Four and a half hours of television

The third race of the 32nd America’s Cup proved one thing – a yacht race television show can be riveting. Tight start, huge leads, major splits, 3 passes, a horrid leeward mark rounding – all in minimum winds - and a final winner that wasn’t known until mere boat lengths from the finish. This race set many records, but think about it… this was 4 ½ hours of great television.

Watching Versus, they even seem to be getting some recognizable companies to retain ad space. Commercials from UBS and Troy Sears/ Next Level Sailing are now among those from Mobil, Harley Davidson, Captain Morgan Rum, Pacific Life Insurance, Motel 6, Nissan, Tanqueray gin, Hennessy Cognac, Travel Texas, and Edward Jones Investments.

Don’t criticize the commercials… celebrate the recognition that these companies are giving the event. There are times when Versus goes to commercial and misses events on the racecourse. There are no time outs in sailing. The producer rolls the dice and sometimes they are wrong, but televising the America’s Cup is an expensive event to cover and they have to pay for it. Within the body of the race they need to get in 10 commercials. When the race length is about 90 minutes, it means they need to get a commercial in approximately every 9 minutes.

Versus is now providing replays of vital action missed during the commercial breaks. It’s all good. Heck, I still can’t believe I watched 4 ½ hours of television today. The wind wasn’t nuking, the boats weren’t being launched off waves, masts weren’t breaking… and still it was great to watch.