ACWS San Francisco

FROM OCTOBER BAY AND DELTA YACHTSMAN MAGAZINE

IMAGE COURTESY OF ORACLE RACING/ACEA

Our Dogs And Their Cats!

Other than the wildly passionate or infinitely curious, who else would want to turn out in droves to watch a “cat” race on the sparkling emerald and turquoise waters of San Francisco Bay? Man’s best friend, of course! You can’t take Fido, Rex and Foo Foo to a Giants or 49ers game, or to the Indy 500 or the Super Bowl, but you can take your dog to watch the America’s Cup, and San Francisco is a dog lover’s city if there ever was one! The home team, Oracle Racing, is even building their new “Cat” in the Dogpatch neighborhood. I am pretty sure the prospect of a 145-foot high cat would probably scare the bee-gee-bees out of most of our beloved canines here in town. The America’s Cup “around the” World Series (ACWS) finally brought their show to our town after stops in Europe, Newport, RI, and San Diego. If crashes, capsizes, thrilling finishes and enthusiastic crowds of all ages are any measure of how this event will be received in San Francisco, then we’re in for a whole new level of excitement for the next year. The event here was an unequivocal success starting the moment the nearly 2-mile-long train filled with all the ACWS platforms, parts and pieces pulled into the rail yard in Central Basin; to every race day when Tom Ehman would fire up the crowd during his morning show; to the moment that Jimmy Spithill drove his boss Russell Coutts’ Oracle AC45 into the side of the race committee boat; and concluding with two unbelievable thrilling finishes on the final day. “Congratulations to the America’s Cup Event Authority and Race Management on this exciting moment for San Francisco and the America’s Cup team,” Mayor Ed Lee exclaimed. “This is just the beginning of more than a year of thrilling world-class sailing on our Bay, attracting millions of visitors, generating thousands of jobs and having a dramatic economic impact on the Bay Area.” With crowds estimated at more than 150,000 for the event, “highlighted” by more than 40,000 people + dogs on the final day, in addition to hundreds of spectator boats on the Bay under the vigilant watch of the Coast Guard, plus a national TV audience, the results couldn’t have been more satisfying for race and city officials. “The response from the public exceeded our expectations,” said Stephen Barclay, CEO of the ACEA. “This was our first event in San Francisco and our first opportunity to get a taste of racing wingsail catamarans on the Bay. It was simply wonderful for everyone involved.” The excitement off shore was augmented by super-charged adrenaline on shore, as sponsor Red Bull gave the crowd “wings” of their own by handing out thousands of cans of their energy drink and then dropped their aerial display team over the massive crowd on the Marina Green. A concert by Dr. Dog was bolstered by not only those in attendance, but throngs of enthusiastic teenagers who traveled from all parts of the metropolitan area to go gaga over their favorite heartthrob songs for one last late summer respite before the start of school. The “Auld Mug” celebrated its 161st year of competition during the week. As to why it still attracts world-wide appeal, it is not only because of changes in sailing technology, but also “the huge personalities that were attracted to the event,” according to longtime America’s Cup sponsor Louis Vuitton’s Bruno Trouble. In the past, luminaries included Sir Thomas Lipton, J.P. Morgan, Walter Cronkite, Ted Turner and Dennis Conner. Next year the international spotlight will most certainly shine on the Bay Area as the best sailors and the fastest match racing boats on the planet will compete for the world’s oldest, continuous sporting event. The greatest spectacle in sailing now will bring in the best of the best, including four-time America’s Cup champion Coutts, Oracle USA skipper Spithill, five-time Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie from Great Britain, American Terry Hutchinson driving for Artemis Sweden, Dean Barker from Emirates Team New Zealand and Gold Medalist Nathan Outteridge at the helm of Team Korea. According to a recent announcement, 2012 Volvo Race winner Frank Cammas will join the Italian Luna Rossa Team as a sailing coach. If you think that the sailors onboard can’t hear the crowds cheering, think again! “It’s huge for us,” says Oracle’s Spithill. “The whole way it was amazing, you could hear all the people cheering and that is what makes it stadium sailing!” “The race course will certainly be more intense than we’ve seen before, and the consistent strong winds and current-driven chop will keep the competitors on their toes,” America’s Cup Regatta Director Iain Murray said. “We’ve already seen a few capsizes in training, but we know everyone will be on their game when the starting gun fires.” All week the racing was within an arm’s reach for everyone onshore as the crowds swarmed over the rocks on “Spit Point” on the jetty by the Golden Gate and St. Francis yacht clubs. They filled the grandstands, lawns, beer gardens and breakers on the Marina Green as well. Spectators could hear and cheer as their favorites zipped by at 20-plus knots with one or two hulls that were either pointed skyward or plunged down under into the depths of the Bay, only to pop up again to the crew’s relief as the multi-colored multi-hulls foiled their way on to the next set of gates. Calling Louis Vuitton The saying goes: “You can’t win the America’s Cup until you win the Louis Vuitton Cup first.” That is certainly true. 2013 will mark the 30th year that the prestigious French fashion house has been the primary corporate sponsor of the challenger trials. Louis Vuitton founded his company in 1854 and is credited for “profoundly changing the art of luggage making.” Their products are renowned for their high-end elegance and luxury. The man behind their efforts involving the America’s Cup is the charismatic Bruno Trouble. Trouble was a Flying Dutchman and Soling champion in his sailing days. He was the skipper on France in 1977 and then again on France 3 in 1980 and ’83. Two of the efforts for the America’s Cup were led by the Baron Marcel Bich (Bic Pens). Trouble was quite dismayed in 2007 with Alinghi’s self-serving protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup and withdrew Louis Vuitton as a corporate sponsor until the litigation was resolved and future direction of the event came to fruition. “We are pleased to see the move to catamarans; it is good for us,” Trouble said. “I may be a bit of a dinosaur and I have spent half of my life devoted to the Cup, but Russell Coutts has a great vision to adapt the event to the 21st Century. “The America’s Cup is becoming and needs to be a TV product and the reason we stayed was because of the technology,” said Trouble. “It has always attracted huge personalities to the event, but the future is not having rich people paying for it.” The legendary Peter Blake “was not a rich man nor was Dennis Conner,” continued Trouble. “The only corporate value is media and television coverage; it is less of a rich people’s event like it was back in Newport.” The impetus behind Trouble’s message implies that the America’s Cup cannot continue as a sustainable event into the future with just the involvement of billionaires like Larry Ellison. Trouble said, “We need to raise interest with countries that have no boats in the Cup this time around, like Japan, Germany, France, Spain. Sailing is travel, Louis Vuitton is travel.” Clearly, Ellison and Coutts are in agreement. The entire direction of this America’s Cup with the creation of an Event Authority and a Race Management was to give the event sustainability into the future. In order to attract more teams early on there was “discussion to have the event in AC45s so we could have 15 challengers,” Trouble continued. “But, we said no. We need to have it in big boats like Reliance in 1903. We knew that we would have at least five or six boats.” In hindsight, perhaps a wiser move would have been to go with an intermediate 60-foot catamaran, which still would have been extremely impressive. Trouble said it will be important to sit down at the conclusion of the 2013 America’s Cup and look to ways to increase the number of teams for the next time. Trouble says one of his greatest fears is there “would be no winner or finisher because both boats would crash or capsize.” That said, 72-foot catamarans “flying on foils” in the Bay will be exciting! Onboard And Off! One big attraction that separates the America’s Cup from other sports is the addition of an “extra” rider onboard during racing. It has become a great promotional tool for all the teams. During actual competition the extra “guest” is relegated to a silent spectator, but for lay days it is a lot of fun for both the crew and their new friend. “It’s pretty cool to be able to show other stars from other sports just how awesome these boats can be, especially on San Francisco Bay,” Spithill commented. “No one does it piggyback like us; it’s great to showcase our technology to them.” J.R. Hildebrand, the Indy Car star from Sausalito, was among the featured guests on the first official practice day. Hildebrand drives for Panther Racing’s National Guard Team, which has enjoyed ownership involvement from 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. Hildebrand almost stole the show as a rookie in the 2011 Indy 500 when he was leading going into the last corner until a slower race car drove him up onto the “marbles” and into the wall to come in second. “It’s obviously a whole different animal, but there are a lot of things that are similar to driving a race car,” Hildebrand said. “It was amazing how quick the boat gets going and how sensitive everything is. The five guys onboard all have a specific job and their communication is very streamlined. It was cool to really get in there and see it. I got a chance at the end to steer the boat and feel how quickly things change and how quickly the boat can switch direction – it gives you a whole new appreciation for how detail-oriented those guys are and how much they maneuver around on the boat. It’s very physical.” Most guests actually stay on the AC45 trampoline for the duration of their ride, but in an instantaneous moment this weekend one didn’t! Four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Johnson was onboard Coutts’ Oracle 5 for the finale Fleet Race when all of a sudden he wasn’t. “We were crossing over and just hit a big wave, and the next thing I know I was in the water,” Johnson said. “But, it was fun.” Johnson is one of the greatest sprinters of all time. Johnson was wearing a life jacket, of course, and went into the Bay for a quick dip before being hauled out by the team’s chase boat. “I just heard him yell out. I think he thought we would come back to get him, but there was no way we were turning back,” Coutts said. “You didn’t come back to get me!” joked Johnson. “It was great, it’s fast, it’s quick. The whole experience was amazing. I have new respect for sailors. The agility and movement that’s required while the boat’s moving around at the same time is amazing.” “It was awesome. It’s such a cool thing to be a part of,” Hildebrand said. “You don’t have to be going 200 mph to feel like you’re hauling ass. It was very cool. It’s a like-relationship, racing cars and racing boats. Everything’s very sensitive. How these guys work together to get right up against the other boats is really impressive. It gives me a lot of appreciation for what these guys do.” “I would like to hit up J.R. for a ride in his car,” said Spithill who is from Australia, as are Indy Car stars Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, who were in town for a race at Sears Point. “There is an appreciation of the technology between both sports.” Indy Car and the ACWS are in very similar spots as both sports are rolling out and attempting to market completely new designs this year. They also share NBC Sports as a broadcast partner. “We have taken our image of the past in our sport and completely changed it,” said Spithill. “People have no idea of the NASA-type construction that goes into the design features of these boats.” Morning Show One of the neat new features of these ACES events is the advent of a morning show featuring Tom Ehman, who is the Head of External Affairs for the ACEA. In recent years Ehman has become one of the America’s Cup trophy’s best friends and constant traveling companion. Ehman has been involved with different organizations within the America’s Cup and Formula One over the better part of the last 30 years. He was the Executive Director for the NYYC’s America 2 Syndicate for the 26th America’s Cup in Fremantle, WA. He then held the same post for Sail America as they organized Cup races in San Diego, CA. He has been relied upon as an expert witness for both rounds of the extensive litigation for the America’s Cup that took place in the New York Courts in 1989 and 2007. You would think that given his background that he would come off as a bit “wooden,” but actually he has found his gravitas in his role as emcee. The show is a lot of fun as it is usually the best chance to gaze upon the actual America’s Cup trophy itself. On race day mornings, while the support crew starts to warm up the gargantuan sound system and the crowd starts to drift toward the stage, Ehman is usually in good humor as he pokes fun at himself as well as the competition. Who would have thought? As he shows off the Cup’s brand new black stealth carbon fiber bottom, he remarks that one of the first things the GGYC did when they won the trophy in 2010 “was to take off that crappy wooden base that the SDYC put on it,” adding, of course, that he has to take part of the blame for that since he was the director of the organization at the time. Of course, there are the inevitable shots at Alinghi and the Societé Nautique de Geneva (SNG) as he points out that Oracle Racing and the GGYC have a prominent place in front and that the Swiss have been relegated to the back of the trophy’s new layer at its base that was added to engrave future winners of the event. Each and every morning Ehman cajoles the assembled, asking if there is anyone from Switzerland in the crowd hoping that someone will take the bait for a little fun! The crowd enjoyed the tidbits of America’s Cup history by “Professor” Ehman as he explained that the infamous words by Queen Victoria about “who finished second” was “hyperbole.” He also provided a detailed explanation of the difference between a guinea and a pound when it came to wagering on horse racing or for the matters of yachting history the Royal Yacht Squadron Race around the Isle of Wight in 1851. Joining him on several mornings was Gary Jobson, who is U.S. Sailing’s Executive Director, NBC Commentator and was winning tactician on Courageous in 1977. Jobson’s voice is frequently heard on the various historical spots that run on the screen and wasn’t above promoting himself when, as I was talking with him, in the background documentary he was explaining why the Cup’s new direction will ultimately prove successful by exclaiming that “two hulls are better than one!” and then pointing out “hey, that’s me.” Also, other frequent guests include the race commentary team of Tucker Thompson and Andy Green. In Cup circles they have become a Martin & Lewis tag team duo whose comments are often humorous, insightful and very knowledgeable. Both Thompson and Green were involved in the 2000 America’s Cup in Auckland. Green was a rules advisor and a tactician on Abracadabra. “I was onboard to teach Skipper John Kolius how to match race!” He was also a starting helmsman in 2003 on the British GBR Challenge. Thompson was a successful maxi racer in his own right, was with America True and is a match racing coach. Their emotional, energy-charged commentary during the conclusion of the dramatic seventh race between Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand in Valencia, Spain, in 2007 evoked images of Al Michaels’ infamous words “Do you believe in miracles!” As the AC Event Authority moves forward, one nice addition for next time would be the return of the AC45 simulator that was in San Diego that gives you a great idea of what it’s like to be on the trampoline of a catamaran, complete with the water spray, too! In October when the circus is back in town and you want to watch some cool videos, learn more about the America’s Cup history and see the Auld Mug itself, check out the morning show. Around The World With all the talent in town, each team brings a litany of tall tales, collected and assorted trophies, including a lot of Olympic metal/medal. For instance, Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie comes in after again dominating the Finn Class during last month’s Olympics in London and capturing his fourth consecutive Gold Medal. Ainslie has dominated that class so much it seems that the only way to stop him would be to eliminate the class. Just kidding! Now that the Star has gone the way of the Dodo, we don’t want to lose anymore “traditional” boats. Ainslie comes in with his own team this time with the sponsorship of JP Morgan. J.P. Morgan, the man, was intrinsically involved with the NYYC as a Commodore and as a financial backer of several defenders, including Columbia in 1899 and 1901. J.P. joins Queen Victoria in the annals of quote lore with the infamous: “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.” Ainslie comes in quite focused as he will be joining the ranks at Oracle Racing as Jimmy Spithill’s sparring partner and counterpart on the team’s second AC72. Ainslie is also laying the foundation for a British challenge for the America’s Cup next time around. When asked about his Olympic ambitions for a 5th consecutive Gold in Rio in 2016, Ainslie quickly closed the door stating, “I haven’t made a decision and this is not the right time to make the call on the Olympics. “It’s going to be exciting. It’ll be slightly chaotic on the start line in 20 knots with 11 boats,” Ainslie said. “I’m sure we’re going to see an amazing spectacle. I’m going to have to back off because the big thing is to avoid any damage.” “It is awesome getting BA [Ben Ainslie] involved on our team,” said Spithill. “He is one of the best sailors in the world and we don’t see each other as threats or competitors for the helm of the Oracle Racing’s AC72.” We interrupt this story with breaking news! Under the cover of bright sunshine and behind the razor sharp fencing of the Oracle Racing compound at Pier 80, the team christened their massive new AC72. Louis Matthews, the build and store administrator for the team, conducted the champagne honors. According to ACEA Spokesman Tim Jeffery, “It is something of a team tradition to have one of the women of the team being each boat’s ‘godmother’.” The massive new America’s Cup defender is currently named 17, which seems to be a favorite number of Oracle Racing’s owner Larry Ellison. The number 17 has not been retired by any team in the NFL, but it was the number of Dandy Don Meredith of the Dallas Cowboys. Locally, Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors wore the number. The fear of the number 17 is called heptadecaphobia. The boat itself resembles a floating stealth skateboard park. In some ways it has to be one of the ugliest boats since Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock 4. The canvas batwings in the back of the boat, which made their first appearance on the back of Oracle’s Cup-winning trimaran, have given way to a permanent carbon fiber arch wing. Coutts said, “We have got to be careful taking the new boat out. We will be checking out loads, watching the lights. The whole boat is full of fiber optics. We will be tweaking the mechanical systems and then, later, we can finally load the boat up after a couple of days.” Given the design team’s track record, though, you can bet this catamaran is going to be fast. That being said, it’s definitely a boat that only Oswald Cobblepott or a godmother could love! Speaking of the ominous task of helming the AC72 beast of burden, only one skipper in the room at the time could own up to having any experience in driving one and that is Emirates Team New Zealand’s (ETNZ) Dean Barker. The Kiwi’s launched their new boat last month in Auckland. Barker said, “It’s like sailing a big dinghy. It dumbs down the sensation of speed. There is incredible acceleration. Our entire focus is to bring the Cup home. It is very important for us to spend time on the Bay here, which is not too dissimilar to sailing at home in Auckland.” Barker, who earlier in the day had touched a bit of wood paneling for good luck, found none as later that same afternoon with the wind gusting upward to 25-plus knots ETNZ capsized during a practice run toward Alcatraz. The incident was eerily similar to Newport when they took a tumble during a pre-regatta race. “Unfortunately for us it was a short day after capsizing in our first race against Artemis,” Barker said. “The conditions were down a fair bit on previous days early on but built steadily during the day. We were having a close tussle with Artemis and as we tried to get through the gate the boat loaded up and went over. It was a frustrating mistake, but fortunately it has resulted in only a few damaged ribs on the wing.” In similar fashion, the Chinese, trying to shake off the rust after sitting out of the Newport event, went over near the starting area of the practice fleet race with three of the crew tumbling into the Bay. “It was a stunner and the first time that most of the crew has gone over,” said skipper Phil Robertson, who is not Chinese, but an aggressive young match racer from New Zealand. “We have a lot of learning to do, but we are getting better every day. “We are trying to create a pipeline for 2017,” Robertson said. “We are trying to find the right crew and in China you have a lot of people, but not a lot of sailors.” Which brings us to Team Korea. They have been sailing really strong and have been in the mix. Chris Draper led the team last year before moving to greener pastures with Luna Rossa. The team principal and CEO Kim Dong-Young has assembled a good team led by Olympic Gold Medalist in the 49er Class Nathan Outteridge from Great Britain. “It’s a little tough for me mentally to switch gears (from the Olympics),” said Outteridge, who has a “Moth” racer nearby to unwind when he is not onboard the team’s AC45. Rumors swirled during the event that the Koreans were on the precipice of pulling out, which would be a shame because their performance has put them in the upper echelon of the competition. “We are ready to go,” Dong-Young said. “We have one of the smallest teams here. Everything is in place for an [AC72 “Box” design]. We will make a decision in October.” Team Artemis has set up shop at a warehouse on the old Naval Base on Alameda, and added a second boat with Santiago Lange on Artemis Racing Red. Lange is a two-time Olympic medalist in the multi-hull Tornado Class. “From the point of view of stability or digging the bow, I think the AC45 is safer than a Tornado,” Lange said. “But it’s a lot harder because there are five people onboard and it’s very physical for the crew.” Artemis represents the Challenger of Record (COR) the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet) for the 34th America’s Cup. The team is led by CEO Paul Cayard, who is from the Bay Area, and Terry Hutchinson, the lone American skipper. The Swedish yacht club is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the world. It was formed in 1830 and hosts for its annual regatta the Gotland Runt in the northern archipelago off the Baltic Sea. Despite the country’s propensity for cold weather, most of it lies south of the Arctic Circle. The America’s Cup has always been known as the majestic sport of kings, and now of the Gods! Artemis, for those in the know, is the twin sister of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus in Greek mythology. Long before Katniss in the “Hunger Games,” she was renowned for being the Goddess of the wild kingdom, depicted quite often sporting a majestic bow and arrow. The Swedish team inherited the COR responsibilities when Vincenzo Onorato’s Team Mascalzone representing Club Nautico di Roma dropped out earlier last year citing “funding limitations.” Cool Runnings And Run Ins! The action on the water throughout the week was as dramatic as the billing. There were furious duels, collisions, capsizes and on the final day, Super Sunday, two dramatic conclusions in which the catamarans finished within mere seconds of each other. The most spectacular incident of the series and bound for countless replays going forward was Russell Coutts’ collision with the Race Committee boat at the start of the 3rd Fleet Race. Coutts on Oracle 5 was approaching the start line as 10 other boats were jockeying for position for a flying start. In trying to squeeze into a narrowing gap, Coutts got pinched in by his teammate Jimmy Spithill on Oracle 4, who in turn was hemmed in by France’s Energy Team. The result drove Coutts right into the side of the committee boat at speed, punching in a gaping hole with a halting thud! No one was hurt as Oracle 5 quickly found itself on the receiving line of a tow rope from its chase boat for a disheartening ride back to the pits at Pier 30 for repairs. “I thought there might be a gap there, and there wasn’t,” Coutts said. “It was a tough break. I didn’t think it was that risky. I thought they were going to turn down and start the race and they just kept turning up and shut the door. We were tied up with the French with about 3 seconds to go. The whole fleet heard the collision! “Harold Bennett just called and I told him to get that boat out of the way next time,” Coutts said, chuckling. Later, Spithill joked that “He’s (Coutts) still not talking to me and I wouldn’t be surprised if he puts me into the committee boat tomorrow!” The damage to Coutts’ boat was minor. Coutts said, “A lot of the damage that happened was shock loading to the rigging when we hit. We’re going to put a patch on (the hull), a few bits on the rigging and check the loading before going racing.” “We all heard this thing coming in and then a bunch of four letter words,” explained Oracle 4 tactician John Kostecki. “We are all feeling all right now, because we haven’t seen him (Coutts) yet. “I’m not going to the debrief,” Kostecki joked. Kostecki is from San Rafael and is the only American right now sailing on the Oracle Team. He is a brilliant tactician and is the only sailor to have won an America’s Cup, Olympic medal and the Volvo Around the World Race. “There was almost a lot of capsizing today and that is why this is a lot of fun,” said Kostecki. Coutts said, “We are disappointed that we lost a lot of points today, but if we have a good race tomorrow and the other boats have a bad one, we could move up. But that’s racing.” Asked if the crew was fired up to get back at Team Spithill in the match race championship, Coutts grinned with a twinkle in his eye and said, “You bet!” “The hometown support has been fantastic,” said Spithill, who charged from last to first in the 2nd Fleet Race of the day, adding that now most of his thoughts were geared toward “thinking about getting that damn baseball across the plate tomorrow!” In a show of hometown support, all the ACWS teams sailed past the San Francisco Giants ATT Park on Saturday and into McCovey Cove, as Spithill did throw in a perfect strike over the plate to the raucous approval of the sold out stadium crowd. Center stage on the diamond, though, was a glittering America’s Cup trophy, which hovered over the Giants 2010 World Series trophy as a grateful Larry Ellison encouraged the crowd to come out and watch the AC racing on the Bay. As for that second fleet race on Friday, wow! Team Spithill on Oracle 4 was probably still shaking off the effects of sending their boss home for the day and invariably looking over their shoulders to see if he was coming for payback. “We started in the middle and the French seemed to be holding up the line,” said Spithill. “We got pushed over the line early.” Oracle 4 was penalized and had to re-round and rebound from a worst towards first. “JK (Kostecki) was perfect and sailed a fantastic race,” said Spithill. “All sorts of things were going on with Prada; it was brutal back there. It was a good test for us. We fed off the crowd 100% on the boat. The cheers and support put us into another gear! “JK has spent a lot of hours on this Bay,” Spithill said. “I don’t think anyone can know the Bay completely, but it certainly helps for him having spent a lot of hours out there. It was incredible racing. It feels like you’re in a stadium and I think that’s what we’ve created here.” As for a hometown edge with a lot of experience on the Bay, Kostecki shrugs it off a bit saying, “I’d like to think so, but a lot of these guys haven’t been on this racetrack before and they’re all great sailors. They’ll figure it out.” Super Sun and Super Sunday! Luna Rossa Swordfish Skipper Paul Campbell-James would remark, “Some of these races are over at the start.” Not on Sunday! Brilliant sunshine returned for Super Sunday and the first race on the ticket was the match race championship between the two Oracle boats. Unlike Newport, RI, last month when the team lined up to race for all the marbles, this day was different. It was payback time for Coutts and company! Team Coutts on Oracle 5 regained the lead after the start and had control of much of the race, but Team Spithill on Oracle 4 kept charging, bringing it on for what was a thrilling finish. “We were sailing pretty well,” Kostecki said. “The chips were down and we kept lugging along pretty fast, trying to hang tough until the finish.” Coutts rounded the last mark in front and Spithill made a final move, with nothing to lose by forcing his boat into the lead. Coutts would have none of it as clearly “the old dog (again) still has some old tricks.” Team Spithill copped a penalty for their bonsai maneuver and Coutts won the wild race by a second and captured the Match Race Championship. “The inside boat has the right of way and Russell was on the inside,” explained Kostecki. “There is a three-boat length zone at the mark and Coutts owned it and had rights. We infringed the mark rounding rule; and were penalized.” Who cares? What a fabulous race for all to experience, and the crowd roared its approval at an unbelievably hysterical finish! Coutts said, “To get both teams in the match racing final is a great result, and Jimmy and the boys continue to be superb. It looked like the fans were having fun on the shore and that’s what it’s all about. We were certainly having fun on the water.” The crowd could barely catch its breath by the time the Fleet Race was ready to start. The winds had picked up to slightly under 20 knots when the starting gun went off and all 11 boats came charging down the waterfront. With all the boats trading places along the way, it came down to the final short reach to the finish with Team Spithill trying to get on the podium for the final day. With Chris Draper driving Luna Rossa Piranha across first almost flipping in the process, Spithill passed Korea with no room to spare to come in second and accumulate the necessary points to capture the Fleet Race Championship for the Oracle Racing. Luna Rossa Piranha (Chris Draper) won the fleet race finale by 3 seconds over Spithill, who had sailed through Team Korea (Outteridge) into second place. At one point Piranha led by as many as 200 meters approaching the second leeward gate, but they almost gave it all away when they nearly capsized on the finish line. The wingsail got eased just in time to avert disaster, and the finish gun fired a split-second after the windward hull slammed down into the water. “This is a fantastic result for Oracle Team USA to win the match racing, fleet racing and overall championship,” said Spithill. “We battled our way back to the top in each event and were rewarded for it.” Team Artemis was clearly disappointed not to be on the podium on the final day. There is much reason to celebrate, though, with the arrival of their spanking new AC72 earlier in the week. Terry Hutchinson said after the Fleet Race, “Some highlights followed by some lowlights, unfortunately. So, we have to continue to trust in ourselves and trust that we have the right process in place. We put a lot of effort into getting off the start line leading up to this event, but all in all a bit disappointed having the start we had today. There’s a lot of work to do and I can’t say enough about the effort onboard. We have some more technique development to work on.” Not as happy were the folks from ETNZ. Team CEO Grant Dalton says the team has started a debrief process to analyze why the team is not clicking as it should. Dalton said, “ETNZ has put the bulk of its resources into the AC72 program and because of that, we did not come to San Francisco expecting to blitz the fleet.” This was the team’s first opportunity to sail an AC45 on San Francisco Bay, and is counting on honing their skills during the next regatta in October. The team will continue to train on the Hauraki Gulf this winter and will not return until May of next year. Dalton said, “We are looking at three elements: venue, speed and people combinations. It’s unlikely to be just one of the three, more likely the problem lies across all three.” Happier with the results were the Italians and Team Korea, which hopefully can take their competitiveness back home to raise the much-needed funds to continue. It is late in the game to start building your first boat and, though they claim that everything is ready to go, it is definitely a steep slope from here on in. The next ACWS event is Oct. 2-7 to coincide with Fleet Week activities. All authorities are anticipating “a perfect storm” as they work toward preparations for next year’s big enchilada!