Team Origin (GBR)

Originally posted by MRJP BUZZ 585 Wait for it, you will be targeted by the spelling and grammar police

 

I read that and thought exactly the same

GBR all the way :p

GBR are useually a good sailing nation so why arnt we as good at americas cup??

we're a great fleet racing nation and our match racing is on the rise, but we have work to do yet!

disagree that we don't have the design ability in big boats, Owen/Clarke [team] are world class in IMOCA, Irens is world class in Multihulls, we have great designers in IRC and One Design and we have world class facilities for tank testing, modelling etc... as for structural engineering, materials engineering and composite building ... why are so may top F1 teams located in UK?

... it's pulling this together and funding it that's been the stumbling block of the AC efforts GB has attempted to stage over the last 30+ years.

What Origin need to do is pull together the facilities, once our top design/engineering/sailing talent sees there is a real base for success then they'll flock to the cause but without it?  can't see top GB sailors climbing over each other to get to an empty shed on the IOW with a nice looking model of an AC yacht in and a bunch of "we hope to" statements on a website.

I'd argue that in the past GB challenges the search for funding took up too much time (and focus) of the top guys in the team, if they'd had more time to manage the program and tie together the hugely disparate fields of experts you need to compete at this level then we'd have done better.

The sailing itself isn't incidental, but the program must produce technology that has a positive pschycological effect on our sailors and the competitors (did Alinghi win the 1st time against NZ on the water or partly also on land??)


....course, I could just be waffling to get out of going back to work