America’s Cup is ready to take over San Francisco Bay

The long awaited summer of racing is just around the corner, and this month is starting with many exciting events beginning on the Fourth of July.

Independence Day signals Opening Day at America’s Cup Park, located between Pier 27/29 of the spectacular waterfront location of San Francisco’s Embarcadero, where the entrance will be free to everyone.

 

The Grand Opening of the America’s Cup Park will start at noon with a ribbon-cutting event at the Park’s entrance. The Park is a vibrant landmark on the city’s waterfront offering a range of activities throughout the Summer of Racing for San Francisco natives and visitors alike.

 

The America’s Cup Opening Ceremony will take place at the AC Pavilion, a nine-thousand-seat stadium located within the Park, with a ticketed event that takes place from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. The ceremony features the crews of all four teams (300 members) entered in the America’s Cup – defender ORACLE TEAM USA and challengers Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand and of course Italian Luna Rossa Challenge. The day’s program includes cultural performances and exhibitions from each of the four nations, the United States, Sweden, New Zealand and Italy.

 

This celebration of the Summer of Racing is a fun and entertaining way for the entire family to experience the America’s Cup first hand.

 

Following an action-packed Opening Day program on July 4th, fans will have the opportunity to see the America’s Cup boats up close along San Francisco’s city front during a fleet parade on Friday, July 5th, signaling the final countdown to the start of competition in the America’s Cup Summer of Racing.

 

The 2013 America’s Cup is the first in the 162-year history of the event that will be sailed in the confines of a bay—San Francisco Bay—rather than miles offshore. It’s also the first time all competitors will race wing sail catamarans, the “50 mph flying boats.”

 

“I’ve been running races on San Francisco Bay for a dozen years, but there’s never been anything like the AC72s,” said Principal Race Officer John Craig at the media briefing last week. “They’re fast machines and they’re going to be thrilling to watch.”

 

For the parade the AC72 race boats will be under tow alongside their tenders, but with racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup, America’s Cup Challenger Series, scheduled to start on Sunday, July 7, Friday’s ceremony along the city front provides a great opportunity to get an up-close look at the AC72s.

 

San Francisco’s reigning America’s Cup champion, ORACLE TEAM USA, will showcase its AC72 catamaran in the parade. Challenger teams Artemis Racing (Sweden), Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy) are also expected to participate.

Friday’s activities begin off Pier 14, at 11:00 am, with the ceremonial Parade of Boats, led by a fire boat from the San Francisco Fire Department.

 

The prototype and current America’s Cup designs will be represented in the fleet parade, with a replica of the schooner America, the winning yacht in 1851 for which the America’s Cup is named, alongside the AC72s of today.

 

The parade of more than 40 boats, which will also feature race management vessels, passes the America’s Cup Park, at Piers 27/29, and continues along past Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Fort Mason before concluding off the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the America’s Cup Village, at Marina Green, at approximately 11:45 am.

 

The America’s Cup crews will then show off the speed potential of the AC72s in time trials beginning at approximately 12:15 pm. Weather conditions permitting, the teams are expected to sail the five-leg America’s Cup course, starting at 10-minute intervals.

 

Fans can view the action on the video big screen in the America’s Cup Park, at Piers 27/29, or from multiple vantage points along San Francisco Bay, including the America’s Cup Village, at Marina Green.

On race day afternoons throughout the Summer of Racing, the America’s Cup Pavilion stage will showcase local performing artists free to the public. The Opening Weekend features five local bands with the first of these performances on Friday, July 5, from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

 

Following this fun day, July 6 will be the opportunity for a ultimate America’s Cup Fan Photo with the America’s Cup Trophy at 2:30 pm at the America’s Cup Pavilion, before the official competition will finally get started.

 

Next Sunday, July 7, the spotlights will be on the three contenders teams competing in the  first part of the Summer or Racing, the Louis Vuitton Cup:  America’s Cup Challenger Series.

Since the first day, starting at 12:15 pm with the first Round Robin, Italian team Luna Rossa and its skipper Max Sirena will show their abilities, facing off the well known team Emirates Team New Zealand.