Take It Back

The exact arrangements for the next America's Cup match are still somewhat vague but the recent decisions by the New York courts seem to have cleared much of the smoke. This much is clear...

1. The match will be between Alinghi and BMW Oracle.
   
   
2. It will be in 90 foot multihulls.
   
   
3. Unless Alinghi can negotiate an alternative date with BMW Oracle (or persuade the court to name an alternative date) the match will take place this year, probably in October.
   

So as I enthusiastically anticipated a few months ago, it will be a Deed of Gift match between two monster multihulls. Will there be much public interest in the event? Will an American audience be able to muster much patriotic fervor to support a multinational team sponsored by a German car company? How will it score in TV ratings (assuming there is any coverage in the US) coming as it does in the final weeks of what is bound to be an historic presidential election?

Most importantly of all, is this the best chance since they lost the cup (and the saucer too) in 1995 for America to "take it back".

Open season on the open seas and
Captain says no prisoners please
Skull and crossbones on a background of black
We ain't stealin' we're just takin' back

We ain't stealin' we're just takin' back
Very simple plan of attack
It's our job and a labor of love
Take it home to the up above
We ain't stealin' we're just takin' back
Very simple statement of fact
Call it pillage or call it plunder
We're takin' it back from them boys down under

Hit us hard, took our treasure
That was the worst thing they could do
It will be our great pleasure
To take it back from that Captain Kangaroo

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of suds
It's a pirates fight we choose
No we don't want a bucket of blood
Just a cup is all we could use
Just a cup

The sails are up and the bets are down
Let's lighten up this harbor town
By hook or crook or new design
We're streakin' for that finish line

We ain't stealin' we're just takin' back
Very simple plan of attack
It's our job and a labor of love
Take it home to the up above
We ain't stealin' we're just takin' back
Very simple statement of fact
Call it pillage or call it plunder
We're takin' it back from them boys down under


We ask ourselves when we get in a fix
What would Popeye do in a tight spot like this
He'd race for his true love and easily win it
In an old spinach can with a mast stuck in it

Lift us up, take us high
Time to let our spirits fly
Lift us up, take us high
Let us sail until we die

Lift us up, take us high
Let us float above the foam
Let our sails fill the sky
We are takin' our sweet treasure home

Take it back
We're takin' it baaaaaaaack
Take it back!

Lyrics by : Jimmy Buffett, Matt Betton