Great weather for yachts.  For those of us too proletarian to own one, the next best thing was sitting on North Head and watching the big boys – in this case, BMW Oracle (US, skippered by Russell Coutts, a kiwi) vs Alinghi (Switzerland, current holder of the America’s Cup, skippered by Brad Butterworth, another kiwi). There was a pretty lengthy period of waiting for the wind to stump up (they won’t sail under 12 knots or over 16, according to the tanned expert carrying his water bottle & deck chair up the hill – which leaves a pretty exclusive window of racing weather), and the wee boat with the marker buoy seemed to move up and down the harbour a hell of a lot in that time, but given we had books and fizzy drinks, and had already had a quick dip at Narrow Neck, the wait was perfectly comfortable, and worth it in the long run.

Yachting doesn’t really have the reputation as a fast-paced spectator sport. However, North Head provided a surprisingly good view of the entire course, and a couple of spectators had brought their transistor radios so everyone could hear the (granted, necessary) commentary. This spectator appreciated far more the experience of watching the race in real life – in particular, at the closest end of the course, one could actually hear the boats creaking when they tacked. That’s kinda cool! Although the competition got quite tense a couple of times, the experience was pretty similar to watching something soothing, like a fire or a fishtank, except somewhat more grandiose.

One observation: it would appear that all the sniping about expat traitors is more restricted to talkback radio than actual yachting fans, if the cries of “go, Russell!” were anything to go by. Unfortunately for the Coutts fans, and despite a couple of promising-looking challenges, BMW Oracle was lagging most of the way, and Alinghi was the winner on the day.

A quick backgrounder: this match racing series was conceived to provide a bit of yachting entertainment for crew and fans, while ongoing legal wrangles hold up the next America’s Cup. The yachts are not the bleeding-edge technology that’s become the controversial highlight of recent America’s Cup challenges, but identical racing yachts, so races are won on the skill (and luck) of the crew. This also makes it difficult to tell the teams apart, from a distance (hence the necessity of commentary). Racing continues daily until February 15th, depending on conditions. You could visit the slightly-annoying Louis Vuitton Pacific Series website, but it’s probably easier to just skip to the detail at TVNZ.