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America's Cup - San Francisco - 2013

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Russ.Johnson
Commodore

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USA
859 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/29/2013 : 15:21:02

I had a great time at the America's Cup "World Series" (AC-45) in San Francisco last August.
Pictures and videos posted here: >> http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25618

This year with the new AC-72 boats, the race course and racing format has changed.
I'm willing to be a "free" resource and tell you what I learned from last year.
If anyone is planning to attend this summer, please send me an email.
Russ Johnson (russ.johnson707 at att.net)

Note: This is not an association event, just tips from a guy who lives in the area and saw the racing last year.
 
<hr noshade size="1">Here's the schedule for San Francisco, 2013 (from http://www.americascup.com)
Jul-04 (Thu) Opening Day
Jul-05 (Fri) Fleet Racing (sounds like practice)
<hr noshade size="1">-- Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin Series
Jul-07 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-1
Jul-08 (Mon) (no racing)
Jul-09 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-1
Jul-10 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-1

Jul-12 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-2
Jul-13 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-2
Jul-14 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-2

Jul-16 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-3
Jul-17 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-3

Jul-19 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-3
Jul-20 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-4
Jul-21 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-4

Jul-23 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-4
Jul-24 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-5

Jul-26 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-5
Jul-27 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-5
Jul-28 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-6

Jul-30 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-6
Jul-31 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-6

Aug-02 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-7
Aug-03 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-7
Aug-04 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Round Robin-7
<hr noshade size="1">-- Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final Series (best 4 of 7 races)
Aug-07 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-1
Aug-08 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-2

Aug-10 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-3
Aug-11 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-4
Aug-12 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-5 (if needed)

Aug-14 (Tue) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-6 (if needed)
Aug-15 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Semi-Final-7 (if needed)
<hr noshade size="1">-- Louis Vuitton Cup - Final Series (best 7 of 13 races)
Aug-17 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-1, race-2)
Aug-18 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-3, race-4)

Aug-21 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-5, race-6)

Aug-24 (Sat) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-7, race-8)
Aug-25 (Sun) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-9, race-10) (if needed)

Aug-28 (Wed) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-11, race-12) (if needed)

Aug-30 (Fri) Louis Vuitton Cup - Final (race-13) (if needed)
<hr noshade size="1">-- Labor Day Weekend Schedule
Sep-1 (Sun) Red Bull Youth America's Cup
Sep-2 (Mon) Red Bull Youth America's Cup
Sep-3 (Tue) Red Bull Youth America's Cup
Sep-4 (Wed) Red Bull Youth America's Cup
<hr noshade size="1">-- America's Cup - Final Series (best 9 of 17 races)
Sep-07 (Sat) America's Cup - Final (race-1, race-2)
Sep-08 (Sun) America's Cup - Final (race-3, race-4)

Sep-10 (Tue) America's Cup - Final (race-5, race-6)

Sep-12 (Thu) America's Cup - Final (race-7, race-8)

Sep-14 (Sat) America's Cup - Final (race-9, race-10)
Sep-15 (Sun) America's Cup - Final (race-11, race-12) (if needed)

Sep-17 (Tue) America's Cup - Final (race-13, race-14) (if needed)

Sep-19 (Thu) America's Cup - Final (race-15, race-16) (if needed)

Sep-21 (Sat) America's Cup - Final (race-17) (if needed)
<hr noshade size="1">-- Note: during the non-sailing days there is a "Superyacht Regatta"
Sep-09 (Mon) -- (Superyacht Regatta)
Sep-11 (Wed) -- (Superyacht Regatta)
Sep-13 (Fri) -- (Superyacht Regatta)

Russ Johnson
2005 C250WB Hull 793

Edited by - Russ.Johnson on 03/29/2013 15:27:12

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2013 : 09:23:57

I'd certainly like to witness at least one of those races "up close", but watching them on TV last year was pretty cool! They had on-board cameras (as usual), and aerial shots that included computer-generated lines that showed the course boundaries, which are significant to the new rules, and relative positions of the boats. The way those cats go, it's often impossible to tell who's ahead--sometimes even the computers seemed to be getting it wrong.

This "new wave" might not be for sailing purists who prefer the inherent limits of monohulls and soft sails, but I suspect it will get a lot of people watching, and generate a new level of interest in sailing. When sailboats exceed the speed of the wind while sailing against it, with spray flying, people will be excited!

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5430 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2013 : 10:14:20

On the USPower Squadron forum there were opportunities to volunteer on the AC Oracle team, which pretty much meant:
1. You have to be an SF local or camp out locally (at your own expense);
2. Be available at all times day or night beginning in late June until late Sept ; and
3. Be available to run errands, get coffee (and probably other contraband!) and generally help out.
For the right person (single college student or retiree) it would be an experience of a lifetime. And who knows what kind of opportunities it would bring if you were eager, attentive, attractive, etc.
Like I say, for the right gal or guy, it ain't a bad thing to be rubbing elbows or doing good deeds for Larry and crew at the AC.
I won't be going however …

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5430 Posts

Response Posted - 03/30/2013 : 10:22:54

Back to Dave's comments, a friend went to Newport's Castle Hill resort during the trials last summer and he watched them live. He and his wife enjoyed it a great deal, but then he came over the house so I showed him the YouTube footage of the same races (maybe NBC.com? Or CNN-Int'l? on PVR).
He said that the TV coverage explained a lot that he missed during the live event.
So if I can, I'll take the best of both worlds.…

Edited by - on

Peregrine
Admiral

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830 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2013 : 10:05:27

Just returned from a week in San Francisco and got to see Oracle and a couple of others training.
Man, they go fast.
I'm not a fan of multi-hull racing but it is a sight to see any boat go that fast under sail.

Edited by - Peregrine on 03/31/2013 13:56:32

Tradewind
Admiral

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USA
531 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2013 : 07:53:08

Since they've gone hi-tech I just have no interest. I still have some VCR tapes from races in the 80's that I watch when I need an AC fix.

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2013 : 11:15:11

Last summer I felt like an America's Cup racer when I got my sailboat up on plane. It was a thrill to be skimming the wavetops.

Of course, it was only a Sunfish on a little bay at Cape Cod, but it was a real rush! It's hard to imagine how a 30 knot gust feels on one of those 70 foot multi-hull boats.

Edited by - on

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2013 : 16:05:19

As much as I would like to trailer "Quiet Time" down to S.F. Bay this summer and watch the AC events in person, I have some reservations. It is certain to be massively crowded out on the water, and as Bruce and Dave pointed out, the boats are all heavily covered with TV cameras, giving you the view right from the cockpit, or overhead from a helicopter, instead of hundreds of yards away through a forest of intervening spectator boats. Weather is also a concern: the Louis Vuitton Cup series is in July, which is when wind conditions along the city front are the most ferocious of the year. I've sailed enough in SF Bay and the Delta in the summer months, with 30+ knots of wind, to know that my Tall Rig C-25, with her shallow draft wing keel, is best enjoyed in lighter conditions, like 6-10 kts.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5430 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2013 : 20:04:20

I saw what the chaos was like among the spectator boats in Newport last summer for the trials - I gotta imagine it'll be a zoo out on the Bay with the number of boats, most of which will be driven by the strong winds…

And what was it that Mark Twain once said? "I've never spent a colder winter than summer in San Francisco!"

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2013 : 21:00:41

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by JohnP
 Last summer I felt like an America's Cup racer when I got my sailboat up on plane. It was a thrill to be skimming the wavetops.

Of course, it was only a Sunfish on a little bay at Cape Cod<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I had a Sunfish and had her on plane, skipping like a flat rock in 30 knot winds gusting to probably 50 in front of a green-black midwestern storm front. (You midwesterners know what I mean...) Happily, I got to the beach after getting the board up (a struggle) and probably slid 50' over the sand... That little boat was the purest sailing I've ever experienced! I had a similarly incredible time on a rented Force 5 (a slightly scaled-up Sunfish) on an Arizona lake as the twilight desert winds piped up and all the other sailors had dashed for home. Nothing quite like it! I can't recommend it too much!

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 04/06/2013 21:02:42

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