Crusty Old Barnacles

Herb McCormick, Cruising World editor and former New York Times boating writer, and Angus Phillips, outdoor writer for the Washington Post, recently published dismal diatribes (our with-it SA readers would call them "rants") longing for the "good old days" of the America's Cup - the 1970s and 1980s - and whining about Larry and Ernesto messing up the AC by modernizing it.

Talk about "how the more things change, the more they stay the same." When Herbacious and Anguish were pups, the then old-goat Cup writers like Bavier and Robinson were ranting about Dennis Conner messing up the Cup and "professionalizing" it by, heaven forbid, testing and training the summer before the Match! For most writers of that era, the J-Boats of the 1930s were the "golden age."

Laughably, Herb and his copycat Angus have not attended even one of the new "Acts" they so heavily criticize. We don't like the word "Act" either, but by all accounts the competition since Act 1 in Marseille last year has been first-rate, even if the TV coverage has not been. But you have to walk before you run, and by 2007 we think the AC circus will be far bigger, better, closer and more interesting than ever.

On the flip side, Bruno Trouble's well-publicized and glowing defense of the modernized Cup was no doubt a bit biased - after all his big client is Louis Vuitton, the Cup's first-ever overall sponsor. But in our view, Mr Trouble (that's "trew-BLAY" not "trouble" that rhymes with bubble) was in the groove. Ernesto and Larry HAVE breathed fresh air and new life into the Cup: a record ten countries are participating including first-timers Germany, China and the popular South Africans; a moveable feast of pre-regattas that are turning out to be more competitive, and meaningful, than most of us normally-cynical SA types imagined possible; more sailors making more money; more racing than ever with a class rule that keeps it close; and plenty of media attention, fun and entertainment a FULL TWO YEARS before the next Match.

We think it was great that Herb and Angus wrote those pieces...and got pounded in return. Unwittingly, they disproved their own points - their rants drew even more attention and praise for the newly modernized Cup, and helped propel the updated AC ship forward while clinging to it from below like crusty old barnacles.

09/14/05