INSIDE THE PADDOCK - I Aug 22, 13:03
As with Act 1 in Marseille last year, here in Malmoe all the teams are lined up side by side in a Formula One-style paddock. Much has been written, and photos published, elsewhere so I will not belabor the point. Suffice to say, the atmosphere is much more relaxed, neighborly and in a word -- enjoyable.
We all have friends and former teammates on most if not all of the other teams, and here we see many of them each day. In VLC, working behind the walls of our individual bases and with our homes spread all over greater Valencia, we rarely see anyone from the other teams. But here is it different, and this is the way yacht racing, and the America's Cup, should be.
It was that way in Newport. The teams were clustered together on the cityfront wharves. There were not bases, per se, and it was much more open and communal. Then came the winged keel, skirts, and the walled-off, high-security bases in Freo (87) and San Diego (88, 92 and 95) and Auckland (00 and 03). Same now in Valencia.
At least Alinghi and ourselves as Challenger of Record have reversed that trend with these AC road-show events. I for one would like to see future Cups venues set up more in the way of these paddocks we have had in Marseille and Malmoe, and less of the expensive, individual bases being constructed as we speak in VLC.
By a nose...we are at one end of the row of 12 yachts in the Malmoe paddock; Alinghi is at the other. Our immediate and colorful neighbor is Desafio Espanol (ESP). Next to them is Mascalzone Latino's firey red ITA-77 (fomerly Dennis Conner's USA-77, New York Yacht Club's 2003 challenger Stars & Stripes), then the black yachts of Victory Challenge (SWE) and K-Challenge (FRA) respectively..
We all have friends and former teammates on most if not all of the other teams, and here we see many of them each day. In VLC, working behind the walls of our individual bases and with our homes spread all over greater Valencia, we rarely see anyone from the other teams. But here is it different, and this is the way yacht racing, and the America's Cup, should be.
It was that way in Newport. The teams were clustered together on the cityfront wharves. There were not bases, per se, and it was much more open and communal. Then came the winged keel, skirts, and the walled-off, high-security bases in Freo (87) and San Diego (88, 92 and 95) and Auckland (00 and 03). Same now in Valencia.
At least Alinghi and ourselves as Challenger of Record have reversed that trend with these AC road-show events. I for one would like to see future Cups venues set up more in the way of these paddocks we have had in Marseille and Malmoe, and less of the expensive, individual bases being constructed as we speak in VLC.
By a nose...we are at one end of the row of 12 yachts in the Malmoe paddock; Alinghi is at the other. Our immediate and colorful neighbor is Desafio Espanol (ESP). Next to them is Mascalzone Latino's firey red ITA-77 (fomerly Dennis Conner's USA-77, New York Yacht Club's 2003 challenger Stars & Stripes), then the black yachts of Victory Challenge (SWE) and K-Challenge (FRA) respectively..
General | by TFE
