So let me begin by saying that I’ve never been sailing (though I’d like to) and I certainly don’t keep up with the races. That said, while I was in San Francisco recently, the America’s Cup preliminary races were happening and so we decided to check them out… if for no other reason than to experience something new.
Embarcadero Street in San Francisco is literally lined on the bay side with tons of piers. The famous Pier 39 with all its eateries and sea lions is there, along with numerous other shops and ferry stations. This year since the America’s Cup race was in town, piers 27 and 29 were turned into a giant America’s Cup park of sorts, with restaurants, shops that carried gear from all the teams represented, grand stands with giant screen TVs everywhere… the works. Just off the pier was the actual finish line of the race, so if you wanted to see the boats in action for yourself, you just had to walk towards the water. Pretty neat stuff!
As we were walking down the sidewalk one afternoon, the announcers were saying that the final race of the Louis Vuitton Cup was happening and they were inviting passers-by to come checkout the finale. The winner of this race would go on to compete in the America’s Cup race against the US Oracle team. My friends and I made our way to the finish line in time to watch the New Zealand Emirates Team buzz around the backside of the course and then blaze through the finish victoriously. It was quite the spectacle! If you’ve never seen these boats at speed, it is worth looking up. They say the boats “fly on water” because almost the entire vessel is out of the water (literally everything but the keel), which is really impressive to see.
Once the New Zealanders had won the race, they made a victory lap in front of the crowd. I loved their countrymen waving their flags and all the chase boats following them to port. Definitely a cool experience.
–Dan Thompson