AMERICA'S CUP

With the 34th America’s Cup, a worldwide yacht race dating back to 1851, being held in San Francisco Bay this year we had to check it out. Most of the prior races were held in open waters making this the best viewing ever for an America’s Cup competition.

The winner chooses the location & the type of boat for the next race a few years later. The previous winner, Oracle Team USA (sponsored by Oracle founder, Larry Ellison), brought the race to San Francisco & chose these huge catamaran style boats that cost many millions of dollars. This is definitely a rich man’s sport – extremely rich!

Our day began with a drive over the brand new San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge that just opened last week. The old span to the left will be torn down over the next several years.

Luckily, we found a free parking space in the front row of a makeshift lot near St. Francis Yacht Club & Chrissy Field. We could have literally watched from our car, but chose to walk the 1/3 mile to the America’s Cup Village.

The America's Cup Village - bleacher seats cost upwards of $100 for the finals. There are food booths, stores, activities & big screens to view the action up close.

This is Lou with one of the 72' long catamarans used in this years competition.

About 45 minutes before the first race began, we lucked out again! We found just enough room to squeeze in & sit on a retaining wall with an unobstructed view of the bay. 

Our front row seats on the retaining wall of San Francisco Bay. That's my hand on my camera in the lower left.

Our feet dangling a few feet above the water. We could hear the announcer just as well as the people in the $100 seats & I think we could see even better - especially short people like me.

The Emirates Team New Zealand boat warming up in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Oracle Team USA practicing prior to the start. These wing sails (the tall one) is the height of a 13 story building. The short sail is in the front so this one is sailing to the left in this photo.

We are total novices when it comes to yacht racing but it is still interesting. The format consists of two races per race day between the "defender" (Oracle Team USA) & the "challenger" (Emirates Team New Zealand). Each race consists of five legs around pylons that include downwind, upwind & crosswind conditions which test the crews both tactically & physically. The ultimate victor must win a total of 9 out of 17 races.

Both teams approaching the start. A few seconds after this photo they crossed the starting line simultaneously to get the approximately 10 mile race around the bay underway. 

The downwind leg with Oracle Team USA still leading Emirates Team New Zealand as they crossed in front of Alcatraz Island. At the next gate Emirates would take the lead on an Oracle mistake & never look back.

To increase their speed when going downwind the catamarans raise up on their hydrofoils. Emirates reached a record speed of 54 miles per hour during the race yesterday.

Oracle "on its foils" as it is called if you are in the know. The consensus by those in the know was that Oracle made a severe tactical error when rounding a pylon & their "tacking" was not nearly as strong as Emirates.

We were unable to see the actual finish line from our seat on the retaining wall but hopped up (with that being a relative term in my case J) & watched New Zealand cross the line way ahead of the U.S. on the big screen behind us.

The crew of Emirates Team New Zealand on the big screen crossing the finish line 65 seconds ahead of Oracle Team USA - a huge margin for an America's Cup race - to take a 4-0 lead!

Here is a two minute video of the race that Lou took & posted on YouTube: Americas Cup - September 10, 2013

We walked back to some free bleachers near our car to watch the second race & hoped the U.S. could get their act together. Each team has one “postponement card” they can use, normally for a mechanical issue. It's kind of like a "do over" or a mulligan. The U.S. elected to use it for the second race yesterday since they were well aware they were getting their ass waxed & needed to regroup. 

We’ll see if the hole they dug for themselves is too deep. One thing is for sure, if they come back to win the America’s Cup from this deficit, it will be an amazing victory! Go Oracle!!