Comments on: America’s Cup

By: Sam Scott

Sam Scott — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:03:50 +0000

Sailing = okay. $100 million boats = what?!?

I remember an old joke from some stand-up comedian. When you have a ten-foot boat, you want a 15-foot boat. When you have a 15-foot boat, you want a 20-foot boat. And so on.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:50:15 +0000

I seem to have mis-stressed my venom. I certainly don’t have a problem with sailing, in and of itself. In fact, I would love the opportunity to go sailing someday — or at least ride on a sailboat. There’s just something romantic about a boat that moves without a motor. Maybe it’s the quieter nature of the locomotion.

The thing that I find absurd and irrelevant is the vast sums spent on such a pursuit. These boats, constructed of carbon composite, cost upwards of $100 million. I simply meant that the vast majority of people cannot relate to a pursuit like this. Sailing = okay. $100 million boats = what?!?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:17:43 +0000

To Sam’s statement, I would add more simply: sailors and wannabe sailors. Like me.

By: Sam Scott

Sam Scott — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:10:05 +0000

Dan, I’m nowhere near being a trust-fun child, of course, but I’ve appreciated sailing ever since I took a course in Key West.

It’s a beautiful hobby (or sport) full of intricate calculations as well as personal intuition as far as weather, speed, angles, and waves. One could say it’s a little mathematical.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:27:29 +0000

Does anyone care, even a little bit, about the America’s Cup? It’s a bunch of trust fund kids using their parents’ millions (or billions) to freaking sail? Is there anything, anything at all, less relevant to the average person than this?