From the very first day we arrived in NZ, the buzz about
town has been the America’s Cup. I thought this was a bit odd, given that I am,
in fact, from America and had never heard of its Cup. A bit of investigation
revealed that said Cup – a yachting trophy – got its name from a boat called
the America, which was the first boat to ever win it. Seems like it would have
been neater if that hadn’t also been the name of a country, but no one
consulted me at the time. Actually, it is the oldest international sporting
trophy, which is cool.
Apparently, each year one yacht club challenges the previous
year’s champion. The first team to get to nine wins takes home the cup. This
year, Emirates Team NZ challenged Oracle Team USA (both named for their biggest
sponsors, of course). When we got here, NZ was trouncing Oracle (this is how
the announcers refer to them – NZ and Oracle. Not very consistent, but again,
no one consulted me). So everyone was all jazzed up and excited for NZ to bring
it home. But then Oracle hired an Olympic goal medalist as their new tactician
(a bit shady, in my opinion, to change in the middle), and things changed. Oracle
won six races in a row, which made it a tie – eight wins on both teams. Then,
this morning, Oracle won the match point and took home the Cup again. Quite a
let down, actually, for those of us who have already embraced our Kiwi-dom (a.k.a.
J and I).
So, in addition to learning that yacht racing is a sport, I
actually watched quite a few races. They’re on first thing in the morning here,
so I can watch them as I’m getting ready. I was surprised at how interesting
they were, and how quickly I was sucked in. Of course, I think a lot of my
motivation to watch was so that I would have something moderately intelligent to
say about the races, because almost everyone was talking about it. People in
all the shops, J’s colleagues at work, people at the hotel. Apparently, lots of
people were late to work so that they could watch, and that was pretty much
accepted as a good reason.
So then I am left wondering… do lots of Americans care about
yacht racing, and I am just oblivious? Or is it, perhaps, more popular closer
to where it happens (these races were in San Francisco)? Or is it just not a
big deal in the States? It’s funny to have all these questions about home, now
that I’m so far away.
Kathy here. I have actually heard of the America's cup but heard a different story about its origins. My parents used to sail (though not on a yacht) and were into this sort of thing. My dad tells me that this was an ongoing race not known by its current name, and one year Queen Victoria was watching the race and it was obvious the American yacht was winning and declared "Well, it's America's cup!" and the name stuck.
ReplyDeleteYou should take that with a big grain of salt, as your story sounds more plausible.
Hi Kathy. I love that story of it's origin. It's possible that both are true, if the Queen said that and then the America did go on to win the race. But yours is much more fun!
DeleteHey, those of us who sail care a LOT about the America's Cup! I was rooting on NZ the whole time, and slowly losing hope...are the Kiwis deliberately throwing this thing? Where'd the speed go? But in the end I had to concede the US boat was the faster. No particular credit to the US, however; Oracle's skipper is Aussie as are most of her crew (everyone on the boat, I think), and as you say her tactician is British. So, my great sympathy to your new countrypeople, better luck next time, and hey, even if Aotearoa didn't win, Down Under did very well indeed!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth. I'm glad to hear that some Americans care about it. I felt the exact same way about the races - I was just confused as to how Oracle kept winning, but then the last couple races (especially when NZ started out ahead, and then Oracle passed them), it definitely seemed like the fastest boat was winning.
DeleteThe announcers here made a big deal about how much Kiwi skill and ingenuity went into the boat. Oracle had an automatic... something. Sorry, I don't actually know anything about sailing. But it helped them to get up out of the water and go faster. There was debate about whether it was legal, and (obviously) it was decided that it was, but the announcers here thought that that had a lot to do with them winning. And apparently most of the boat was built by people from Auckland. Oh well. The sense that I get from people here is that they are disappointed, but very proud of their team, and proud to be Kiwis.
So, is the sail boat in Wichita related to this? It is just off Douglas with a large sail boat in front of a very nice building that is dedicated to the sailboat and it's crew for wining several races.
ReplyDeleteKim, I don't know. That would be neat, though.
DeleteStan watched as much of the competition as he could find. He is a committed fan!
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that the Koch brothers had something to do with that sailboat in Wichita. They are also the politically active Koch family.
Myrna
Yes--I did not know about this, so went and looked it up. The yacht in Wichita is at the Wichita Boathouse and Sports Hall of Fame, and is one of the yachts sailed by (and funded by) one or both Kochs in the 1992 America's Cup. http://kshof.org/ For a non-Kansan, seriously odd, because the water in Wichita (the Arkansas River--talk about pronunciation problems!) is useless for sailing, and the America's Cup has always been an ocean race.
DeleteFor anyone who missed the last race, the Blue Valley Yacht Club in Manhattan is planning a screening tomorrow am, though of course you can see it online too. The whole idea behind those wing-sailed catamarans, built in New Zealand, is to turn yachting into a spectator sport, and indeed they did do that, for those of us paying attention!
Myrna, I didn't know that Stan was into yacht racing. That's neat. Was he excited that Oracle came back and won? Pretty impressive turn-around.
DeleteRuth, thanks for looking that up. It is odd that there would be an America's Cup yacht in Kansas of all places, and that the Koch brothers would own one, but so be it.
I think they are doing a great job of making it into a spectator sport. I thought it was amazingly exciting and nerve-wracking. I would watch it again.
Thank you for answering my question. I thought it was related.
ReplyDelete