ACWS SF Converting New And Old Cup Fans
Enthusiasm Easy to Find at Marina Green
August 26, 2012
Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles
Martin-Raget
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Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles
Martin-Raget |
They came from all over the San Francisco Bay area – some serious sailors, some new fans, and some just curious what all the fuss was about. After seeing the America’s Cup World Series for themselves, if anyone remained skeptical about ACWS sailing, they were hard to find. The consensus takeaway was that these boats are fast and the racing is pretty exciting to watch.
Marge and Tom from Morgan Hill were at the Marina Green waterfront over two hours before Saturday’s America’s Cup World Series action began, staking out a prime viewing location even though it meant a bit of waiting. Saturday was a return trip for them, after a first visit earlier in the week. Owners of an Irwin 34, the couple wanted to see what this new America’s Cup would look like – and while they appreciate the old-style monohulls, they now find themselves caught up in the AC45 excitement.
“We came up on Wednesday and enjoyed it so much we decided to come on the weekend,” said Tom. “We knew it would be crowded, so we decided to just drive up early, hang out, and get a good spot. We’ve been looking forward to this since Larry got the Cup. We’re happy that he chose San Francisco instead of Newport or some of the other cities that were vying for this event. This is really a great venue. It’s exciting to see – these boats are going two or three times as fast as the old boats and a lot of things can happen. It’s a totally different sailing style. It’s fast and it’s so precise – the sailors really have to be on top of their game. It’s good to see these top sailors adapt to this type of new boat.”
“We sat in the bleachers on Wednesday and we loved it,” his wife Marge agreed. “The boats are so fast! But we loved the old boats too – we just saw the old monohull go by [Oracle’s USA-76, their ACC from the 2003 America’s Cup] and it’s just so beautiful and smooth. I’ve been wondering since we got here if they’re ever going to go back to that, but I suppose it depends on who wins and what they decide to do. But to get people out – this is the type of racing I think they have to have. It does attract more of the NASCAR-type crowd – and I even found myself on Wednesday thinking, ‘Oh, it wasn’t windy enough, no one went over!’”
Velvet, from Oakland, brought her friend Melinda, a Santa Cruz native, to the ACWS to show her what the sailing world is all about. Velvet takes sailing classes in Richmond and talked Melinda into coming up for the day to see sailboat racing in person for the first time. Both were excited at how close the boats came to where they were sitting on the Marina Green jetty.
“I started learning to sail last year, at the Tradewinds Sailing Club in Richmond,” explained Velvet. “I can see the boats training from my office and I’m fascinated. I went out on a boat yesterday to watch from the water and thought I’d watch from the land today. I didn’t really watch the America’s Cup before, so I don’t really know the difference between these boats and the boats they used to have, but these boats are pretty fun to watch. They’re fast, sleek, and they have some exciting flips!”
“I came up to hang out with Velvet and this seemed like a really fun thing to do!” said Melinda. “This is my first day watching America’s Cup racing and I’m looking forward to it. This is a lot closer than I expected to be – I expected to be way far away, with the boats as tiny dots in the distance, so this is better than I was expecting! The boats look really cool, so I’m looking forward to seeing the racing. I’ll have to come back next year for the Cup!”
Janice, from Sausalito, works at Fort Mason and
kayaks to work each day. She races kayaks, and is familiar with
the conditions in this part of the Bay, but boats racing along the
waterfront intrigued her, so she decided to come out and learn about
the America’s Cup.
Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles
Martin-Raget
“I know how the current works and the way the chop can affect you from my kayak racing,” said Janice. “But this racing is something new for me! I don’t really understand exactly where the boats are going, but I’m learning! It’s so exciting, the speed the boats carry, watching them all go around the marks in such tight quarters. Everyone is so excited about this, it’s just fun to come out and be a part of it. I’m glad I’ll be able to see the boats for the next year!”
From Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Napa, friends Ron, Thor, and John bought seats in the grandstand, snagging choice spots in the top row trying to get a view of the big screen television on the America’s Cup stage behind them as well as the race course in front of them. Thor and John both sail, and brought along Ron so he could see some racing for himself. Despite the cold of the day, they had drinks in hand and were ready for the action.
“My wife and I spent our honeymoon watching Australia win the Cup in Newport and I sail,” John said. “So I love this. These boats are amazing compare to the monohulls.”
“These boats are so fast and sleek,” said Thor. “It’s great. That guys like Spithill have to figure out how to make a split-second reaction with the speeds they’re going is just over the top. But this is history in the making. Hats off to Mr. Ellison – and thank you, Mr. Ellison – for making it happen. People don’t realize how much money it takes to make this go, to basically start a whole new sport. This brings more people in – I’ve sailed my whole life and I love it, but I’ve brought in at least six people who are new to sailing. It’s because of the way it’s done on TV, with the live lines and the way these boats go so fast.
Ron, the newcomer to sailing, seemed convinced. “This is my first look at boat racing, and I’m really enjoying it!”
Thor did have one suggestion for Cup organizers: “It would be great to have a couple of jumbotrons that you could see from the bleachers, because once the boats go over toward the St. Francis Yacht Club, or close to Fort Mason, you lose sight of them. We couldn’t see Russell’s bow buried in the committee boat!”
For fans looking to escape from the wind and cold, the Napa Valley Wines pavilion was a good place to be for Jennifer and Nicolette, sisters originally from South Africa, now living in Walnut Creek and Palo Alto. As life-long sailors, they most likely would have come anyway, but since their cousin is Brian Kosi, winemaker at Atalon Winery, the opportunity to indulge both passions was too much to resist.
“We sailed our parents’ Catalina 32 from Oregon to San Francisco two years ago,” said Jennifer. “We expected this crazy ride, and it turned out there was no wind – not like today! We grew up sailing Darts, which are like Hobie Cats, so seeing a catamaran of this size and this speed is amazing. The feeling that those guys must have is incredible – the speed and the power, when they pitchpole and fly, it’s just so incredible.”
“Growing up in South Africa, we didn’t really have a lot of information about the America’s Cup. My dad followed Shosholoza, but we were both so involved in the early days of our careers that we really didn’t follow much of anything. Now we’re following it very closely!
“And people who never knew about sailing are learning – I took one of my colleagues out on Wednesday on the boat. She knew nothing about sailing and she’s all excited now and following the America’s Cup.”
“I love that this format makes it so inclusive and that there’s so many people out,” Nicolette said. “I wonder if they’re going to do any market research of people’s opinion of sailing, but I think this is fantastic. It makes it so much more accessible and it’s great to see.”
Their cousin Brian watched the racing Friday from Club 45 and enjoyed that, too. “It was incredible to see the boats coming at you and that first turn, it was like ‘holy $%#&!’ Wow, it was exciting.”
--Diane Swintal for CupInfo/©2012
CupInfo.com
Photo:©2012 ACEA/Gilles
Martin-Raget