Good old fashion Seamanship ended after Ted Turner in Courageous won the Americas cup and Dennis Conner won rights to defend with Electronics. (I was their showing age).
The Electronic age took over after that and will never go back.
I always liked that saying (Sail by the seat of your pants)
Dave
Crikey wrote:OK, I'm going to be the browner here!
Showing my age, I have to say as a fan of many earlier America's Cup events, particularly the fabulous title reclain by Dennis Conner in my home port of Fremantle, W.A. ...... what a farce!
When the event changed from very evenly matched hulls and rigs to a one sided (country of origin) tour de force - the crew really ceased to matter. Don't get me wrong - I'm a great fan of 'cats' and other floating esoterica, but what's the next future round going to feature - a Nimitz class carrier?
I long to watch Dennis picking his nose on a mastcam while talking strategy and joking with the crew, again. I had my share of complaints at the time - namely the four year events events should have alternated the 12 metre (?) rule between identical hulls and rigs for all the contestants. Somewhere along the line we lost track of good old fashioned seamanship, and began the slide into a nautical space race.
As we Mac owners all know ..... nothing wrong with slow!
Ted Turner is credited with drawing more attention to America's Cup competition than any other person in the long history of the Cup. He had proved himself in ocean racing, winning most of the world's prestige races including the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit twice. In 1974 he was at the helm of the contender MARINER which was eliminated early in the defender trials. Many credit the disastrous 1974 MARINER campaign with sparking Ted Turner's success aboard COURAGEOUS in 1977. COURAGEOUS dominated the final trials, giving Ted Turner a personal triumph.
The Cup races were a disappointment, with COURAGEOUS winning four straight races against AUSTRALIA. After the start, AUSTRALIA never led at any point in any of the four races. Ted Turner, the last true amateur to win the America's Cup, glories in head-to-head competition. He came back with COURAGEOUS I in 1980, hoping to make her the first three-time defender. FREEDOM, the latest creation of Sparkman & Stephens, sailed by Dennis Conner was too strong an opponent.
OK, OK! ..... Missed the Nimitz thing entirely! Just goes to show you all graphite (stealth) Americas Cup boats should carry radar reflectors.
Glory days for sure, and I omitted badly in not giving Ted Turner the honours overall.
When the Macgregor's Cup runs its first event, I'm coming in with Mastreb's winged keel - though you won't be allowed to look at it!
jcasale wrote:I hate to break it to you but a Nimitz class carrier has already been in the Americas Cup. I was a crewman on the Lincoln at the time of this incident.
Hilarious article...probably a bunch of crewmen on the deck laughing at the surprised faces down below too!!! (I'd have to bet the Cap'n knew EXACTLY what he was doing! "oh boy, dense fog...wait'll you see their faces when we sneak up on 'em!")
Not sure if this applies to the America's Cup sailors out there off the coast of California when this event happened...probably not since it was pre- 9/11...
But when I made my 9-week adventure to Norfolk back in April 2007 on the first day my buddy and I launched König we heard a radio message that went something like this:
"Attention all mariners. This is Coast Guard Station Norfolk. U.S. warship entering Hampton Roads channel for Norfolk Naval Station. All vessels maintain 500 yards clearance. USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED!"
About 30 minutes later we watched as one of the new large Nimitz class carriers steamed up the channel.
c130king wrote:
"Attention all mariners. This is Coast Guard Station Norfolk. U.S. warship entering Hampton Roads channel for Norfolk Naval Station. All vessels maintain 500 yards clearance. USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED!" Sailing on König Website Sailing on König YouTube Channel
After 9/11, this is now "normal" procedure, and they won't broadcast this message. They will, however, attempt to contact any infringing vessel before opening fire!
