The 34th edition of the America's Cup gets underway on Saturday
Ahead of the America's Cup, Sky Sports pinpoints some of the things to know ahead of the start of Saturday's first race.
San Francisco:
Tony
Bennett sang about leaving his heart here, and skipper Jimmy Spithill
and the boys from Oracle Team USA want to keep the America's Cup in the
City by the Bay. While past America's Cups have been contested miles out
at sea, this one will be sailed in one of the world's greatest natural
amphitheaters, with a steady wind and sometimes tricky tide. Fans can
watch from the shore or high-rise buildings. After starting parallel to
the Golden Gate Bridge, the boats sail a short reach across the wind and
then speed downwind past Alcatraz Island. The five-leg course ends just
off Piers 27-29, home to America's Cup Park. TV shots will feature the
Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridges, the Coit Tower and
the Transamerica Pyramid.
Larry Ellison:
Extreme sailing on the AC72
The co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corp. is an avid sailor who's spent
an estimated $500 million over the past 10 years in pursuing, winning
and now defending the silver trophy. Then again, his estimated net worth
of $43 billion makes him one of the world's wealthiest individuals.
People either love or hate Ellison, and there's been plenty of grumbling
that his grand vision for a regatta with a dozen or more challengers
fizzled, in part because of the economy and the expensive, dangerous
boats. Ellison hasn't been seen publically and has been kept away from
the press, except for one TV interview. His presence is still felt,
though. Two of his super yachts, the 288-foot Musashi and the 184-foot
Asahi are moored at America's Cup Park. Also on techie-billionaire row
are Athena, owned by Jim Clark (Netscape, Silicon Graphics) and Senses,
owned by Ellison's rival, Larry Page of Google. Senses moored between
Ellison's yachts stands out because of the red helicopter on the helipad
on the stern.
The Scandal:
How the Louis Vuitton Cup was won
Oracle Team USA was caught illegally modifying 45-foot catamarans
that were used in the warm-up regattas called the America's Cup World
Series. Besides docking Oracle two points, wing trimmer Dirk de Ridder
was booted from the regatta, along with two shore crew members. Grinder
Matt Mitchell was banned from the first four races and the syndicate was
fined $250,000. Although Spithill and syndicate CEO Russell Coutts were
never implicated, the jury said it "seems inconceivable that boat
riggers initiated these changes without the knowledge of managers, or
the direction of sailors, if not skippers." Spithill has been almost
defiant, saying Oracle is a clear underdog. He also called on locals to
support the crew. "We want to keep the Cup here. These guys don't," he
said at a news conference, referring to ETNZ skipper Dean Barker and
trimmer Glenn Ashby. "We're counting on San Franciscans to come out and
support us."
The Basics:
Americas Cup Preview
The 72-foot catamarans are powered by 131-foot wing sails that look
and perform like jetliner wings, including flaps. At around 20 knots,
the boats lift onto hydrofoils, their hulls completely out of the water
to reduce drag and increase speed. It takes 11 crew to sail the
demanding boats, and the sailors bound across the trampoline from one
hull to another when the boats tack or gybe. The sailors wear crash
helmets and life vests. After Artemis Racing's Andrew "Bart" Simpson was
killed in a capsize on May 9, sailors began wearing body armour,
knives, an air tank and breathing tube, self-lowering equipment and
underwater locator devices. There will be two races a day on Saturday,
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and, if needed, next Friday, Saturday, Sept.
17 and Sept. 19. A single race is set for Sept. 21, if needed. The
series would continue beyond that to accommodate Oracle's need to win 11
races.
Goon On Ya, Mate:
There's a definite Down Under flavour to
the America's Cup. Oracle skipper Spithill is Aussie, although his wife
is from San Diego and they have a home there. Coutts won the first two
of his four America's Cups with his native New Zealand. Of Emirates Team
New Zealand's 15 sailors, 13 are Kiwis and the other two are Aussies,
although Adam Beashel also has a New Zealand passport. Of the 11 men who
will sail Oracle Team USA, four are Aussies and two are Kiwis. Only two
are Americans, tactician John Kostecki, a San Francisco native, and
grinder Rome Kirby, whose father, Jerry, competed in six America's Cup
campaigns. Ashby, Team New Zealand's Aussie-born trimmer, has sailed
with both Spithill and Barker. "They probably both want to kill each
other," Ashby said. In a figurative sense, the aggressive Spithill would
like to do that in the pre-start manoeuvres and round the first mark in
first place, a bellwether to how the series might go.
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