America's Cup Race 3 - The Kiwis triumph in the end!

So I got the privilege (maybe) of watching this race from a spectator boat up close and personal on the water next to the race course.

Our boat left the dock at 12:30pm, was going to go out, sail around a bit, serve us lunch and then allow us a front row seat at the start, the 3rd mark and the finish of the race. This is all in theory of course...

We boarded the boat and it left shortly after 12:30. Dad and I found a spot near the back of the boat and we enjoyed the views of the harbor as we motored out into the Mediterranean, where the racing was to be held. As soon as we cleared the harbor, we were treated with 6-10 foot swells. At this point, I began to feel a little motion sick so I had a coke. After about 5 minutes, I didn't feel any better so I took some medicine to stop my stomach from arguing with my inner ear. When the chop didn't subside any and I kept feeling worse, I put on a seasick band that sent a pulse of electricity through my middle two fingers on my right hand. I also took a spot in the exact middle of the Catamaran so that the rocking would be minimized.

There I sat for the next 6 hours while the race was postponed from 3pm to 5pm. What I did see was some good racing though...

New Zealand got the early lead, stretching it out to over 400m at one point over Alinghi on the first leg. They then rounded the first mark and again smoked Alinghi on the downwind leg. Rounding the second mark, NZ botched their sail change, getting their spinnaker caught in the jib clue while taking it down. This cost them some valuable time, allowing Alinghi to catch and pass them on the upwind leg 3. The last leg was a shootout between TNZ and Alinghi to see who could get to the finish first, both teams taking a different path. Due to wind shifts and other factors (NZ Rules!) they were able to pass Alinghi at the last moment. It was as an exciting race as I could muster from my one spot near the center of the boat, but I was glad that I was able to see a race from the water.

One of the other cool things was the jockeying for position that the spectator boats did to get a front row seat at the start/finish. With multi billions of dollars of boats lined up, all trying for a front spot, it's amazing there was no carnage. Occasionally, one boat would be spit out formation to avoid colliding with other boats and the first mate on our boat did have a heated exchange with the crew of a multi-million dollar yacht, but for the most part, it was uneventful.