sausage said..
Argh, very frustrating. Maybe tomorrow morning.
Ian K,
My limited understanding is that the defending team (more than likely ETNZ) for the 35th America's cup will decide what type of race format and therefore boat design. So hopefully they maintain the spectator quality and hold it in close confines of Auckland harbour. Afterthe ssuccess of this one I can't see them reverting back to holding racing way out to sea.
I agree, I think the best thing about this cup is the fact that it's so much better for the spectators. Fantastic race coverage, awesome venue, great course size/design and the result is the closest racing we've seen in the Americas cup for decades. Hopefully ETNZ wins and the cup heads back to the southern hemisphere, they have another great venue there in Auckland habour and could create a very similar atmosphere.
If they win i'm not sure how far they will tweak the rules, however I'm fairly certain after the success of the AC72 class surely the next cup would be held in something similar. Maybe slightly smaller to try and reduce the costs a bit more or rule changes to limit the use of certain materials etc etc. It would be great if there were more teams that could enter the LV cup but as it stands the costs are fairly prohibitive to anyone but tech billionaires.