At 30 knots, it’s not NASCAR out there, but the America’s Cup World Series can be as exciting — depending, that is, on the flow of the San Diego Bay tide. Crewmembers will hang onto the gunwales for two weekends of competition in San Diego (Nov. 12-13 and Nov. 19-20) when nine boats take to the water in match and fleet activity. Entries will come from France, Sweden, Korea, China, United States, New Zealand and Spain. Spectator gates for vendors and entertainment at the Broadway Pier will open each day at 10 a.m. and racing starts at 1 p.m. on a short-course version of Dennis Conner’s swashbuckling Cup challenges on unpredictable water off Point Loma a few years ago. This time the shorelines along Harbor and North islands and the Embarcadero will be filled with spectators getting a closer look as the boats slip past. The new AC45 wing-sailed catamarans provide a platform that has never been seen in the America’s Cup — a boat that is both exceedingly quick and highly maneuverable. The series is considered an extreme experience with cutting edge wing-sailed catamarans navigating short, sharp, intense races on courses squeezed into the Bay to ensure close action to test the abilities of the best sailing teams in the world. Five crewmen and a sixth, called the guest, will man the sails. “I think the competition in San Diego Bay is going to be fantastic,” said Iain Murray, regatta director. “The racing will be very close to shore, which means it will be great for spectators. The short courses will also be very challenging for the sailors, who will need to execute their crew maneuvers flawlessly to be successful.” San Diego marks the third stop on the tour, which awards points for both overall match and fleet racing championships. The 2011-12 series concludes July 1 in Newport, R.I. “I am really excited to race in San Diego again,” said Bertrand Pacé, the skipper of the French Aleph team. “I sailed in two Louis Vuitton Cups there in the 1990s and I learned an awful lot about the America’s Cup. To go back and race AC45s in the bay will be completely different.” The AC45 was designed by Oracle Racing design and engineering teams and is manufactured by Core Builders Composite of New Zealand. It’s 44 feet in length, 22.6 feet wide, has a 70-foot mast, 8.8-foot draft and weighs 3,080 pounds. The wing area is 914 square feet. The two United States Oracle boats had mixed results in the first two events, winning the match racing and placing third in fleet at Portugal and a fifth and first, respectively, in England. Subsequently, they spent hours practicing on San Francisco’s huge bay. Besides running computer tests, the team mixed crew members out of a pool of 20 hand-picked sailors. “We want a brutal race series where we push each other,” Oracle skipper James Spithill said. “Our goal is to have better racing than the challengers get.” He said he thought Emirates Team New Zealand, however, might have the inside track toward the eventual title. “The Kiwis have been the most consistent team, although the French teams — Aleph Equipe and Energy Team — have been sound, as has Artemis Racing of Sweden,” he said. “The surprise has been Team Korea, which ousted Oracle in match racing in Plymouth.” During the series’ event in Plymouth, England, three catamarans capsized in competition and in Portugal’s August race, a New Zealand crewmember slipped over the side. It awaits to be seen if San Diego will see such action. Point Loma sailor to call TV coverage for America’s Cup race — From staff and contribution Point Loma resident Annie Gardner Nelson, an experienced announcer and former America’s Cup competitor, will be calling the action during the return of the America’s Cup competition in two weeks when it returns to San Diego after a 15-year absence. Nelson will call the race action during television coverage from Nov. 16-20, as well as for spectators on shore watching from the America’s Cup Village on Broadway Pier. Nelson, who was a member of America3, the 1995 all-woman team that competed for the America’s Cup, will lend her observations to a very different cup race that has a new race format, boats and technology than the one in which she participated. Her own sailing and announcing experience, however, will allow her to have a unique perspective on what the sailors are thinking, feeling and anticipating on the water. Nelson’s diversified sailing experience will also arm her to discuss what an America’s Cup return to San Diego means for the city and the sport of sailing. The San Diego leg is the third stop of the America’s Cup new tour format – the AC World Series — which brings racing to port cities around the globe. It’s also the U.S. debut of the new technologically advanced AC45 wing-sailed catamarans. Racing will take place on San Diego Bay, designed to deliver up-close and exciting racing for spectators on shore.
