Gentlemen, Choose Your Weapons—The Race Conditions for the America’s Cup
It is probable that no competitor has entered the America's Cup competition without holding some expectation of winning, and a dominant factor in doing so is the equipment used. Yacht racing is an equipment sport, and except for a small minority of so-called one-designs, no serious observer considers the equipment to be equal for the various competitors. Because of the great variety of conditions under which races are conducted, and the statistically small samples used to select an America's Cup winner, the variation in equipment takes on supreme importance. Indeed, the competition has sometimes been won2 before the preparatory gun for the first race; thoughtful equipment choices made the racing itself a sail-over. On the other hand, public opinion seems to eschew a mismatch. A paradox seems to exist in that part of the competition is understood and agreed to involve the "contest before the contest"—placing oneself at advantage by means of clever equipment choices—while at the same time observers claim to want a fair race series, which directly contradicts the acceptance of equipment advantage. In short, the public wants a victory but not a rout. In light of recent controversy regarding equipment rules in the 1983, 1987 and recently in the 1988 series, the paper recounts the historical context of equipment choices to assist in the understanding of an apparently chaotic situation.