With only the British team [Ineos Team UK] and one of
the American teams [American Magic] having a scaled
down model of the new America’s Cup boat on the water,
and just about two years to go until the event, one has to
wonder, will Auckland 2021 actually go ahead as planned?
And if it does, will it be a complete farce, with two or
three teams on the startline,
and possibly even dangerous,
with those few teams that
are there far from acquainted
with the boat beneath them?
The jump up from an AC35 to
a fully crewed 75ft version is
not going to be simple, even
for these sailors. Perhaps
Grant Dalton’s grand plan is
a plan too far and he should
have swallowed his pride and stuck to the Bermuda
boats and format, which were a complete wow.
Stephen Leese, Poole
Editor replies: see Bob Fisher’s column for the latest
America’s Cup developments, on page 15.The May issue o ered advice on ‘how to beat the startline bully’. I
have found that to be the startline bully is the most e ective way.
No doubt the petals on twitbook will have their say about such
unredeeming qualities, but being nasty does get results.
Harry ‘Slim’ Noone, YorkLETTERS
Submit your letters to the editor at [email protected]
LETTER OF THE MONTH
I am inspired to respond to Andy Rice’s article in the May edition. Andy
comments that yachting need not be expensive and how we should all do
up an old boat. Well I did just that. In 2016, I bought a 12ft ga -rigged sailing
boat for £500 while on holiday in Cornwall. Little did I know the journey
that Penelope would lead me on, from learning restoration techniques at
a boatyard in Oxfordshire, to taking my RYA Day Skipper theory exams in- I returned to Cornwall to launch her in 2018, joining my local sailing
club and fi nally learning to sail this year, in Chichester harbour, where I had
always held a dream of having a boat. Many further adventures are planned!
Sue James, Oxfordshire
Why not have a broader category of boats for The Ocean
Race [July issue]? To have one class makes things media
friendly I suppose, but allowing a wider range of yachts
would encourage ‘amateur’ crews and bring things back to
the more Corinthian-crewed days of old. The Golden Globe
Race has shown that idea to be popular. Phil Lawrence’s
idea for two similar classes I see as only being confusing.
Simon Pointer, KentLaser derision
Andy Rice hits the nail on the head [July column].
The renaming of the Laser as the ILCA Dinghy
must rank alongside the most ludicrous corporate
decisions. Do the people behind this idea realise
they are the objects of global derision?
Stuart Penley, WeymouthLETTERS
Bully boy
Wood and pirates
Will the Cup happen?
Ocean racers
Nice to see some wooden boats in the current
[July] issue of Y&Y and my favourite sailing grounds
of the Broads. One of the things I enjoy about
the Broads is the mix of experience, from people
afl oat for the fi rst time to life-long boat owners.
The obligatory pirate hats and skipper’s caps
on the charter boats make things a little more
light-hearted than some places! You don’t see
many pirate charter crews around the Solent.
Peter Keane, NorwichOver the line
I enjoyed your report on Tom Kneen’s Sunrise [July issue]. It is good to
see fresh faces doing well in sailing and also comforting to know that
some other competitive crews out there don’t always get it right! Love
the story of their startline mishap – very good of Tom to share that!
Toby Smith, Edinburgh88 Yachts & Yachting August 2019 yachtsandyachting.co.uk