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| THE 34TH AMERICA’S CUP OPENING RACE by Jeanne Lawrence On Sunday, July 7, the 34th America’s Cup regatta opened with the first race in the 30th annual Louis Vuitton Cup.The winner of the Vuitton Cup races, taking place through July and August, will challenge the current defending champions, Team Oracle USA, in the America’s Cup Finals in mid-September. It was a historic day for the “City by the Bay”—its first time hosting the America’s Cup. |
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| THE DEFENDERS IN PRACTICE Oracle Team USA, founded by billionaire Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, won the 33rd America’s Cup in 2010. As the winner, Ellison was allowed to determine the site and the rules for the next competition. He chose San Francisco as the site and Australian yachtsman Jimmy Spithill as his skipper. |
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| THE CHALLENGERS Due to global economic problems and the prohibitive cost of the new boats ($6–$8 million), there are just four competitors in the America’s Cup competition: defending champion USA and challengers Sweden, New Zealand, and Italy. |
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| THE “FLYING BOATS” The 2013 regatta is quite different from the first America’s Cup race I saw in Perth, Australia in 1983. Then, theRoyal PerthYacht Club’s Australia II, with its controversial winged keel, won the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series by beating American defender Dennis Conner’s Liberty. That was the first time in 132 years that the New York Yacht Club lost the America’s Cup to another country. |
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| Today the competition seems to be less about sailing skills and more about who can design the fastest boat. In addition to being the first time the races have taken place inshore instead of offshore, it’s also the first time the sailors have competed in rigid wing-sail catamarans. The so-called “flying boats” use solid carbon-fiber sails similar to airplane wings. |
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| THE RACE On opening Sunday, Emirates Team New Zealand sailed alone to pick up their first point. Italy’s TeamLuna Rossa hadboycotted the regatta to protest a new safety rule, but New Zealand still had to complete the course to earn their point. Team New Zealand sailed at record-breaking speeds and completed the 16-nautical-mile course in 46 minutes, 27 seconds. In sailor lingo, the team’s top speed was 42.8 knots (49 mph), a record for the Louis Vuitton Cup. |
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| THE SPECTATORS This was first time in its history that spectators could view the Cup races from shore for free. People could also watch from America’s Cup Village at Marina Green, Crissy Field, Angel Island, and numerous other spots around the city. I suspect there were many rooftop parties to watch the races. For the 34th America’s Cup, a number of additions were made to the waterfront, including the construction of America’s Cup Park (Piers 27 and 29) and America’s Cup Pavilion, with a 9,000-seat amphitheater where video screens were set up to watch the races. Hopes are that the races will have an economic impact on the Bay Area of more than $900 million, including adding nearly 8,000 jobs. |
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| OPENING DAY PARTY HOSTED BY MARIA MANETTI SHREM On opening day, Maria Manetti Shrem, a big supporter of the America’s Cup, opened her Russian Hill home to friends and colleagues to watch the race. She understood what a tremendous opportunity it was for San Francisco to host the sport world’s oldest trophy event. Maria also hoped to gain supporters to raise money for the San Francisco non-profit, America’s Cup Organizing Committee (ACOC), to help cover costs associated with hosting this prestigious event. |
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| America’s Cup photos by Gilles Martin-Raget, Abner Kingman, and Guilain Grenier. Party photos by Drew Altizer. *Urbanite Jeanne Lawrence reports on lifestyle and travel from her homes in San Francisco, Shanghai, and New York, and wherever else she finds a good story. |
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