De Profundis

Win or lose at conclusion it can now be said that the America’s Cup racing and the performance of Emirates Team New Zealand are nothing short of sublime. The first seven races have made for riveting viewing and been great fun to watch, if a little anxiously at times. It would be churlish, I think, to be critical of the regatta. However, some are. And that’s not unexpected. The hoary old criticisms of the America’s Cup being a rich man’s sport and disgraceful use of taxpayers’ funds are again being trotted out. To me, that’s fine. People are allowed their opinion and no doubt in their opinion they are heart-felt opinions. But they are not new nor are they profound. They have been around for every regatta in which Team New Zealand has competed. Is that a problem? Not really. To me it’s just annoying that these critics make these statements with a certain smugness that they are saying something profound. There is nothing profound about them.  In fact if this regatta is lacking anything it is just that…profundity. For example, Martin Tasker’s repeated (five times) exclamation in race two that “we have a boat race.” That, I would have thought self-evident. What I think he meant to say was that we had a real competition on the water. Which we had. But he didn’t. And then there are the equally evident “it’s early days yet” and “we have a long way to go.” I can’t argue that these statements aren’t intended to manage expectations or they aren’t accurate. But we all know that the regatta has a long way to go (less now) before Dean Barker can hold the Auld Mug aloft, so it is vaguely patronising to be told so…repeatedly. But none of this and none of the critics should or will tarnish what is an exciting event and time for New Zealand. And there is the crux of this Fryday. If you are going to moan and groan about The America’s Cup go for it. Just accept that there is a lot to enjoy, to celebrate and to be proud of what is going on here and in San Francisco.  And that is exactly what most of the rest of us are doing.