An ocean water course on the sea

It’s meant be an ocean race.

Nobody can possibly be in any doubt about the prescription of the Deed of Gift, the venerable document governing this one-on-one challenge for America’s Cup 33.

Nobody can possibly have any misunderstanding over the intentions of deed author George L. Schuyler of the New York Yacht Club or the clarity of court decisions that have validated the Deed of Gift, time after time after time.

Yesterday, the waters off Valencia behaved like an ocean course in February in the Northern Hemisphere. Waters were at first OK over the first few miles of the 20-mile leg, then got nasty, and nastier still, apparently.

Just like the ocean.

Unfortunately, the two vessels competing for AC33 – the Swiss defender’s Alinghi 5 and the U.S. challenger BMWOracle Racing’s USA – do not appear to be designed for ocean courses.

Unfazed by stiff breezes over the race course America’s Cup Race Officer Harold Bennett (NZL) clearly got the wind up over something.

The boats? Well, Mr. Bennett doesn’t seem to know much about them. “These are different boats from what we have been used to,” he told interviewers. “And the understanding of them is still a learning curve. Conditions like today? That is interesting. I am not sure they would have done too well with it.”

Not sure? Maybe it was the wind after all. “I would have not had a problem with the wind conditions. We were looking at 17-18 knots, I wouldn’t have had a problem with that.”

Wouldn’t have had? Wouldn’t have had what? A very curious use of tense by Mr. Bennett.

So, if it wasn’t the wind, maybe it was the swell, observed by one of the racing teams at around four feet? In Mr. Bennett’s view, it was “pretty rugged.”

We respect any decision made to protect sailors, absolutely. Everyone does.

But what else are we protecting here?

Boats that aren’t designed and built for the course they must sail over?

One boat in particular that can’t handle ocean conditions?

One team in particular that is afraid of any ocean state over three feet?

If design parameters for one – or both – these vessels are preventing them from competing on an ocean course that behaves like an ocean course, maybe this isn’t the America’s Cup.

Maybe it’s lake racing.

Like they have on Lake Geneva.