My own take is that the upwind tactics of USA were fantastic -- the port lay line call was spot on, and USA then footed for too much speed for Alinghi to tack in front, and had Alinghi tried to lee bow, then it might well not have been able to make the mark. Hats off to American John Kostecki!
By comparison I thought the tactics of Alinghi (Brad Butterworth) were surprisingly poor, tacking onto starboard too early instead of going out to the starboard lay line when it had a big lead.
Spithill's driving was likewise fantastic, winning the start and pushing Alinghi into a penalty for the 2nd time.
And Coutts deserves tremendous credit for assembling and managing such a great team -- his revenge (on Bertarelli) must be sweet!
Despite all the controversy, I've come to think this event was fitting, echoing the initial success of the solo yacht America in 1857, demonstrating the superiority of American sailing technology -- this boat is simply amazing, and I don't think we're going to see her like again!
Final Press Conferences
I thought Larry handled himself well, whereas Bertarelli showed what a childish, arrogant whiner he is. (That he insisted on driving so much instead of giving the wheel to his experts on the boat was a big factor in his loss in my opinion.)
Will the 34th Cup be in San Francisco?
The obvious problems with San Francisco Bay as an AC venue are (a) difficulty and cost of finding suitable waterfront infrastructure for all the teams, (b) heavy commercial traffic, and (c) limited racing area with heavy tides.
Larry currently seems to be leaning toward a return to Newport RI, but does still have San Francisco on his list, along with San Diego (my favorite) and Valencia, Spain. He has promised an independent organizing body, so hopefully the decision will be made for the good of the Cup.
I think we'll see a return to monohulls in a multiple challenger format, but a bit smaller, somewhat less expensive, more high tech, and faster than the last AC rule. (I personally would like to see it sailed in something like Volvo Open 70's.)
The Louis Vuitton Series has proven to be popular and successful, and I'm sure that will be taken into consideration, perhaps folded into a new AC venue.
This will probably be discussed to death on the Sailing Anarchy Forums (but be warned that some of the regulars there can be pretty nasty to newcomers).
Video
The last highlight video is well worth watching.
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