Wednesday, November 28, 2012
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!
Is SF an America's Cup City?
FROM SEPTEMBER BAY AND DELTA YACHTSMAN MAGAZINE
Is San Francisco An America’s Cup City?
In 2013 San Francisco joins the list of six other seaport cities that have played host for yachting’s esteemed holy grail: the America’s Cup. The event kicks into high gear next year as five teams will rip it out with their high-tech, multi-million dollar catamarans off the city’s sprawling waterfront and out on the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay.
When the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) crafted its protocol for the 34th America’s Cup, it called on all parties to come together quickly to try to pull off a successful circus in a very short time span. The effort is taking the willingness, hard work and determination of multiple city agencies, groups and organizations whose numbers are beyond comprehension. The cooperation of so many has been mind-boggling.
The plan has not been without its share of pitfalls and potholes, but in taking on the challenge San Francisco will endeavor to place itself above and beyond the others in trying to be known as the “America’s Cup City.”
Can our emerald city on the Bay be forever linked with the America’s Cup and become the international sailing center for the ages?
“Without a doubt!” boasts Jane Sullivan, who is San Francisco Mayor Edward Lee’s Communications Director for the 34th America’s Cup in the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD).
“We are organizing the community to put the whole event on much firmer ground, as the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) moves to rebrand the Cup into a sustainable event, emphasizing forward thinking and technology, with a definite eye toward the future,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan moved to City Hall two years ago from her management role at San Francisco International Airport to segway over to help build an organization here “from scratch.” “My feeling was I’m done here and ready for a new challenge,” said Sullivan. She added that if the America’s Cup had been a powerboat race, there is “no way” the city and community would have gotten behind the event.
As it tries to strive toward the title of being the “America’s Cup City,” the competition has been fierce! Newport, Rhode Island, will invariably be linked with the Auld Mug having played host for over 53 years.
Large-scale, transformational projects in the tiny fishing village of Fremantle (Western Australia), Auckland (New Zealand) and the industrial Mediterranean port city of Valencia (Spain) have set the standard in making the America’s Cup an event that can act as a catalyst toward urban renewal.
San Francisco is one of the world’s most beautiful cities with its stunning panoramic vistas, landscaped gardens, unique coastal architecture surrounded by the rolling hills and islands of the Bay Area, but with many parts of its historic waterfront that are in dire need of a facelift.
The impetus here is the prospect of massive 15-story, high-fixed wing sails on top of carbon fiber catamarans, with their hulls and winged foils, screaming through the waves. They will literally fly atop the roiling waters of San Francisco Bay against a backdrop of two of the most famous places in the world, Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge. So, what’s not to like?
“We are really excited!” exclaims Laurie Armstrong from San Francisco Travel. “There will be layers of benefits and the impact will be a shining light on our city.
“This will make us a sailing city and this is a tremendous opportunity to reach out to the world and show how beautiful San Francisco is,” Armstrong said.
“One of the first benefits of all of this is that the America’s Cup made the new James R. Herman Cruise Terminal a reality sooner rather than later,” Armstrong said. “This brings a whole new level of attraction here to go with our incredible art, restaurants and parks.”
“We are disappointed overall that more teams will not be here,” she continued, adding that she does not think this will detract from the event and we are “still expecting $1.6 billion of economic impact.”
“We are joining the old and the new,” said Ian Murray, who is the CEO for America’s Cup Race Management. “We have invented a new wheel.”
Auckland and Valencia, with the assistance of their respective governments, were able to wave a magical wand over blighted parts of their cities and create a tourist infrastructure that will pay dividends for generations. Valencia now plays host to not only many international regattas, but also has a Formula One Grand Prix around its “Port America’s Cup.”
San Diego, while a fine host, never took advantage of the opportunity to use the event for urban reclamation. The America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) event there last November, while providing great racing, was disappointing in not drawing the hoped-for numbers to watch, as Murray put it: “our contemporary version of the Cup.”
Even with the dreams and hopes to revitalize parts of San Francisco’s decaying waterfront, the current plans in place will not transform the city, and special interest groups have already put the kibosh on several of the hoped-for projects.
The ACWS events this past August and in October will be a great “soft test” for all the local government, transit, police and federal agencies involved. Sullivan points to the potential projects like the Muni “E-Line” that will transport people along the waterfront as being the “glimmer” in that department’s eyes.
The E-Line would have the potential to move legions of people from the Cal Trans Depot to Fisherman’s Wharf and, long term, eventually on to Fort Mason. The historic rail cars would provide a picturesque backdrop for visitors to the city and fulfill a vision by city planners.
Another key component of the process has been the inclusion of the vast expanse of the Bay Area and the necessity that a majority of the viewing opportunities, for potentially tens of thousands, will be located on the public lands of Golden Gate National Park (GGNP).
Incorporating the entirety of all the San Francisco Bay, Crissy Field, Fort Baker, Alcatraz Island and the Headlands area into our own natural amphitheater as part the America’s Cup “stadium of sailing” is unprecedented in the history of sports. You could probably fit 10 Indianapolis Motor Speedways at 400,000 fans each into the confines of our “arena.”
Much of the area falls into the jurisdiction of the Park Service. According to Howard Levitt, Chief of Public Affairs for the GGNPS, the Park Service has been working closely with the ACEA to “ensure that the sensitive and fragile areas of the park are well protected.”
“We have been putting up fencing around environmentally sensitive areas as a precaution,” Levitt said. “We will have a public information staff and enforcement in place, similar to Fleet Week, to point spectators in the right direction.
“The Park is a wonderful place to watch the races and the ACWS will be a spectacular event to watch, while we make sure our resources are protected,” said Levitt. The number of staff will be determined by the size and scope of the attendance on different race days.
“We have cost recovery process in place with the ACEA through the City to cover fees associated with protecting our resources,” said Levitt; adding that “Alcatraz Island will be business as usual and there will be no grandstands there.”
Like the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary, Levitt advises the public to leave the car at home and look at alternative forms of transportation.
“This year will be an interesting component and will allow us to gage what to expect in 2013,” said Levitt.
A generation ago, who could have envisioned SOMA (South of Market Area) extending toward the Dogpatch as being the land of milk and honey? With the San Francisco Giants baseball park, sprawling corporate parks, campuses and green spaces that stretch toward the confines of Oracle Racing’s facility on Pier 80, San Francisco is working on what Sullivan terms the “legacy pieces” with “a definite eye toward the future.”
With the possibility of the Golden State Warriors building a new arena on Piers 30-32 and the ACEA wondering aloud: “Where in the hell are we going to go?” in the future, Sullivan offers potential opportunities on piers 35 and 29 south of the Bay Bridge. “There is not a lack of space.”
Oracle Racing has taken an aging facility of empty warehouse spaces and transformed it into a 22nd century space age fabrication factory that has become its high-tech ground zero. Under airtight security, the racing team is transforming the carbon fiber components of parts and pieces of its AC72 multi-hulled yacht into a raging sailing monster.
“Oracle Racing has an incredible facility,” exclaims an enthusiastic Armstrong. “It is jaw dropping!”
Sullivan said, “The custom fabrication guys at Pier 80 are not messing around.” The team hopes to launch its AC72 this month. “It is hard to build an organization from scratch,” she said. “I can’t stress enough how much the city is working the Port, the ACEA, everyone; these things don’t just happen.”
San Francisco has to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in a very short time, less than two years, in contrast to the Olympic Cities that have in some cases a decade or more to prepare and six or seven years to construct facilities.
“There were a host of problems. This was new and it was not an easy thing for the City to do,” said Sullivan. “We had to figure out how to promote it locally and make it sustainable.”
The ACEA, along with multiple city agencies, also announced the creation of a “One-Stop-Shop” that will allow information to be shared and utilized to the benefit of San Francisco businesses and the community at large. According to Armstrong it will “help facilitate interaction.” The offices will be located at Pier 23 and managed by the OEWD. It is a centralized resource where Bay Area businesses can access information, get assistance on local issues related to the America’s Cup, and learn about business opportunities.
“‘The One-Stop-Shop at Pier 23 is another tangible example of how the economic benefits of the America’s Cup races are coming to San Francisco,” Mayor Edwin M. Lee said. “I congratulate all our partners for developing this exciting new center to serve the America’s Cup teams, local businesses and local visitors and deliver a world-class series of events.”
Stephen Barclay, CEO of the America’s Cup Event Authority, said, “The One-Stop-Shop is an important tool in disseminating information about the America’s Cup to all interested parties.”
A key component of the One-Stop-Shop will be the Business Connect web portal, which will be managed by the S.F. Chamber to help facilitate the procurement process for work contracted by ACEA, the City and County of San Francisco and the America’s Cup teams.
Steven Falk, President and CEO, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, said, “We are committed to providing an inclusive, responsive and transparent process that will boost local business participation and help drive job and economic growth throughout the region.”
Fremantle bolstered its status in 1987 by constructing another harbor specifically for the Cup and creating space for facilities that the competing challenging teams could not only use for their boats and equipment, but also became places to utilize as an important fundraising tool.
San Francisco and “Freo” have the most important ingredient in common: They are incredible places to sail! The challenging sailing conditions on the Indian Ocean and here on the Bay are intimidating, awe inspiring and breathtaking for sailors and spectators alike.
In Australia, there was a regular sea breeze known as the “Doctor” checking in every afternoon like clockwork. At 20 to 30 knots the conditions were optimal for teams, and likewise here, the winds and strong ebb tides will be challenging.
Back then for the television viewing audience, it was a panacea theater with Kevlar®-busting winds and aluminum-bending waves as the 12-meter boats ripped through the turquoise waters. Dennis Conner and his Stars & Stripes sailing team met their date with destiny by reclaiming the America’s Cup for America.
With that event, the America’s Cup reached the pinnacle of sport. Unfortunately since then, infighting, litigation and internal politics have dominated the headlines. It has never been able to recover that elusive slice of the market pie since.
The opportunity was there 5 years ago when Emirates Team New Zealand and Alinghi from Switzerland sailed a spectacle that was wiped away mere moments after the Swiss won the exhilarating final race by a second. Then, the Societe Nautique de Geneva and its billionaire benefactor Ernesto Bertarelli missed the opportunity to cash in on the golden goose by making its own grab for the “ring of power” with a self-serving protocol.
Leading the local charges here are several important organizations, departments and offices that have labored intensively over the last two and a half years since USA 17, the GGYC’s powerful trimaran, captured the America’s Cup in Valencia and San Francisco was announced as the host city.
Larry Ellison has given San Francisco a golden opportunity to host the “Super Bowl” of sailing and other events like it for many years to come. The ACEA has struggled to raise the profile, organization and funds necessary to host the event here; but one thing for certain, it is important to rebuild our waterfront.
We need more than just giving it a sprucing up for 2013. Everyone needs to move forward in order to create a waterfront that will pay dividends for future generations and will create real jobs, revenue and public interest with an opportunity to host other prestigious events from around the world.
Thirty Precious Days
Like Gollum’s ring, the only thing more precious these days for Dean Barker and Grant Dalton from Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) is how to best use the 30 “sailing” days on their recently launched AC72 multi-hull between now and Feb. 1, 2013.
Amid great fanfare, Mandy Barker launched a magnum of champagne across the carbon fiber baked bow of ETNZ’s metallic red and black, sparkling, high-tech catamaran and christened her New Zealand. Thousands attended the ceremony in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbor and the festivities featured exciting displays of fireworks and pyrotechnics.
“What you see before you here is the result of 50 man-years of design and 65,000 hours of building by the New Zealand marine industry,” according to ETNZ CEO Grant Dalton. “It’s a great honor for me to lead this team, along with Dean Barker, as we take this on to San Francisco.”
Barker told the crowd, when asked about sailing the catamarans, “For us it’s been a huge learning curve. The boats are exciting to sail. Rather than finesse, it’s more about getting out there and just getting into it. It’s been fantastic.”
Mandy is the wife of Kiwi skipper Dean Barker. The powerful new challenging yacht for the America’s Cup was made possible by an essential, but controversial, $36 million from the New Zealand government in support of the team’s effort. ETNZ also has major corporate sponsorship from Emirates Airlines, Nespresso, Toyota, Camper and Omega.
As has been shown worldwide, the outstretched arms of several years of an economic downturn has left every competing team affected, leading the Chinese, Spanish, Italians and now the French to withdraw their efforts and without the New Zealand Government’s support ETNZ would have foundered, too.
Taken off the tow for its initial sail, New Zealand carefully worked its way up Auckland’s East Coast Bays and spent a majority of the first of its “precious” sailing days testing off Tiritiri Martangi Island in between a series of rain squalls on a dreary day where wind conditions hovered around 10-12 knots.
It was actually perfect for a team not wanting to push the envelope on its AC72’s maiden voyage. The weather won’t vary too much in the coming weeks as it is the middle of winter for the Kiwi’s.
In this brave new world of the America’s Cup, next to the designer, skipper and crew the most important element on the team is the meteorologist! For the Kiwi’s, the weather-prediction duties fall on the shoulders of Roger “Clouds” Badham. Once the teams reach San Francisco, the flows and ebb tide currents of the Bay will undoubtedly conjure up another unsung hero in the mist.
Barker endorsed the activities of these early days of AC72 testing as “science meets real life” as the gigantic multi-hull and the ETNZ crew systematically work through its checklist for the new boat under the watchful eyes of “spies” from the other America’s Cup teams.
“It is good to get the first sail under our belt,” Dalton said. “Overall the weather could have been better, but the wind was ideal for a first sail. It’s what we had waited for.”
Dalton said the day, while unspectacular, was productive. “We know more about the boat than we did this morning and that’s why we go testing.”
The day was perfect for initial load testing as tactician Ray Davies describes: “It was a bit of a relief to get out there and fly a hull on the first day” between Takapuna Beach and Tititiri Matangi.
“We got her up on one hull, whizzing around at 20 knots in 10 knots of breeze. She’s going to be pretty impressive in a serious breeze... and a bloody handful, too,” Davies said. “The 72 will be a handful to sail in a breeze, very fast and very difficult to sail and extremely demanding on the crew.”
Davies described the AC72 as “pretty docile” compared with the AC45s they’re racing in the America’s Cup World Series regattas. “The bigger the boat, the slower they are to react. Tight courses in a breeze will be a challenge. These boats want to stretch their legs but they will have to be very maneuverable for AC racing.”
“We will be racing in San Francisco in a breeze expected to range from late teens to early 20s, so there’s no point sailing around Auckland in 8-10 knots,” Barker said.
Windy conditions on a second day of trials testing came to an early conclusion when a broken rib in the front element of the massive 140-foot high fixed wing resulted in some minor damage.
Dalton said, “We had a good two hours of upwind testing in 12 knots of breeze and flat water before the break. The boat is under extreme loads. We could go out there every day and break something different; it’s just part of the process of getting the boat up to speed. The engineers made the prudent call to fix the rib permanently, so we stayed ashore.”
Under the liberal terms for the “constructed in country” clause for the 34th Protocol only the hulls are regulated to the home country as most of the critical parts of the new generation AC72’s can be built elsewhere. Most of the AC72’s will probably become regular visitors to the composite shop as collisions and “pitch poling” are bound to be frequent occurrences on the volatile San Francisco Bay where winds routinely rip above 30 knots and the infamous ebb tides can bring a submarining hull to a screeching halt. The boats must also be able to be disassembled within a 24-hour period.
ETNZ will continue to train in Auckland for the next several months with Italy’s Luna Rossa Team. Under a “partnership” agreement, the two teams will work together until early next year when the Italians launch their first boat and New Zealand christens their second. The teams are not expected in San Francisco until March or April of next year. The competition for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series begins in July 2013.
Viva La France?
Pas Cette Fois!
The French Withdraw
The French Energy Team has withdrawn their effort to build an AC72 for next year’s America’s Cup. The announcement was not unexpected. The European economy has struggled and the Peyron brothers, Bruno and Loïck, who run the team, were not able to raise the funds necessary to build a new boat by next year. On a positive note, the Energy Team will stay intact and continue to compete in the America’s Cup World Series.
The Energy Team will be entering a youth team in order to compete in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in August 2013 in San Francisco. The team’s high point came earlier this year when it captured the ACWS in Venice, Italy, in May.
“We have always said that we would not be competing just for the sake of it,” said Loïck Peyron. “This decision is a logical one if we look at the goals we gave ourselves with the Yacht Club de France, which are still the same: to set up a team that is able to compete at the highest level and bring back the America’s Cup.”
This will be the first time, save Deed of Gift (DoG) Cup races in 1988 and 2010, that the French will not compete since 1970. Even with an AC72 “box” agreement with Oracle earlier this year, that was not enough to allow France to compete. France has some of the world’s premier multi-hull sailors and is home to one the finest technical composite facilities at Multiplast in the western port city of Vannes, France, located on the Gulf of Morbihan.
“We can all be proud of the work that has been accomplished in such a short space of time, but we must not take a big gamble with the risk of losing everything,” said Peyron. “Whilst the final phase of our project is beyond our grasp this year, let us now look ahead to the 35th America’s Cup.”
Newport 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
AC 2013 FAQ
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Red Bull Youth America's Cup Gives You Wings!
They say that Red Bull "gives you wings". No one knows that more than Oracle Racing's Mark Turner, who for over an hour with the help of his crew, kept the new Red Bull Youth America's Cup AC 45 tethered (lassoed) and pointed into the wind by continually moving the catamaran around to adjust to the shifting breezes in San Francisco's Union Square.
The long awaited and eagerly anticipated announcement of the plans of what would become a Youth America’s Cup came with the news that the energy drink company Red Bull would provide sponsorship of a two week championship regatta here on San Francisco Bay in August of 2013.
Echoing an earlier event that day in Venice, Italy where the AC 45’s were sailing in an America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) regatta as the new generation “turbocharged” cats terrorized the Renaissance city’s ancient canals.
In a simulcast video feed Oracle Racing Slipper Jimmy Spithill announced that; “this is one of the most exciting developments in the America’s Cup in a very long time!”
“I am really excited about this pathway,” said Spithill, who at the extraordinary young age of 19 skippered an ACC boat Young Australia for an America’s Cup challenge for Syd Fischer in 2000.
“The two are now bridged together (Red Bull and the Youth America’s Cup)” spoke Spithill. “Breaking into the America’s Cup is hard. I was fortunate to get a break which allowed me to get into the game and get noticed.”
After his introductory experience in 2000 in Auckland, New Zealand Spithill went on to skipper One World in 2003, Luna Rossa in 2007 and then went on to re-invent himself in the world of high speed multi-hull racing to steer BMW Oracle’s radical winged sail trimaran to an America’s Cup victory in Valencia, Spain in February of 2010.
The day’s event in Union Square was unique with an appearance of a six story fixed wing AC 45 in the middle of the city, on what was a very bright, breezy morning filled with sunshine!
Turner and company had their hands full “tacking” the Red Bull Youth boat that was perched on its own skateboard with wheels as it “sailed” around its small perimeter of cobblestone in the courtyard.
Emcee of this event was Tom Ehman, who is a spokesman for Oracle Racing and the Vice Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) the current home of the America’s Cup.
Ehman started the proceedings by exclaiming that he “hoped that no-one here was skipping school today,” lamenting the fact that this “was an auspicious moment” in America’s Cup history. This will “bring all walks of life into sailing for yachting’s big enchilada!”
The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will take place next year over a two week span when hopefully up to 10 teams from around the world will train and compete for the championship. Red Bull has sponsored many high profile, youth charged adrenaline events like the X Games, Formula One and IndyCar racing, as well as providing sponsorship for Sweden’s Victory Challenge for the America’s Cup in 2007.
With several college age sailors in attendance, as well as some children’s groups from a local school the focus and voice for the younger generations was laid upon Kite Board champion Johnny Heineken and 2012 Olympian Molly Vandemoer.
“This is an amazing opportunity for young Bay Area sailors,” said Heineken. “Not only will there be a Team USA, but also a Team San Francisco Bay, I just wish I was a year younger!”
The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup will allow one team per country, save San Francisco; subscribing to stricter nationality rules than the current America’s Cup and will be open to six crewmen per boat for ages 19 to 23.
“I never thought I’d want to be 19 again, but this will inspire every young sailor,” said Vandemoer. “It’s just awesome that the Bay Area also will get a team. I help coach the sailing team at Stanford and I know they will all be excited for the opportunity.”
On this day, America’s Cup royalty was represented with an appearance of the majestic Luck Jewitt of San Francisco. Mrs Jewitt, along with her late husband Fritz have supported many ‘Cup campaigns over the years and were instrumental in backing Dennis Conner in 1987 when he won back the Auld Mug from the Australians.
She has worked very hard here in the yachting community to help raise the visibility, awareness and some of the funds necessary for a successful defense of the America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013. The whole specter and grandeur of this event is made better by her efforts!
With the original pronouncement in 2010 of a Youth America’s Cup and its emphasis towards bringing the America’s Cup to the Facebook /You Tube generation, anticipation has been building as to what type of format and structure this type of event would have.
Oracle Racing CEO & legendary America’s Cup Skipper Russell Coutts has largely kept to his vision, after making the dramatic and radical transition to a multi-hulled formula for 161 year old event. Sailing for the America’s Cup is the longest continuous sporting event on the planet!
This announcement also answers the question on what will happen to the AC 45 Class after next May’s final ACWS race in Naples, Italy. With AC 72’s scheduled for launch next month, and once racing for the Louis Vuitton Cup commenced in July of 2013 the AC45 figured to go the way of the Dodo.
Currently the AC45’s provide an opportunity to train AC crews in the art of fixed wing catamaran sailing and also foster images towards a buildup of excitement for the 34th America’s Cup which will use the much larger and more powerful AC72 platforms to compete for the most prestigious trophy in sports!
All of which brings us back to the working class heroics of New Zealander Mark Turner and his crew.
Turner, brings a lot of experience to the task after being charged with a similar responsibility in Valencia, Spain in 2010 of making sure that BMW Oracle's giant tri-maran with its jumbo jet sized 235 ft. wing sail didn't fly away in the middle of the night when it wasn't racing.
Babysitting that monstrosity was a 24/7 job that lasted for more than an entire month once the behemoth multihull’s wing sail was in place, assembled and geared to go.
Similar responsibilities will be tasked next summer when the AC72's will be in San Francisco for the 34th America's Cup. Oracle will utilize its Pier 80 base of operations for its AC 72 which is scheduled to be launched next month in San Francisco. Training days are severely limited by the protocol arrangement and the new mega-cat will probably only be testing the waters of San Francisco Bay for a few short weeks before be shipped down to its winter base of operations in New Zealand. Where it will shadow train against Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa.
In a move that would that means a lot to all of us who remember Tom Blackaller, Team Artemis has recently leased facilities in an old hangar at the Alameda Naval Air Station. Alameda was Tom’s old stomping grounds and home base to his North Sails loft. Artemis CEO is Paul Cayard, Tom’s co-skipper of the Bay Area’s Golden Gate Challenge in 1987. Other teams are scouting locations in the Bay Area as we speak.
Oracle Racing has established a winter (NZ summer) training facility at Marsden Point in Northport, Whangarei. It is a deep water harbor that served as the home of Chris Dickson's 1995 America’s Cup Team “Tag Heuer”.
The ACC yacht was a bit radical for its day and later was re-christened “The Spirit of Rhode Island” for the New York Yacht Club’s Young America Challenge in 2000. Dickson challenged out of the Tutukaka South Pacific Yacht Club.
Turner was the builder of Tag Heuer in 1995 and the watch company is one of Oracle Racing’s associate sponsors. The Bruce Farr designed ACC boat harkened back a bit to the days of the original Intrepid US 22 by keeping much of the boat’s crew underneath the wind line and below deck.
The ultra-thin (for its day) yacht was a harbinger of what was to come. PACT 2000 eventually sold the boat to Dawn Riley’s America True and by 2007 it ended up in German hands as a training boat for United Internet Team Germany.
Oracle Racing is currently building the components for its massive wing-sail at Core Builders Composites in nearby Warkworth. Under the liberal terms for the “constructed in country” clause for the 34th Protocol only the hulls for the most part are regulated to the home country as most the critical parts of the new generation AC 72’s are allowed to be built elsewhere.
Hulls for the AC 72’s will probably become as interchangeable as tires on an IndyCar next year as accidents and “pitch poling” are bound to be frequent occurrences on volital San Francisco Bay where winds routinely reach into the 30’s and the infamous ebb-tides can bring a submarining hull to a screeching halt.
Under terms of the Protocol AC 72 boats must be able to be disassembled within a 24 hour period, though during the racing season the wings are likely to be attached 24/7 leading back to the expertise of men like Turner and their crews who will be charged with keeping the “bulls” in the corral when not on the water.
This allows Oracle Racing specifically to maintain its massive multihull advantage going into the 34th America’s Cup. Original terms were signed (away) with the Club Nautico di Roma as COR in 2010.
The Vincenzo Onorato Mascalzone Latino’s paper (pauper) challenge has long ago gone the way of the Dodo giving way to Paul Cayard’s Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet Yacht Club in Sweden.
America’s Cup teams are only allowed 30 days of sailing with their first generation AC 72’s prior to January 31, 2013. They are allowed an additional 45 days with the launch of a second boat up until April 31. All teams are expected to be training full time on San Francisco Bay by May of 2013. The Louis Vuitton Challenger Series begins on July 1st and the America’s Cup finals begin on September 7, 2013.
An informal regatta is in the planning stages between the 3 teams. A toothless Challenger of Record (COR) Artemis Racing finds itself powerless to prevent this valuable training opportunity unless it takes on the added expense to ship its new catamaran downunder to New Zealand this winter as well.
Regardless, we are all in for incredible cat show next year!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Cats in the Dogpatch
It is with much disappointment and dismay that we seem to be looking at a series of unfortunate events surrounding the 2013 America’s Cup, as it descends into a downward spiral towards the abyss which ultimately could lead the prestigious event bolting to greener pastures (shores) in 2016.
For San Francisco, who in the words of our former esteemed mayor, Diane Feinstein; is “the city that knows how” now moves towards a city that will be left with a majority of its waterfront decaying and decrepit for yet another generation.
Larry Ellison has given San Francisco a golden opportunity to host the “Super Bowl” of sailing and other events like it for many years to come. While he has been saddled with dysfunction in his own house, with an inept America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) that has struggled to raise the profile, organization and funds necessary to host the event here; it is important to rebuild our waterfront.
We need more than just giving it a sprucing up for 2013. The City of San Francisco needs to move forward with its original vision (for the most part, minus the tweaks’) in order to create a waterfront that will pay dividends for future generations that will create real jobs, revenue and public interest with an opportunity to host other prestigious events from around the world like the Volvo Around the World Race and the Olympics.
After committing to fix up Pier’s 31&32 in exchange for development rights both the ACEA and the City have backed off from their original agreement for a compromise plan that barely covers the cost to repave the parking lot, let alone allow the challengers to use the facilities for the AC 72 catamarans.
Given the massive size of the hulls and wing sails for each competitor there is hardly enough room on the piers for 1 or 2 teams, with just one boat, let alone the Kiwi’s or the Italians which will have two each for sure.
The Challenger Village has for the time being been relocated down at Pier 80. As a reclamation project the Dogpatch neighborhood is doing well, but it is not set up for international spectators to visit for the America's Cup.
Most of the danger for the crews and teams will be when they get out of their cars at work, rather than the inherent risks they will face out on the water when they are ripping it out on SF Bay at 35 knots in their fragile AC 72 Cats!
The downsizing and dumbing down of the America’s Cup event here, in comparison to recent cities that have hosted the event in Auckland, New Zealand, Fremantle, Western Australia and Valencia, Spain is an embarrassment.
The ACEA has done itself in with confusion over securing dates in our area for an America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) event. Is there a date in August? Is it going to be in New York City? October? When? How can San Francisco host an event in just a few months when the dates are so fluid?
The America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM) is in excellent shape under the strong leadership of Ian Murray, but it’s time for the ACEA to bring in an outside company with big time global marketing experience who can properly run the and organize event activities.
Naples and Venice, Italy, Newport, RI; have had secured places on the calendar for almost a year and for corporate sponsors, restaurants, hotels, airlines and for anyone else associated in tourism here in San Francisco how can anyone realistically be ready?
It seems the only city capable, with the facilities and showing the desire to host the America’s Cup in California is San Diego. Aside from the ACWS event which was held there last fall, which was disappointing more because of a poor planning of activities than a lack of action on the racecourse.
San Diego seems to be better positioned to host the event in the future, unless ACEA and the elected officials who represent San Francisco can put the majority of the people’s interest in place here first or next fall’s elections won’t just be a referendum on Ross Mirkarimi, but a chance for SF to vote for a future we showcase around the world!
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