After what seems to have been endless court battles and arguing between one team and another the opening event for the 33rd America's cup is due to take place this Sunday the 7th of Feb with the opening race taking place on Monday the 8th.
I for one lost interest in all of the legal wranglings about the cup races and the boats involved long ago and I wonder quite how many people will be put off attending the event in Valencia or watching on TV or online. It certainly won't have done anything to allay the elitest perspective of the sport of sailing to the non sailing public, (2 multi millionair professional sailing teams arguing about how big their boats are in the middle of a recession).
Then there are the boats themselves 2 90ft flying machines of the like never before seen. The America's cup is always a platform for testing new designs and ideas and pushing the limits of engineering to the limits (and beyond) but these machines are really something else, featuring canting masts the height of a 17 storey building, optic fibre sensors in the carbon spars provide the crew and support team with real time data on the stresses and strains on them.
The racing is sure to be impressive with these 2 beasts flying around the course in Valencia but I can't help but think the event is goin to turn into an out and out drag race rather than the tactical tit for tat mind games that have made the Cup matches of recent years so intriging, having said that maybe these new super fast super sexy multihulls will spark the imagination of non sailors?
Lets just hope it lives up to the hype and the build up and we see some great racing at what is without doubt the biggest sailing event in the calendar.
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