The Publisher
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Mar 18, 2010, 2:32 PM
Post #15 of 26
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Re: [The Publisher] Unbelievable Bertarelli
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Scuttlebutt 3052
From R. Casey Schnoor, Armchair Sniper:
The decision to publish or not your so called “Alinghi-bashing” rants is up to the Curmudgeon, or any other publication.
However, in my opinion, whether you personally have heard of the bash authors or not is completely irrelevant, and I find your position to be very condescending. AS the Editor of Seahorse, do you have the same opinion regarding the readers of and letter writers to your publication? Are their opinions only relevant if you happen to know their names? … or agree with their positions?
Further to your argument, I believe that whatever BMW Oracle or Alinghi did in AC32 or before the publishing of the AC33 Protocol can live on their own merits, good or bad, to be respected or not. Those efforts are not particularly relevant to the current discussion. What is extremely relevant is what Alinghi and Mr. Bertarelli commenced with that Protocol and the subsequent mismanagement and their disgraceful arguments to justify their flawed positions, all at the expense of the sailing community. This is the issue at hand and the focus of and reason for the well earned “Alinghi-bashing”.
Mr. Hurst, I am confident you don’t know my name, I have never personally participated in an America’s Cup race, I live in North America and I am a long time competitive sailor. But regardless of my personal sailing resume, my knowledge of the history of the America’s Cup or which continent I live on, I believe that as a sailor, I deserve to have an opinion and if I so choose, a voice regarding the stewardship of the America’s Cup. And so do all of the other voices that have been raised albeit mostly in protest of Mr. Bertarelli. As such, I applaud Scuttlebutt and all of the other publications that are keeping this discussion alive. Hopefully it will help to discourage the Mr. Bertarelli’s of the future.
So Mr. Hurst. To date, I have been quite comfortable in my armchair reading the comments and articles about Mr. Bertarelli and his foiled attempt to shanghai and despoil the America’s Cup, it’s tradition and it’s prestige. Further, I have been very happy to read about the evidence coming forth that further supports those criticisms of Mr. Bertarelli’s stewardship of the Cup. But now, more importantly, it was your Euro whining (you picked the continental fight) about the “bashing” and your back door support of Mr. Bertarelli that rose me for the first time from my armchair to my keyboard for this “rant”. And, because of you, I have no intent to “return whence I came”. Sadly, the motivation to do so came from my displeasure with the editor of a prestigious publication I have long respected and appreciated.
My sincere hope is that Mr. Bertarelli, Brad and the boys move on to Formula One car racing and the coverage of their exploits are limited solely to Seahorse.
From Bennet Greenwald:
As a confirmed Alinghi basher, and as one who used to subscribe to Andrew Hurst’s magazine, I am accustomed to his mad cheerleading for any weird thing as long as it is done by, or in the name of, lots of paid sailors. Nonetheless, I apologize to Hurst since those unwashed by his marvelous light must never, never have an opinion. What follows are humble suggestions about thinking before writing.
It may be useful to remember that the Black Magic and the first Alinghi wins were first executed by one Coutts who put certain protocols in place. The same fellow also engineered the BMW Oracle win after Ernesto (he must be a genius - he’s rich) fired Coutts. It may also be useful to remember that Alinghi tried to stack the deck - got caught - got continuously smacked by the courts and then on the water by a team led by that same Coutts. Might indicate something about Alinghi’s thought process, and management skills, as well as about Coutts.
Finally, as one who occasionally gets on the line with a bunch of no account unknowns, I would also opine that the event was sailboat racing. Until the professionals show us some magic answers, it is still just time on the water and, at some marks, even an amateur will be ahead - that is unless you are Ernesto trying to hang on to the cat. That’s why we do it, and why we watch it Andrew.
From Hugo van Kretschmar, Sydney, Australia:
Good on you Andrew Hurst for reminding the “good ole USA” that the rest of the world may not always see things quite the way they do. Some of us on the other sides of the world remain skeptical (but ever hopeful) that Larry Ellison & Co will actually practice what they have preached.
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