Hopefully you had better things to do this weekend than watch pixilated sailing footage over the Internet. It was too beautiful a weekend to spend it indoors, at least in the Northeast. Unfortunately, I did just that, but such is life with two children under two, one of whom has yet to establish a consistent sleeping pattern.

© Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy

Terry Hutchinson (at helm) is helping bring Sweden's Artemis team into America's Cup contention.

1. You came all the way to Sardinia, and your Annapolis neighbor Gavin Brady hands you your first loss. That’s not so neighborly.
Yeah, we’re calling it the Battle of Route 2. We wanted the right, won the right, sailed into a 30-degree righty, and got locked out at the start. Then we blew up the kite on the first run. Not good, but it’s the best kind of learning experience you can have.

© Bob Grieser/outsideimages.co.nz/Louis Vuitton Trophy

SW's Angus Phillips rode along at 18th man for BMW Oracle's match against Team Origin during the round-robin portion of Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena.

Tony Soprano once said the world’s most pathetic game is “Remember When.” So Tony, forgive this little rant. But remember when America’s Cup races had seven-mile upwind and downwind legs? Here at Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena in Sardinia, Italy, Cup boats run whole races that are less than five miles.
 
As 18th man with BMW Oracle today, I felt more like a customer at a carnival ride than a guest enjoying yacht racing at its pinnacle. Poor James Spithill made one little error at the start against Team Origin and it was race over, too soon, too soon.

1. You’re one of the directors of the new World Sailing Teams Association, representing British Team Origin on the board.  What exactly is WSTA trying to do?
We have two roles. One is to organize Louis Vuitton Trophy events like the one here in La Maddalena  for WSTA members teams to race in. The other is to represent America’s Cup teams and potential teams in negotiations for the next Cup. We are, for example, preparing a joint submission to the defender on our ideas for the next Cup protocol, instead of each team putting in its individual ideas.”