LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

2013 Dates Confirmed For Louis Vuitton Cup & America’s Cup Match

It’s official - the Louis Vuitton Cup will be raced July 13-September 1, 2013*, and the 34^th edition of the America’s Cup Match (Finals) will be held September 7-22, 2013**.

Both events will be held on San Francisco Bay. The timing is perfect to capture the best weather conditions for sailboat racing on the Bay. Typically July and August offer the most exciting and challenging winds, while September is still challenging and typically provides spectacular San Francisco weather.

With just 898 days before racing starts, a confirmed schedule is significant for local marine businesses who now have definitive dates to plan around.

Paul Kaplan, co-owner of KKMI marine yard, with facilities in Point Richmond and Sausalito, California, said, “Confirmation of the 2013 dates are critical to anyone in the maritime industry that intends on taking advantage of this opportunity. The permit process alone is complicated, so there's no time to waste. For marine businesses like KKMI, we’re recommending that boat owners take care of deferred maintenance sooner than later so they can enjoy their boats when the racing starts rather than waiting until the weekend before the America's Cup.”

Likewise, John Arndt, moderator for Sailing Renaissance, the Bay Area’s sailing industry group, said, “While the dates are about as expected I'm sure all members of the Sailing Renaissance America's Cup group are happy to have them confirmed. The Sailing Renaissance membership is made up of marine industry and sailing community members who want to help support a successful Cup and, naturally the firmer and clearer the plans for the event, the easier it is for our membership to plan and commit their time to this effort. We know, for example, that the call for volunteers is going to be huge, and there’ll be significant time required for training those volunteers.”

Since 1983, the Louis Vuitton Cup - the America’s Cup Challenger Series - has been held when more than one Challenger is vying for the right to race the Defender for the America’s Cup (as is the case for the 34th America’s Cup). The role of the Louis Vuitton Cup is twofold, not only to select the best Challenger, but also to help prepare that the team to race successfully against the Defender in the America’s Cup Match (Finals).

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will race the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) defending team in the finals, a first-to-win-five (best of nine) race series known as the America’s Cup Match (Finals).

Under the Protocol Governing the America’s Cup, GGYC as the Defending Club has the responsibility to select the dates. The official notice of these dates to the currently entered six teams, and other prospective teams, from Regatta Director Iain Murray is now available at www.americascup.com, under the Gallery section.

* Subject to the final number of Challengers and the precise format of the racing TBD by the Challengers and Regatta Director.

**Subject to whether the America’s Cup Match (Finals) is won in five races, or goes the full nine races.