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Brides to Be Upstaged by Bridesmaids?

You want exciting racing people can relate to? The Wanderer suggests big boats such as the 180-ft schooner Elena of London, built to a design from 1910, with lots of sails, lots of crew, and endless brightwork. 

latitude/Richard
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

By the time the 35th America’s Cup Finals, June 24 to June 27, are concluded, the Wanderer predicts that the Cup will have been diminished even more. Not because of ridiculous legal wrangling that besmirched everything leading up to the fantastic Cup Finals in San Francisco, but because the 15-meter foiling cats, the ‘brides’ as it were, are going to be overshadowed by the ‘bridesmaids’. Any wedding planner will tell you that’s not a good thing.

The Wanderer thinks Russell Coutts and company will come to rue the day they decided to invite the superyachts to their America’s Cup party for a Superyacht Regatta June 13-15, and the J Class boats to have a regatta June 16-20.

The J Boats, two of which formerly raced in the America’s Cup, are spectacular. The 15-meter foiling cats, on the other hand, will be tossed aside after this year’s Cup is over. 

© J Class Association

The superyacht event is between the end of the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals and the start of the America’s Cup Finals, while the J Class Regatta is in the three days between the 3rd and 4th races of the Cup Finals on June 18, and the 5th and 6th races on June 24.

There are just six teams that will be vying for the America’s Cup, five Challengers and the Defender from the Golden Gate YC, Oracle Team US. They’ll be sailing in just under 50-ft foiling catamarans capable of nearly 50 knots, an experience that almost no other sailors can relate to.

The boom on the 196-ft Perini-Navi Perseus is larger than the hulls of the America’s Cup cats.

latitude/Richard
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

The entry list isn’t yet complete for the Superyacht Regatta, but so far there are 19 boats that have indicated they’ll be racing. We suspect there may be many more, hopefully including the likes of the 218-ft Adix.

Among the current entries are the 196-ft Perini Navi Perseus, which carries the largest spinnaker in the world; the 182-ft schooner Adela, which dates back to 1903; the 170-ft Royal Huisman schooner Meteor; the 158-ft Frers sloop Hyperion; the 144-ft R/P sloop Visione; and the 138-ft Frers ketch Rebecca. In addition, at least six J Class yachts, about 135-ft, which will be later racing in their own regatta, are expected to compete.

The problem is that the ‘brides’ are, by comparison, tiny techno machines that only nerds and engineers will find it easy to love. They don’t have an iota of the style, soul or romance of the superyachts or the Js.

We’ve seen almost all the superyachts and J Class yachts race numerous times in the St. Barth Bucket, and often from vantage points less than 150 feet away. They are so spectacular they take your breath away. Even more impressive, they take your breath away when they’re just tied up to the dock, too. They don’t have the speed of the cats, but they’ve got the gravitas.

Classic yachts, the style of which the Wanderer thinks would repopularize the America’s Cup, seen racing recently during the Antigua Classic Regatta. Eros is at the far right. The 218-ft Adix is at the far left. 

© Tim Wright

By the time the 35th America’s Cup is history, the Wanderer thinks that most people will have found the superyachts and J Class boats to be far more lovable and compelling.

What do you think? Is the Wanderer crazy?

By the way, if you’re interested in seeing some of the action in Bermuda late this month through almost the end of next month from the decks of a big California-based schooner, Marina del Rey’s Cameron Riddell has some openings on his 110-ft Eros. The great schooner was formerly owned and completely rebuilt by Bill and Grace Bodle of Richmond. She’s a beauty. Even if you don’t want to charter her, check out the video at www.sy-eros.com. 

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