real scuttle...
"What if Ernesto Bertaralli and Alinghi win? Everyone seems so concerned "where" the next Cup might be held, but I'd propose that we start talking about "what boats" might be
used. Bertaralli is an avid and very accomplished catamaran and trimaran sailor, and to the victor go the spoils. Although "the rule" was instilled in 1988 defining what an IACC yacht "is" after Connor's cat "Stars & Stripes" put a hurting on New Zealand's monster KZ-1, could there be a petition for another change or update in the rules? Could there be talk of true innovation and progression once again in the Cup world? Hula or not, the current array of boats used in the cup are rather boring (until they break!).

Oh man, I'd love to see some 60' cats dueling it out.

Especially since I'm going to be on the chase boats for the next cup

Hey Folks

Just some pictures of Alinghi5 sailing on the lake of Geneva!

Some More Multis on the lake of Geneva

Kudos on the excellent eye candy. Check out the rack on Happycalopse!

If the Swiss win and the next AC is on multis, the US could have a better chance. We're better lately with multis than monoslugs. Look at the Little America's Cup. Or Dennis Connor & company could make a go at it.

David Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

Nice pics.

Thanks!

Don

Now that is something worth lobbying for!

I bet they would choose the ORMA Open 60 Tris to improve the chances of the Cup being kept in Europe...

Cheers,

Yow, what pix! When you posted "Alinghi5 on Lake Geneva" I thought you were just joking! But it DOES say Alinghi5 right there in black and white.
PS: I will be rooting for Alinghi in 1.4 hours from now.

Oh, my Hobie 16 could bury that boat !!!

then it would take HOURS to rinse off the sand after digging the hole with it!

J

cool pics - love those big, improbable multis. raced against Randy Smyth's 40-footer once. now THAT'S getting rolled! our race was postponed today - too much wind! 25-35, but at least it's warm...

Hi, Dave,

Missed you at Eustis.

Here's the text of my letter to Scuttlebutt re: A-Cup.

The hula has indeed pointed the way to the future America's Cups: Mulithulls! If two hulls are better than one then we should support this radical idea to insure interest in future campaigns. The next logical step after the hula is to write the new rule to include big cats and tris. Two hulls! Three hulls! And the rule-cheating five hulls! ("Well, it's not really five hulls", said the measurer.)

Everything about the current America's Cup doesn't resemble much from it's storied tradition, anyway. Why not complete the transition and give the audience and the crews some durable boats that revel in light or heavy air and while giving us a racier show to watch. With multihulls, the show in Europe will already have a huge interested following. The existing Cup has reached the epitome of boredom to the point that the most exciting thing in this series so far was to see flames painted on a bulb (Ooh!) or watching a crewman bail with a bucket (Ahh!). Only a storm that can break an oil tanker in half could begin to sink a current generation multihull giant while a "confused sea of three feet" can swamp the current crop of carbon monoshells. The hula has shown the way and we should all dance to the tune.

It's nice that a monohull designer admitted and the measurer agreed that two hulls are better than one.

If that turns out to be the case...that better be a fast chase boat!

Does anyone know what the rules actually say with regard to multis? And how hard is it to change the rules?
Dave

The Deed of Gift specifies only that if the yachts shall have one mast, they shall be of at least 40 feet on the load waterline, and no more than 90 feet, and if they shall be of more than one mast, shall be of at least 80 feet and no more than 115 feet. The Protocol specifies the yacht of choice, and is open to negotiaton between the Defender and the Challenger of Record. As best as I can tell, the Deed of Gift makes no requirements concerning number of hulls, and apparently the courts agreed when they approved the victory by the Stars and Stripes catamaran of Dennis Conner a few years back.

sail fast