Golden Gate Opens Up For 2011 America’s Cup
Nov 22, 2010George Clifford
After much speculation it seems that San Francisco may finally secure her place as the venue for the 34th America's Cup, from February 2011 onwards.
Despite rumours all year that the state of California was not financially able to build the necessary shoreline facilities for the high performance yachts and their spectators, overwhelming approval was given by the City's Board of Supervisors.
USA-17 is set to be a centrepiece of San Franscisco Bay’s Pier 80 from February 2011 and will be used to attract spectators - around 50,000 per weekday ‘preliminaries’ and 500,000 weekend days - to the AV Public Park during the America's Cup World series scheduled 7- 22 September 2013.
Entries for the Challenger Series, consisting of three races per day of 45 minutes each in four phases - Round Robin, Quarters, Semis and Finals - opened on November 1.The last multi-challenger America's cup, held in Valencia in 2007 was sailed in 75ft monohulls weighing 25 tonnes, and attracted 12 teams from 10 countries.
The 34th America's Cup will be sailed in 72 catamarans weighing around four tonnes! Although the overall custom yacht range has been scaled down from around 82 feet (26m) to 72 feet (22m), the physical demand remains!
Catamarans also prove to be a popular skippered yacht charter option for heading out to take in a key world series racing event like the America’s Cup. At 70 foot each, the 8 berth, 4 cabin SeaBass, Damrak or Abuelo combine robust, sea worthy credentials with a smooth, sailing holiday style most apt for a chilled out passage to San Francisco Bay!
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