Team USA, really?

PascalG

PascalG

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As the America s cup starts tomorrow, I got curious and looked at the composition of Oracle Team USA... I knew that The skipper was Australian, but it turns out there is only ONE American on board Oracle Team USA, John Kostcki the tactician... Everybody else is Australian, new zealander, plus a couple of Brits and Dutch.

And of course, the guy writing the big checks,..

So, as far as i am concern, the kiwis may as well win and take the cup... At least it will be at home in a country where sailing matters...
 
If I'm not mistaken, it was the Kiwis who started the whole "sail for another country" thing when Coutts et al (now running the Oracle Team) left Team New Zealand to sail for the Swiss. To me it's more like baseball, football or soccer. Who cares what the nationalities of the teams are? We just want to see the best sailors on state of the art equipment. I know that's not the histroy of AC racing but things change. If you are hung up on the nationalities then there's always the Olympics. The important thing is a generation of kids watch sailing, get excited, and try it themselves.
 
As goes baseball, World Cup soccer, basketball, the Olympics, etc., etc.

I guess it's the winning flag that is raised at the end that counts, not who is holding it up.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Prospective

At least we have NASCAR...

Click to expand...


........ infiltrated by a Tasmanian and a Colombian. But, they can't win either. :)

Bob
 
The youth series consisted of "real" national teams. They raced on the AC45s and I believe all races were fleet races

Final standings:

Red Bull Youth America’s Cup – Standings
1. NZL Sailing Team with Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 2-RDG-7-3-1-1-4 – 57 points
2. Full Metal Jacket Racing (NZL) 7-1-4-6-6-3-5 – 45 points
3. ROFF/Cascais Sailing Team (POR) 3-6-1-8-8-5-2 – 44 points
4. Team TILT (SUI) 8-5-2-2-9-7-1 – 43 points
5. American Youth Sailing Force (USA) 1-7-3-5-7-4-8 – 42 points
6. Swedish Youth Challenge (SWE) 6-2-9-1-4-6-10 – 39 points
7. Objective Australia (AUS) RDG-10-6-10-2-3 – 38 points
8. Next World Energy (FRA) 4-4-8-4-5-9-6 – 37 points
9. All In Racing (GER) 5-8-5-9-3-8-9 – 30 points
10. USA45 Racing (USA) 9-9-10-7-10-10-7 – 15 points
 
I forgot when the nationality rules were eased, but I m pretty sure it was way before Couts and Alinghy. Back in the early 90s I think.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Prospective

At least we have NASCAR...

Click to expand...


Team Oracle took a page out of NASCAR

If they aint cheatin they aint winnin
 
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