Well, the fat lady has sung, and the Swiss Alinghi are taking the America's Cup to Europe for the first time in the history of the event. The sweep of Alinghi over Team New Zealand (5-0) ended with a decisive final victory (delta of 45 seconds) over the home team, who once again experienced gear failures. After the disastrous first race, when New Zealand had to pull out of the race because of a broken boom, followed by a broken mast on the fourth race, forcing them to pull out of that race, one had to wonder what possibly could go wrong for the young New Zealanders who were desperately trying to keep the Cup "down under." But the fifth and last race brought more trouble when the spinnaker pole snapped on the second downwind leg, allowing Alinghi to increase their lead, which they held from the start of the race. With this final win, the two native New Zealanders, Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth have made history. This is the first time ever that the Challenger has won the Cup on its initial attempt. Other records have been made. Alinghi finished the America's Cup season with a 31-4 overall record, with an on-the-water record of 30-3. Coutts becomes the all-time winning skipper in the America's Cup Match, having won 14 races with no defeats, breaking Dennis Conner's record of 13 America's Cup race victories. He also tied Charlie Barr and Harold Vanderbilt record of three consecutive Cup wins. While Coutts has won 14 consecutive races, some of his teammates have won even more. Butterworth (tactician), Murray Jones (traveller, wind spotter), Warwick Fleury (mainsheet), Simon Daubney (genoas) and Dean Phipps (bow) all have won 15 races. They're all former Team New Zealand crewmembers. One can only imagine how the New Zealand team must have felt to see the Commodore of the Royal New Zealand YC hand Coutts et al the Cup, and watch him raise it over his head in jubilant victory.

So now the Cup goes to Switzerland, the land of skiing and chocolate. Commodore Pierre-Yves Frimenich, from the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) received a formal challenge for the next Cup from the Golden Gate YC (GGYC) of San Francisco. This is the yacht club that backed Larry Ellison's Oracle BMW Racing Team and who is officially now the "Challenger of Record" for the next America's Cup. The Challenger of Record negotiates the rules for the next event with the Defender, representing the interests of all eventual challengers. With Larry Ellison from the GGYC and Ernesto Bertarelli from SNG, planning the next event, the 32nd America's Cup should be very interesting, for both men have expressed a desire to modernize the Cup. It has been said, "When you hold the America's Cup, you make the rules." Now that it's Bertarelli's game, the "talking heads" will have a lot of time to debate the nuances of Cup protocol. Many believe that Bertarelli will "professionalize" the Cup, make it better organized and more appealing to commercial sponsors, television and the public. Russell Coutts in an interview with The Telegraph, UK said, "Simply put, the America's Cup racing has got to be geared toward television." Referring to the nine days of cancelled races, Coutts continued, "The lack of racing is terrible for the fans and for the event. The Race Committee ... think of the audience first and the competitors second". There is also talk of having one organization run both the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series and the America's Cup. While this makes sense from a commercial standpoint, it may prove interesting to have a challenger series run by the defender. And the nationality rule will most likely change, allowing anyone to sail or work on the design or building team for any challenger or defender without establishing residency in the nation represented, as is currently required. But this year's America's Cup was already a melting pot of sorts. Alinghi had only one Swiss on board and that was Ernesto Bertarelli, the owner. Oracle BMW had only six Americans among its 16 crewmembers, and OneWorld had only two U.S. citizens. Between these two "American" boats, there were 14 Kiwis, seven Australians, two Japanese and one Italian. The only all-American boat was Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes. So a change in the nationality rule won't feel like much of a change at all.

Many ports and coastal towns are bidding for the privilege of hosting the 32nd America's Cup. The short list of possibilities include Cowes (Great Britain); the French ports of Lorient, Sete, Marseille, Toulon and Saint Tropez; the Italian ports of Savona, Venezia, Livorno, Punta Elba, Elba, Naples, Trieste, Port Cervo and Cagliari; the Spanish ports of Palma, Barcelona and Valencia, and in Portugal, Cascais. Rumor has it that Cascais, located on the Lisbon coast in Portugal is the front-runner, due to its optimal sailing conditions and is low cost of living as compared to high profile places such as Barcelona and Marseille.

Now that the sailing season is getting near - hard to believe when the temperature outside is 20 degrees, and the frostbiters have not sailed for who knows how long - thoughts turn to getting ready for the spring and the inevitable day when one's boat is launched for the season. Sailors may be interested in the booklet published by the United States Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Transportation: "Federal Requirements and Safety Tips for Recreational Boats." It's a small pamphlet, only 50 pages and is packed with good information that all sailors should know, including boat registration, equipment requirements, law enforcement, operating procedures (navigation rules and charts) and safety and survival tips. Sailors are encouraged to BE SAFE: know your Boat, the Equipment on the boat, the Safety devises and wear PFDs, about Alcohol and other distress stressors, about First aid and emergency procedures, and the Environment, area and weather. For more information, call 1-800-368-5647 or visit www.uscgboating.org.

The Annual Meeting and Award Ceremony for the Thirsty Thursday group will take place on Thursday evening, March 20 @ 8 p.m. @ KYC. All those involved in the 2002 season and those who are planning to join this fun group of sailors this summer are encouraged to attend.