Latitude 38 VOLUME 406 April 2011 WE GO WHERE THE WIND BLOWS APRIL 2011 VOLUME 406 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AMERICA'S CUP 34 On-the-water action in the AC drama may have been limited, but plenty was going on behind the scenes. Here's our Cup's prominence. wrap up of changes, news and dockside US Sailing board member and AC34 rumors: PRO — and former St. Francis YC Racing The America's Cup Race Management Director — John Craig was next up, touch- and AC Event Authority reached out to ing on a wide variety of topics including the the local sailing community last month pier layouts and the impact on seagoing at a pair of meetings. The fi rst was the traffi c on the Bay, topics on which he went local gathering of the Sailing Renaissance into more detail a few days later at a meet- group, a collection of local sailing business ing for yacht club and YRA representatives. leaders who've been meeting for the past Following Craig was a panel comprised of couple years to try to come up with ways AC management veteran and sponsor- to boost local sailing businesses. ship liaison Ashley Tobin, marketer Eric Naturally, the advent of an America's Holzheimer, and Protector USA's Howie Cup on the Bay has attracted quite a few Shiebler all of whom spoke to the need for more people to the mix, and the meeting on positioning oneself, and one's business or March 8 packed the Golden Gate YC with club early to take advantage of the oppor- over 150 people who showed up to get an tunities the Cup will bring. idea of how the Cup could affect their busi- Two days later Craig was back at the nesses. Group co-founder and Latitude 38 club, this time for a much smaller but no Associate Publisher John Arndt assumed less important group of YRA and yacht the MC duties for the three-hour meeting club representatives — who had reached which was kicked off by a instructive ad- out to ACRM in January to start the dialog dress by US Sailing President and Cup about how the event would affect local sail- winner Gary Jobson. ing. And while his address at the Sailing Jobson, in his role as Cup commenta- Renaissance meeting was worthwhile, the tor for ESPN going back to '87, touched topics at the front of most Bay Area racers' on a variety of topics in the course of his minds were addressed in far greater detail speech, but the one that got our attention at this more intimate gathering. There were the most was his relating the story of how a couple key takeaways. Annapolis came to host a stopover during "The races will be 45 minutes long," the '98-'99 Whitbread Race. Craig said. "Not 44 minutes, not 46 min- "You have to realize that you're all on the utes." same team, the same boat," Jobson said. He went on to explain that due to the "Once people in Annapolis realized that, nature of the requirements for televising A total of four AC45s are terrorizing the waters off then there was plenty to go around." the races, the Dynamic Positioning vessels Auckland, ahead of a test event in April. He then highlighted the importance of that will be used as marks will be inter- celebrity in getting mainstream attention faced with technology that will be able to down the TV executives' idea of having a for the Cup, citing the involvement of past predict the speed of the boats around the caution fl ag as in auto racing, in order to U.S. presidents as being essential to the course and adjust leg lengths accordingly. provide time for commercial breaks. The Back by popular demand, this is the last time we'll When people in the crowd guffawed at the end result, as far as Bay Area sailors are show the course area map for AC34, for now. idea, Craig replied that he'd already turned concerned, is that the prescribed nature of the racing will mean that the interruptions will be pretty predictable. "We don't want to shut down non-Cup racing on the Bay," Craig said. "The last thing we want is for the event to come and go and have people say, 'Well, that sucked.'" The practical implications are far from being obvious at this point, but they will be much clearer at the end of April when ACRM runs a test event in Auckland. JOBS!!! Not as in Steve Jobs, but rather as in jobs for sailors. One of the coolest things to come out of the smaller meeting is that the ACRM will be coming to the local clubs ACEA for two things. First, they will need help — a lot of help — with course marshalling. They expect to AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY Page 94 • Latitude 38 • April, 2011 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY — SAN FRANCISCO BAY quoted as saying. "'The impact of those changes have been completely unknown until now, and those who negotiated on behalf of the city have some serious explaining to do. There were substantial increases in obligations and liabilities for the city." Although the changes were apparently greenlighted by the City Attorney's offi ce, the report stated that they signifi cantly increased the City's obligations — pro- hibited under the agreement the Board of Supervisors approved. Honestly, we don't know what bearing this will have on the event, and we hope that for America's Cup 34 it means little or no interruption. But one thing is for sure: given Larry Ellison's success in litigating both in the business world — he pounded rival SAP to the tune of $1.3 billion in damages in a lawsuit last year — and the Cup arena, where he smacked Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi team around in the lead-up to AC33, we wouldn't bet against him. USA 17 Is In San Francisco Oracle Racing seized yet another op- portunity to build awareness of the 34th America's Cup when USA 17, winner of the GILLES MARTIN-RAGET 33rd contest, arrived at Pier 80 early on the morning of February 28. All the local mainstream media outlets, Golden Gate YC boosters, and sailing journalists were joined by the America's Cup Event Au- thority press offi cer Stephanie Martin and need upward of 200 marshal boats to help John Craig" and "Race Committee." Oracle team members John Kostecki and maintain order among a spectator fl eet Ian Burns. The unloading of USA 17 and that's expected to reach in the neighbor- Did the Deal Get Worse? its 223-ft wing didn't actually happen until hood of 5,000 boats and surround a course Early last month, City of San Francisco the following day, and it was later placed area that is six times the size of the ditch Budget Analyst Harvey Rose released his 'USA 17' is in San Francisco, having arrived at zone the Coast Guard sets up for Fleet report on the changes negotiated by for- the end of February. But don't expect to see her Week – an effort itself that requires 50 mer Mayor Gavin Newsom to the Host tearing around the Bay any time soon, if ever. boats. So Craig and the ACRM came with Venue Agreement their hands out, asking for help from the agreed upon by all clubs and their members to fi nd the boats 11 Supervisors in and drivers they'll need. A training process mid-December. is in the works, and we can guarantee you, In an article in there will be no better way to see the action the San Francisco from the water. Chronicle by reporter Second, Craig said that they will be John Coté, supervi- recruiting almost exclusively from the Bay sor Ross Mirkarimi, for Race Committee staff that will work on who commissioned every America's Cup World Series event, Rose's analysis, the Louis Vuitton Cup and the Cup itself. took exception to These 60-80 people will need to able to the changes made commit to roughly two-week stints for by Newsom and his every ACWS event, and will get paid with team. more than just a million-dollar view. "'We ratifi ed a de- If you're interested in either, go to www. cent deal, but the americascup.com and click on the "Join proposal changed our team" link. When you upload your signifi cantly by Dec. ERIK SIMONSON/WWW.H2OSHOTS.COM resume, make a note that says "Attention 31,'" Mirkarimi was AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY April, 2011 • Latitude 38 • Page 95 AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY • AMERICA'S CUP 34 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AMERICA'S CUP 34 in a massive shed at the pier.