Air / Land / Water
America’s Cup
A U.S. Team hopes for a repeat of their 2010 success at the 34th annual event in 2013
By Annabelle Frankl
Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing team currently hold the America’s Cup
America’s Cup has all the makings of a great movie: the 3rd richest man in America spends a decade – and a fortune – fighting to reach the pinnacle of one of the world’s most exclusive sports and, finally victorious, brings both the Cup and the competition itself to his hometown.
And so it is that the 34th America’s Cup comes to take place from September 7-22, 2013, in San Francisco, with Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing team once again representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and seeking to repeat their success of the 33rd America’s Cup. Held in February 2010 in Valencia, Spain, that battle (for what is the oldest active trophy in international sport, dating back to 1851) saw the Americans challenge and beat cup defender and rival billionaire, Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi team by a margin of 5 minutes and 25 seconds and, for the first time since 1992, return the Cup to American soil.
Bringing the competition back to the United States for the first time in 18 years, San Francisco was announced as the host city in an 11th-hour decision on the day of the deadline, December 31, 2010. San Francisco’s waterfront and the area from piers 27/29 to piers 30/32 will be revived and transformed into the America’s Cup village. Richard Worth, ACEA’s chief executive says, “We sought a venue that fulfills our promise to showcase the best sailors in the world competing on the fastest boats. Hosting the America’s Cup in San Francisco will realize that promise.”
The America’s Cup World Series will take racing to venues around the world in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Until mid-2012, teams will compete in single-design AC45 catamarans so they can come to grips with racing wing-sailed multihulls while they design and build their own AC72s, the revolutionary cats that will be raced in the Louis Vuitton Cup – the regatta that serves as the challenger selection process for the prospective teams – and, finally, the America’s Cup itself.
Organizers hope these fast new boats, capable of exceeding speeds of 30 knots with a wingsail of 130 feet and the ability to sail in light winds, will revitalize interest in the sport. Their ability to compete in zig-zag courses close to shore should keep on-site spectators enthralled while on-board mics, cameras, and state-of-the-art graphics engage viewers both on TV and online.
This event has the potential for a Hollywood-style happy ending; over $1 billion in economic activity for San Francisco, the revitalization of the city’s waterfront and, Ellison hopes, keeping the America’s Cup right where it is: in America.
