Similar to sailing in the olympics: Everyone has the same model boat.

Not like the America's cup boat race where you need a huge R&D budget to design a boat. Then someone shows up with a catamaran with a wing sail and they have to regiger the rules again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_at_the_2012_Summer_Oly...

Can you explain more about the America's Cup? The linked article didn't really help me understand what the catamaran-with-wing-sail did...

The Americas cup had rules about boat configuration. So technology started driving the race. There was in the 1980s the australians showed up with a secret weapon the "winged keel" on the boat "Australia II". It helped a lot and raised the game for yachting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_keel

1988 rolls around, and a New Zeland team is trying for the cup. Giant boat. US shows up in a catamaran. Catamarans are just faster.. The boats don't even seem like they should race. http://www.yachtphoto.com/data/photos/176_1r1988_02.jpg

Lawsuits about the boat rules after the race was over. The rules didn't say anything about having 2 hulls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_America%27s_Cup

http://archive.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/08/0212a/

Now americas cup is all about catamarans that seems to have. http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/A...

Your comment was very interesting, thank you. Allow me to vent my spleen on a different topic for a sec.

> Now americas cup is all about catamarans that seems to have. http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/A...

God it pisses me off that Oracle has enough money to blow sponsoring shit like this while simultaneously working to destroy the software development industry. "We've got enough money to buy useful technologies and run them into the ground, and to run lawsuits that are incredibly harmful to the software industry for decades, and enough left over on the side to race expensive boats for fun." Fuck you, Oracle.

Thanks!