Magic's lost as egos get in way

It all feels so long ago ... 1995 and Peter Blake and Russell Coutts astonish the sailing world to claim the America's Cup from the mighty Stars & Stripes.

Back then it was all Black Magic and red socks, and a sporting triumph for the minnows of New Zealand.

It seems that since those heady days lawyers have taken over the helm from yachtsmen and, again, this year the challenger series - the Louis Vuitton Cup - is becalmed as the action switches to judges' tribunals rather than the seas off San Francisco.

Is it just the rose-tinted glow of nostalgia that suggests the Blake era was about skill, tenacity and courage and nowadays the sailing circus is all about money, ego and acrimony?

In fact, the America's Cup has landed in court plenty of times before. The New Zealand challenge of 1988 went to the New York Supreme Court twice (the second time it awarded the cup to NZ, only for the decision to be overturned and the coveted prize ending back in the hands of Dennis Conner and the San Diego Yacht Club).

Yachting has always been about big toys for big boys - the sport of a privileged elite. But somehow Blake, Coutts & Co broadened the appeal and made it mean something to the ordinary Kiwi boatie.

Now sailing nous is swamped by computerised design and rule-bending, with a crew of legal eagles ready to step in if some rich kid spits the dummy.

This week's Louis Vuitton Cup opened with New Zealand gliding round the course unopposed; their rivals Luna Rossa being a no-show.

They may turn up after the international jury has ruled on their protest (and Team NZ has lodged a protest, too). But who really cares any more?