Oracle Team USA wins the America's Cup. (Not a big yachting guy, but ...

[11 Bravo]

I'm one of those silly fuckers that roots for the US in international competition.) And in any case, no one can dispute the fact that for team USA to come back from an 8-1 deficit to win 9 races in a row and take the cup is nothing short of remarkable.

on edit: I'm my own grammar Nazi

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. The boats these days are nothing short of amazing.

Watch closely at about the :30 mark as she gets up on the foil.

Here's a better view;

Just flat gettin' with the program!!

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. BTW and FWIW,.................... THIS is a fast sailboat;

That is just downright god damned awesome.

[Rex]

36. Holy shit batman!

Looks like a rocket moving across the water!

[Old and In the Way]

12. Amazing hull/sailing technology, especially displayed in the 2nd video.

I think the ongoing design tweaks overcame the competition's sailing skills. While the cat design is particularly effective for the hydrofoiling aspects that increases hull speed by an order of magnitude, there's plenty of things learned that will be incorporated in single hull sailboats built in the future.

[Aerows]

17. Beautiful videos!

Thanks for them

[adirondacker]

30. Awesome vids. 40 knots is screaming, let alone 55! I can't imagine what porpoising one of those

would amount to. Yikes!

[tularetom]

2. Yay! Our billionaires beat New Zealand's billionaires

Actually, you're right, it's cool to see such an amazing comeback, but it's also hard to relate to a sport that only people like Thurston Howell can afford to participate in.

[Arugula Latte]

3. I wonder if Thurston and Lovey were there?

[Aerows]

20. It really is a challenge for me

to decide which of them I'd like to fly off of the boat backwards in an epic bellyflop. I never could decide which of them I couldn't stand more during the Presidential race. They are like the he and she of people you don't want to get stuck anywhere near at a party, in a restaurant or God-love you, an elevator. All three would be a living hell.

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. "It's our turn now".

That statement alone told me I wanted her having nothing to do with anything near a high office.

His 47% comment was just icing on the cake for me.

[Aerows]

38. I know

That's what I debate internally over. Her entitlement issues, and his arrogance. I still cannot figure out which one I can't stand the most.

[Arugula Latte]

37. You have a way with words.

[Aerows]

39. Thank you

and I'm sorry to waste them on this sad example of humanity as them.

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. Unlike Seattle's billionnaires against San Francisco's billionnaires

At least I didn't have to build Larry Ellison's boat with my tax dollars.

[tularetom]

32. Well, I'd like to think so but there is this:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/22/irs-corporate-tax-deal/

[HooptieWagon]

35. New Zealand tax dollars partially funded their team.

I heard it was about 35 million...don't know if that was US or NZ dollars. I'd guess the whole campaign was about $US100 million.

[dipsydoodle]

4. That is an important event.

Last edited Wed Sep 25, 2013, 05:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Yes quite remarkable.

[mulsh]

5. Unlike most past Cup races the trials and course were easily observable from shore.

It's certainly a rich man's game but for once even folks with out boats had a decent chance of see the events, you didn't even have to buy over priced tickets to see a race.

I"m glad Oracle won. I hope the race promoters learn from their mistakes. I doubt it generated nearly as much revenue for SF as was projected. The only people I've seen wearing Race clothing have been some guys from the Oracle and Italian teams out at lunch a few weeks ago.

[cbayer]

6. What an amazing comeback. Good job, team Oracle.

[quinnox]

7. Meh. Don't understand the appeal

I'm sure the Thurston Howell types are feeling extra extra patriotic-y today, and this is a big deal to them. It is shrug-worthy to me however.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Ever been sailing?

Because this is the sort of thing that goes with....


"If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand"

It's kind of like the appeal of Harley's or Ferrari's.

If you don't get it, you probably won't no matter what anyone says.

[quinnox]

11. Nope

But I do get the appeals of Ferraris, They are beautiful cars.

This race seems like a rich man's thing. But to be honest, I find a lot of stuff in that those super rich people seem to find interesting and a fun hobby, to be pretty stupid and boring. Like Polo, or dog shows, or ultra-fancy furniture (I HATE that too fancy ultra formal style!)

I once visited Hearst castle in a tour group and he had that kind of royalty style in his house in his furniture, and I just rolled my eyes.

If I ever came into bundles of money, I would not spend it or my time on those kinds of hobbies that the typical rich people do, that is for sure. (I also hate the arrogance and snobbery factor of any too fancy restaurant or place as well, it is a huge turn-off)

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. What about motor racing?

Do you like or do you consider yourself an enthusiast of motor racing in any way? NASCAR, F1, IndyCar, NHRA?

Because those are a "rich man's thing" too.

One thing about Ferrari, FWIW.....


Enzo and the firm he founded have never built anything that could not be qualified as a "street legal race car".

I worked for Ferrari North America for a time in the 1990's and had the opportunity to ride in a few and drive a few more, including an F50 and the very first F550 Maranello to reach the US.

They make street legal race cars. That's what they do. Your average GM, Ford or Chrysler assembly plant can turn out what Ferrari builds in a year in 4 - 8 hour shifts.

I am not trying to be belligerent toward you here, by any means, and I understand your point about being ostentatious, but if you had the kind of money Ellison has AND you loved sailing, you very likely WOULD field an Americas cup team.

But you would have to have those two qualifiers, wouldn't you?

[quinnox]

21. Heh, nope. You have hit upon another sport I consider very dull and stupid

I have never understood the appeal of cars racing around a track, over and over again.

And no, If I had the kind of money that he has, and I loved sailing, I still wouldn't spend any of it on this sport. I already told you, I find it uninteresting. Just like I would not be spending time fielding dogs at dogs shows or watching or playing Polo. Or collecting uber-fancy furniture.

You want to know the only sport that is considered a wealthy past time that I do find interesting? Horse racing. Ok, you forced it out of me. Yes, I find the gambling aspect and the beauty of those horses very appealing and interesting.

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. AHA!!!!

This might interest you;

http://www.ocala.com/article/20120531/ARTICLES/120539945

It has the gorgeous sort of horse farm a millionaire horse racing enthusiast might want to purchase coupled with the hubris inducing knowledge that some rich fucker got screwed trying to get more than he deserves for a trophy property.

[quinnox]

23. It does look nice, no question

I'll consider buying it just after robbing Fort Knox.

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. LOL..there you go!

Or winning the Mega Millions on Friday, right?

I've been by Padua several times, as it sits right on US 301 south of Ocala. The landscaping maintenance alone on such a property would likely exceed $100K annually. That's JUST CUTTING THE GRASS! and edging and flower bed maintenance etc.

But you do concede the larger point, right? I mean, if your passion is racehorses and you had that kind of money, you might buy a Padua Stables.

Larry Ellison likes sailing.

That's all there is to it.

[quinnox]

26. Sure, I do understand how passion can drive people to spend a lot of money on things

I was just saying that I don't find the yachting sport thing interesting. Or the other stuff I mentioned. But yea, passion is a good thing, speaking generally.

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. That's it!

Cheers!

[lumberjack_jeff]

29. I'm all "rage-against-the-machine" too, but they push the envelope of what is possible

at the basic recreational and commercial level.

These guys are the only ones researching and developing new tech.

My favorite race is the mini-transat 6.5, and this is my favorite boat

[11 Bravo]

15. Gots to love the "Meh", because clearly, if YOU don't understand the appeal ...

then it's only us Thurston Howell types who get it. And if I ever respond to a post only to declare it "shrug-worthy" complete with smilie, please shoot me. But once again, let the contest for most uber-hip, righteous lefty at DU commence!
(By the way, this particular Thurston Howell is an ex-grunt and retired school teacher.)

[cbayer]

27. Mrs. Howell here, I suppose.

Interesting thing is that there wasn't a single american on the american boat. But that's another subject.

If you are into sailing, the dynamics and efficiency of which are both complex and fascinating, then these boats racing can be really exciting.

And then there is the issue of future technology which might lead us to use sailing technology to save fuel for cargo ships and oil tankers.

But if you have no interest in these topics, then this probably wouldn't interest you.

You should know, though, that many people are interested and we aren't all Thurston Howells. Not by a long shot.

[HooptieWagon]

33. There was one - Rome Kirby.

But you still make a good point...its hard to root for a bunch of mercenaries from other countries.
And for me, I miss all the tactics of past races. This was just a drag race, not the display of smarts that the races used to have.
Pretty amazing that Oracle could come back by winning 8 races in a row after NZ had match point...but I didn't really care which team won.

[cbayer]

34. Missed him when I was looking at nationalities.

I found that pretty odd and wonder why we can even call it the US team.

The tactics were certainly different, but I don't mind a good drag race now and then.

But the comeback was the best part. I never thought that could happen.

[NightWatcher]

10. Come on, Man. Spoiler Alert!!!

I was DVR'ing this race in my G6 Jet and was going to watch it after my polo match, when I jet back to the East Coast.

Geez

[11 Bravo]

16. Ahh, shit! I'm really sorry. I figured that being on the East Coast it would be OK. It was ...

thoughtless and I sincerely apologize! (And yeah, I got it.)

[NightWatcher]

19. I'll be ok, but you broke my manservant's heart. He's crying in the caviar

Kidding, I got to ride on a SLOW version of one of those catamarans a while ago and they were crazy fast and quiet. I miss the water, I used to work on the water, but I havent been out in more than a year.

[Blue_Tires]

13. wow...I hadn't been keeping up, but I saw a couple weeks back

the U.S. had a penalty imposed...

I just assumed the entire thing was lost

[PoliticAverse]

14. Great comeback. A pity Larry Ellison had anything to do with it though. n/t