I preferred the 12's off Freemantle. This is more like Pro drag racing. leave on them (win the start), hook the tires (get foiling), don't spin the tires downtrack (fall off the foils), win the race. These races are being decided at the start line and the first tack off the line unless something breaks or a major boat handling error occurs. Thin F1, rare to see a pass. I'm not impressed.
I watched the races last night, then today went back and watched a YouTube replay of the Fremantle cup to compare. To be fair, in the 4 Fremantle races I saw exactly one lead change (from one length behind at the first cross to ahead at the second cross). For the most part the starts were even, followed by Stars & Stripes walking away with little contest. Last night, even as uncompetitive as American Magic was, I saw twice as many lead changes as in the entire 87 cup match. With the 12’s once a boat was ahead by anywhere near a minute the race was out of hand, barring mechanical failure or serious error. Why stay tuned in at that point except just to see the sailing - the competition is largely over. Now even being 5:00 behind can be overcome in half a leg. If nothing else that helps keep engagement in hopes or fears of a big swing.
I don’t see how the Cup will turn back the clock away from foiling. When the first Cup catamarans foiled people said it wasn’t relatable for real sailors, and that the technology would never trickle down or apply to anything other than expensive Cup boats on flat water. 7 years later we have foils on everything from dinghies to around the world racers. A big part of America’s Cup history is purpose-built boats that are as fast as money can design - that’s not new; and excluding what is now a pretty common piece of technology would be pretty inconsistent with that spirit.
Having said all that, yeah I had a better time re-watching the 12’s in their tacking duels and spinnaker work than watching the AC75’s look for a puff to climb back up to the foils.
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