Preliminary regatta now on TNT Sports. The new AC75 boats are insane 
Ever since they went from International 12m they have been insane, and they were bad enough.
We nearly got wiped out when Lionheart broached and was bearing down on us in the Solent many years ago.
The modern boats probably donāt even navigate those sort of waters and get towed out to the race area!
Fantastic effort by INEOS Brittania winning the Louis Vuitton Challenge Cup and for the first time in 60 years there will be a British Challenger in the Americas Cup!
Next up the Kiwis
I love watching it, but ffs as a sport its up there with dancing horses, polo and tobogganist in the list of sports poor folk donāt get to play.
At that level that is certainly true.
I certainly wasnāt a rich kid but learnt to sail dinghies on a local lake, met people through work who had small weekend boats sailing in the Solent and south coast, Met more people, started crewing bigger boats, spent weekends in the winter working for nothing doing maintenance on the boats, went cross channel racing etc, did my RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualifications, Got Dinghy instructor qualifications, worked abroad (France and Spain) as in Instructor,
While out there got my Power boat qualification (RYA Power Boat level 4)
Had an amazing few years, sailed all sorts of boats, got paid for it (not that well) and never owned a boat of any sort in my life.
It is true that the people I met whoād got into National and Olympic squads came from pretty well off families, To get that good (as in any sport) you need to start young and have the opportunities and connections.
Ben Ainslie for instance is from sailing aristocracy, his Dad was a skipper of Whitbread round the world racing yachts in the 70s, he went to public school, his sister is married to a former secretary general of the International Sailing Federation, so very well connected,
I knew people who raced against him as juniors and he was always supremely talented.
But you only have to listen to the accents of the British Olympic sailing team to know where they come from
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That really does sound a great lifestyle. Iād have loved to experience that. Donāt think many get paid well. I know a couple of guys who used to deliver yachts between the Med and Caribbean and crew superyachts. They didnāt make a lot of money.
Not sure āany sportā is accurate though it is trending that way. Some sports are a lot more exclusive than others. I think if everyone had a fair shot at the money sports the great and the good might get a bit of a shock.
But you only have to listen to the accents of the British Olympic sailing team to know where they come from.
As i said above, in a small pool of competitors its far easier to shine.
Apologiesā¦ I couldnāt be fcked trying to edit that properly anymoreā¦
If you can make sense of my point then fair play.
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I get what you are saying and it is true, I have always thought that everyone has a talent at something, but most people never get a chance to find out what it is,
You might be an amazing fencer but if you grow up on an inner city estate you will never find out.
Still true that the best at any sport start young!
100%
Shitshow for 99% of the population unless you are rich you donāt have options or far less options than people with money behind them do.
I donāt think thatās exclusive to sport. Seem to recall our coat maker on here saying none of skills that the old tailors had could be repeated as they started at six or seven rather than 18, 19,20 or even later as they do today.
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If you wondered what cyclists are doing on yachts, this is a great article
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The final race series starts today
Pish day 
Not cyclists, theyāre almost all rowers. Endurance Cyclists are too small and sprinters donāt have the endurance. Tough gig, chugging along at 350 watts then all of a sudden having to sustain 500w + for a bit
3-0 Not looking good 
Ainsley has been there before
GB record their first win making the score 4-1 to NZ.
NZ fell off the foils in light airs just before the start and were a leg behind before they got going again.
Cue NZ fans in the live comments saying it was all deliberate, NZ sandbagging to ensure racing goes into Saturday for extra sponsor money.
The reality is that the conditions were difficult, big seas and light airs and these boats are sailing on the edge.
GB rigged a slightly bigger sail plan than NZ and that could have been all the diiference
Another win by GB!
4-2 to NZ
Really close race, great start by GB after 8 legs they won by 7 secs (60 metres)
Well controlled by GB but closest race yet.
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NZ sandbagging tactics seemed to have worked!
Score now 6-2 to NZ
They need to win one more race and have ensured that Saturday sponsor lucrative racing money will be trousered!
Rita was properly fucked today . Thereās no coming back now. Kiwis are too good
Congrats to ETNZ for winning the Americas Cup for the third time.
A record in the modern era of the competition.
GB nailed the start of the last race but NZ were the faster boat at all points of sailing.
This comp is very similar to F1 in lots of ways, the boats are superficially the same (built to the same rules) but minor details make the difference.
Through the links with INNEOUS, Team GB were assisted by Mercedes F1 team in design etc, Maybe they should have got Adrian Newey instead!
NB Yacht racing may be the only sport where the goalposts are literally moved during the race.
The race committee move the leg/finish line distance and angle during the race as conditions change.