© Paul Darling

Team New Zealand and Alinghi teammates (left to right) Murray Jones, Simon Daubney, Dean Phipps, and Warwick Fleury were honored at the America’s Cup Hall of Fame Induction presented by Rolex Watch USA. Also inducted into the hall were Mike Drummond and Halsey Herrshoff.

What would the Pro Football Hall of Fame be if it only included on its list of honorees quarterbacks, coaches, and general managers? Woefully incomplete is probably a good place to start.

The America’s Cup Hall of Fame was suffering from a similar problem, having filled its walls over the years with skippers, tacticians, designers and campaign managers while all but ignoring the draft horses that make sure the skilled laborers in the back of the boat can look as smart and talented as they do when winning a Cup race.

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Russell Coutts mentioned more than once last Monday that the BMW Oracle Racing's revolutionary changes for the America's Cup (see here and here) would inspire syndicates not previously involved with the Cup to challenge. Well, an email that arrived at Sailing World world headquarters this morning backs up that claim.

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Here's the press release from the Golden Gate YC:

America’s Cup transformed by radical changes

New class of boat and annual series of racing among introductions 

The latest press release from BMW Oracle Racing regarding the upcoming TV trials in Valencia, Spain. The presence of longtime Alinghi strategist Murray Jones is interesting. Jones, like Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury, and Dean Phipps, was a part of Russell Coutts inner circle when he and Ernesto Bertarelli build Alinghi in the 2000 and 2001. Like many Alinghi employees, he's probably looking for his next job. In addition to his skills as a sailor, he's also a top-shelf mast designer.