America's Cup arrives in San Francisco... by train!

[Bob Cleek]

The America's Cup organization officially arrived in San Francisco on the Embarcadero last night from Newport RI on a 121 car mile and a half long express train hauling boats, gear, TV equipment and so on.

They've got all the photos on the AC website locked, so you can't copy them, but it's all on the AC's press website. http://photo.americascup.com/

Here's a shot of the train going through Vermont, although there isn't much to see.



Those AC72's are going to be mind boggling!

It's pretty amazing to see sailboat racing coming back into its own. They are running the new America's Cup like it was NASCAR or something.

[Willin']

I should know this but...where does the Cup itself reside these days? I kinda stopped paying attention a few years ago during all the legal shenanigans and now I don't even know which club is the defender.

[orbb]

They are running the new America's Cup like it was NASCAR or something.

The redneck in me likes this, but the traditionalist in me who grew up reading about Bus Mosbacher wishes for the old days, which were before my time. It's sort of like deep fried turkey v. turkey with stuffing at Thanksgiving - I understand the new and different, but still appreciate the traditional.

Yes, the deep fried turkey is more evidence of the redneck side of me. Go 29 car!

[Canoeyawl]

I remember watching Weatherly and Gretel in the 1962 races. The second race was big news and there was great concern.

(My Uncle was captain of a Navy ship stationed at Newport and we had front row seats, I wish I could find seats like those for this upcoming event in SF)

[Bob Cleek]

More is coming out on the news now. They ran the train into Pier 80, the old APL intermodal container terminal.

Posted on 24 July 2012

The America’s Cup Express, a train stretching 1.5 miles long, rolled into San Francisco Tuesday. The 121 railroad cars are carrying the material required to move the America’s Cup World Series and the teams into the host city of the Cup ahead of racing in August and October.

The cargo includes the race boats – the powerful AC45 wing-sailed catamarans that have been thrilling crowds and challenging the best sailors in the world as the Series has moved around the world over the past year. Now, the racing is coming to San Francisco for the first time.

“This train represents more than just another stop on the AC World Series for us,” said Stephen Barclay, the CEO of the 34th America’s Cup. “In less than one month, we’ll be racing for the very first time on San Francisco Bay, with our public AC Village set up on Marina Green. The arrival of the train today is the first step in our move ‘home’ to San Francisco.”

The train has come across the continent following the final day of racing of the 2011-12 AC World Series in Newport, Rhode Island on July 1. Next month, the second season of competition begins in San Francisco from August 21-26.

The America’s Cup Express arrived at Pier 80, where it will be unloaded over the coming days, with the cargo being delivered to various local destinations over the next three weeks. Set up of the AC Village at Marina Green is scheduled to begin in mid-August. ORACLE TEAM USA, the San Francisco based defender of the America’s Cup, is already sailing on the Bay, while other teams are expected to begin training here as early as the first week of August.

“Congratulations to the America’s Cup Event Authority and Race Management on this exciting moment for San Francisco and the America’s Cup teams,” said San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee. “The arrival of the boats and other equipment is just the beginning of more than a year of world-class sailing on our Bay, attracting millions of visitors and generating thousands of jobs.”

The America’s Cup World Series kicks off its second season with races in San Francisco from August 21-26 and October 2-7, 2012. The Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, will be held in San Francisco from July 4 – September 1, 2013 and the America’s Cup Finals will be held September 7 – 22, 2013.

AC Express Facts and Figures:
• 121 railroad cars
• 129 pieces of cargo
• Train is nearly 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) long or 7,572 feet
• Pier 80 – the final destination – hasn’t been used by cargo trains in over 10 years

[Gold Rock]

Those AC72's are going to be mind boggling!

I agree! The AC boats of recent decades have become kind of uninteresting to my personal sensibility. These multis are fresh and new and technologically interesting and the speed, oh my the speed! I'm looking forward to seeing the show.

[Hwyl]

I should know this but...where does the Cup itself reside these days? I kinda stopped paying attention a few years ago during all the legal shenanigans and now I don't even know which club is the defender.

Larry Ellison has it

[Lew Barrett]

There are many times I miss life in the Bay Area. This would be another one of them.

[Willin']

Larry Ellison has it

Thanks Gareth. I guess things really have changed then. Used to be it was held by the club the winner belonged to. I remember seeing it in a high security viewing display case in the RNZYS clubhouse after some disgruntled locals had a wack at it in Auckland. Is Ellison displaying it anywhere, or is it up on his mantle at home?

[Tom Hunter]

Willin the cup is still technically being defended by a yacht club, but as was true in many of the best periods in its history it's being driven by an individual, in this case Ellison. Ellison is joining Lipton, Vanderbilt and others in beign a great sponsor of the race. Those guys spent gobs of money on the cup in thier day, and Lipton was a genius for using it to boost sales of tea. So what's old is new again.

I like the fact that its on the cutting edge of sailing technology and media exploitation, that's where it should be.

[JBreeze]

Can someone help me out with a couple questions?

1) The boats used so far are AC45s....the AC Finals will use AC72s. At what point do the teams switch to 72s? How many of the teams will be allowed to compete with 72s?

2) The recent course between Jamestown and Newport was in a narrow channel and the boats sailed back and forth about 8 laps to the finish. The AC website shows a similar course in S.F. Will the S.F. course be the same for the 72s?

Sorry for the naive questions, but the local press and AC website didn't address this when in Newport. Thanks

[Bob Cleek]

Can someone help me out with a couple questions?

1) The boats used so far are AC45s....the AC Finals will use AC72s. At what point do the teams switch to 72s? How many of the teams will be allowed to compete with 72s?

2) The recent course between Jamestown and Newport was in a narrow channel and the boats sailed back and forth about 8 laps to the finish. The AC website shows a similar course in S.F. Will the S.F. course be the same for the 72s?

Sorry for the naive questions, but the local press and AC website didn't address this when in Newport. Thanks

I'm not an expert on the current America's cup, by any means. The first AC72 was launched (to use the term lightly... no sliding down the ways for them!) in Aukland, NZ, just the other day on July 21st by the Arab Emirates New Zealand team.




The series being raced in August of this year in San Francisco will be raced in AC45's. The AC45's and all their gear, plus all the TV coverage equipment and so on are what was shipped in on the America's Cup Express train yesterday.

It is my understanding that the AC72's will be used by all teams competing in the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup elimination series on SF Bay and by the ultimate challenger and Team Oracle (Ellison) sailing for the Golden Gate Yacht Club in the America's Cup series in 2013.

The America's Cup race course has been announced already and is something of an elongated figure-eight course. It will be close to shore the Presidio's Crissy Field just inside the Golden Gate and Pier 20 on the Embarcadero and between the City and Alcatraaz island. This will provide both excellent sailing weather (major wind!) and maximum spectator viewing opportunities.

[Lew Barrett]

Thanks Gareth. I guess things really have changed then. Used to be it was held by the club the winner belonged to.

Larry Ellison is the club he belongs to!

[Canoeyawl]

It looks like a day trip to Alcatraz might be a good seat

[Bob Cleek]

It looks like a day trip to Alcatraz might be a good seat

There'll be a bazillion good seats. Just about every foot of shoreline facing the course is unobstructed and open to the public, unless, of course, the City and the National Park Service get greedy and start charging admission. From Crissy Field to Acquatic part is all part of the Golden Gate Recreational Area under UPS jurisdiction. Pacific Heights is inland from the Marina Green. That's were those steep streets that they are always using in movies like Bullit are and there's great high-up views of the bay from all those as well. Probably better views that from the shoreline, actually. It doesn't show on the google earth view above, but there are steep hills running down to the shoreline along the course that form a natural ampitheater. There should also be good viewing from the Marin Headlands at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is also all accessible National Recreation Area and quite high up, as well as the bridge itself, although they may close the bridge to pedestrian traffic for the race for crowd control safety reasons. All things considered, the biggest problem is going to be traffic and parking!

[Willin']

Pretty amazing! I wonder if SF will evict the sea lion colony to allow more tourist viewing?

[Willin']

Larry Ellison is the club he belongs to!

Yeah, but which club is it? IIRC there are two major players in SF, San Francisco and St. Francis yacht clubs. St. Francis sent a well funded challenge syndicate, America True, to the 2000 Cup. Are they the current defenders?

[Canoeyawl]

There has been rumors about the big yachts (really big) that will be anchored around the shoreline obstructing the view from the beach. I don't know if that has been sorted out yet.

[sailoar]

Pretty amazing! I wonder if SF will evict the sea lion colony to allow more tourist viewing?

Ort! Ort! Ort!

[Willin']

Ort! Ort! Ort!

[dreyer]

There has been rumors about the big yachts (really big) that will be anchored around the shoreline obstructing the view from the beach. I don't know if that has been sorted out yet.

I'm pretty sure they will be well clear. The large yachts were designated an anchoring position well clear of spectator views for the AC45s in Venice. They were also kept off their berths until crowds had cleared. No shortage of viewing spots in SF. If you plan on viewing from the water, get your spectator vessel application/registration in REALLY early.

J.

[Bob Cleek]

The sea lions are a protected species, so they can't mess with them. I don't know why, since there are plenty of them around, but that's the law. They won't inferfere with spectators, though, because they are only down on the docks at Pier 39 and you'd be looking over them from the pier to watch the racers.

There really isn't any suitable anchorage between the SF shore and the course where a large vessel could anchor, so I don't see that being much of a problem. The closest anchorage area to the course would be across the Gate off Sausalito, but that wouldn't block much of a view to begin with, as the distance from the course would be fairly great. The America's Cup organizers are supposed to be providing a designated berthing area for larger visiting yachts down the Embarcadero south of the Ferry Building, although there is some dispute at present exactly where that will end up being. That would also be too far away from the course and "around the bend" of the peninsula such that there wouldn't be any view for them to block.

From all indications, after watching the television coverage of the races in Newport recently, and the fact that the TV feeds are coming directly from the America's Cup organization's own cameras, the "best seats in the house" are definitely going to be in your living room. The boats and even the sailors are individually miked and cameraed and arial coverage is done from heliocopters. They are using the same technology they use in football now to overlay grids and course lines on top of the video shots, together with all sorts of real time navigational data, which makes watching it on TV, especially for an experienced sailor, a much more information rich and interesting experience than just looking at boats sailing a half mile or more away through a paid of binoculars.