Ours or Theirs?

by John Curnow, Editor Sail-World AUS on 26 Jun 2017 So if last week’s ditty was entitled ‘Mine or Yours?’, then this week just had to be Ours or Theirs? That stands for ‘Ours’, as in Aussie, or ‘Theirs’, as in Kiwi. Ultimately, all of it is more than a tad Antipodean, anyway, and that is precisely the way we should probably look at it. As we go to press, i.e. hit the send button, for it is a long time since ink has hit the paper, the Kiwis stand on match point at six to one up.

No more nip’n’tuck with asymmetric foils. Time to plan for Lake Garda or the Viaduct, or both! Sandbagging wins again, and the AC retains it long held air of mystery and intrigue. Could not help noticing that one Dennis Conner even feels it is time for the Auld Mug to come back downunder, once more. He had been hated by many in both Australia and New Zealand, but if you ever saw the video of the panel discussion with he and John Bertrand at an Etchells World Championship in Melbourne, then you probably have a differing opinion. One thing is for sure, you knew you were going to get it as it is, and recently, he stayed true to form and did not hold back at all.

Just like the VOR, the present AC Administration had touted a two-year cycle, to which Conner had said on air with Rachel Smalley in NZL, 'I like what I'm hearing about the possibility of going back to a mono hull and not making it the same circus that we have [in Bermuda].'

Reflecting on how the TV ratings are bad and the hotel rooms are empty, Conner said, 'It used to be something special and they've turned this into a completely different event.” He then went on to add, 'People want to go back to what they saw in Auckland with a downtown event, the centre of the America's Cup, everybody having a great time, lots of people, lots of boats, lots of spectators and I see nothing but good to come out of it.'

So then, it is important to note that the whole notion does not just apply to AC. A wise, or is that wise-cracking (and he’ll very much appreciate the difference) West Australian said to me just the other day how Australia has lost a bit of it’s world-renowned can do attitude in an ocean of political correctness. That’s a fair comment, but to show that it has not died out entirely, and can still be fully ignited in the bowels of the turbine when required, Bill and Jack Macartney present the SuperFoiler as a case in point, the flag atop the mountain, or literally, standing head and shoulders above the rest.

Heading back up to the top, as it were, where the headline came from is that the very genesis of the SuperFoiler Grand Prix idea is all Aussie, as too is the cash, know-how, plan, hulls, and development, but the spars and foils are Kiwi. (Yes the designer is a Seppo, but a bloody good one at that!) Ultimately, what I am saying is that maybe it is time in this age of global commercialisation to not hold onto rules to tightly, but rather allow for some collaboration by creating space for some other shoulders next to you on the grindstone.

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