Monthly Archives: April 2011

Imagination Rewarded

Before they entered a contest to design a student pavilion for the America’s Cup Village, not one of the San Francisco high schoolers involved had ever heard of this thing called an America’s Cup. No hands went up when we asked. Beyond the (usually) happy bubble that sailing fanatics inhabit, that’s not uncommon. That’s the [...]

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Announcing “With Confidence”

With fifteen teams signed for the 34th America’s Cup, the question persists, How many will actually show up on San Francisco Bay with a 72-foot catamaran in 2013? Most of them, and that’s as far as I’m taking my guesswork. One of the major players, Sweden’s Artemis, with Terry Hutchinson on the helm, has been [...]

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Redefining “Tight-Reach”

My favorite remarks from the America’s Cup panel at Strictly Sail Pacific, a Thursday-night push that drew a standing-room crowd— Mike Martin of America’s Cup Race Management on developing race courses for 40-knots-capable 72-footers: “Tight reaching in a catamaran is a hairy-scary proposition, because it’s a no-go zone. If you head up, you power up. [...]

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GO STOP

Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts have surprised me a few times already. But shutting down San Francisco Bay? Now, that’s a trick. And that’s the plan for America’s Cup 34. The first AC45s under way in Auckland. © America’s Cup Event Authority According to John Craig, Principal Race Officer of America’s Cup Race Management, the [...]

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Peyron Chills

In the Med, 217 miles ahead of second place and 263 miles short of making it back to the start-finish line of the Barcelona World Race, Loïck Peyron did the only thing worth doing in a calm. He went for a dip, while crewmate Jean-Pierre Dick stood watch over the boat and the water. The [...]

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America’s Cup Redefined

For the first time in its long history, since the schooner yacht America won its famous trophy from England’s Royal Yacht Squadron in 1851, the America’s Cup is not “just” the America’s Cup. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee at the press conference, backed by the Ferry Building Ed Lee, Mayor of the City of San [...]

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