Right now San Francisco is hosting the America's Cup races in the San Francisco Bay.
It is incredibly exciting and much loved by the nearly 100,000 daily spectators. The race is between the defending American Oracle team and the New Zealand team. The boats are 72 feet high and travel at speeds in the mid-40 to 50 mph on downwind and 30 to 35 mph when tacking into the wind. The wind is usually under 20 mph.
The reason I talk about ideological sailors is their misery. I talked to a Lefty sailor and got the following very typical explanation for why she is not following this exciting race.
'The race is really just for rich people who can own a $10 million boat and sail it. The boats are plastered with advertising and are so high tech that they have no connection to sailing.'
Frankly I don't care what the Lefties think. This is a standard opinion in San Francisco. It has not kept the tens of thousands of people who are not Lefties, including myself, from enjoying this wonderful and thrilling sailing event.
I only wish to point out the failure of the Lefty logic for the pleasure it gives me. (Schadenfreude.)
All major sports involved vast amounts of money. Buy yourself a football team or a baseball team or basketball team or any other competitive sport team. They all cost more than a boat in the America's Cup. Sports is a world dominated by advertising. Just picture a standard auto race and the advertising on it and in it. Or even a golfer with advertising on his shirt and cap.
The interesting fact of the matter is that the New Zealand boat is financed mostly by a New Zealand tourist promotion group. No rich individual. They have other donors and they have been able to enter thr race because they have plenty of advertising that they sell. Think of them as the Greenbay Packers of sailing.
As for high tech catamarans with semi rigid mainsails; it is only one component of sailing. The wind and tides are still the dominant issue.
Downwind racing involves very dangerous gybes... just as dangerous for these giant boats as they were on my Columbia 29. The one I raced when I was in my 30s. I lost equipment from my boat in every race I was in. It was pure technological stress on the sail boat.
Tacking on the way upwind involves exactly the same strategic considerations of right-of-way and close passage that every other sailboat race deals with. It just happens in the America's Cup at a faster pace and a more dangerous environment.
You can look at the races on YouTube and see how exciting they are. If you wish you can feel sorry for Lefty ideologues. I do a little since so many of my friends and relatives are Lefties.