America's Cup: Amazing sailing or should I say flying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H98nH-dvNUE&feature=youtu.be
Whether I am in Calgary or Fernie the one constant factor of my life is I live 3,500 ft (for kids today that is 1070M) above sea level. As you can imagine that would make sailing a sport that was hard to relate to. Au contraire, we landlocked people can enjoy sailing, I learned as a kid on Glenmore Reservoir where the fickle winds and the enthusiasm of transplanted Brits, Aussie's and American's brought their love of sailing to us Calgary youngsters. Part of learning sailing is for most of us to love sailing. Over the years I have had the pleasure of enjoying many sailing trips in the Gulf Islands over the years.
As a kid I also started to follow the America's Cup. Dennis Conner was the star of the eighties and ultimately also broke the American hold of the cup by ultimately losing to Australia.
While he was winning he almost made the series boring, no one seemed able to beat him. Then he lost and the series got interesting when the Aussie's beat him. The winged keel of Australia II gave the Cup to the Australians. This broke the contest wide open and technology has been allowed to change the face of the race. I was in San Francisco in 2013 when the catamarans with wings first showed up. It was very exciting to see the Oracle team come from behind and learn flying in the middle of the series.
Since then technology has moved even further. I first heard about the new foils from a friend in Fernie, Pete, a transplanted Australian shipwright and sailor. In the course of having our Covid outdoor coffee meetings we discussed his love of sailing and where it has come during his lifespan. I couldn't believe it until now. Amazing. The sailing or flying is fascinating but the crashes are going to be spectacular.
J
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