For myself who spent my first 40 years off shore and one design racing, these races are boring and the boats are ugly as sin. There are some beautiful spectator sailing yachts to compare just off the course. And the error rate by the crews is stupidly high for 100 million $ yachts [USA was a joke, but for me I love to see NYYC waste money embarrassing themselves], finally evidenced by Italy - congrats to crew Britannia which were largely error free. They at least were good enough to slam tack and engage, almost impossible at these speeds.
The speed and maneuverability of these boats is impressive. But I do miss the 12 meters. While 'slow' they were fantastic to watch when the winds were good. The tactics were way more involved than these new boats, and the crew aspects much more exciting with the multiple sail changes and crew hopping all over the boat. The final duel between AusII and Liberty is still fresh in my mind (>50 tacks in a single leg). Give me guys pulling ropes and grinding wheels vs some stationary bikers and a captain pushing buttons.
