AC34’s Sustainability Plan - It's Good...

The final version of the America’s Cup Event Authority’s (ACEA) Sustainability Plan published today, all 51 pages (http://www.americascup.com/en/Latest/News/2012/2/AC34-Sustainability-Plan-released/). It’s just one of the ELEVEN implementation plans that are part of the Host City Agreement with the City and County of San Francisco. Like most everything else AC34 it’s aggressive but one that looks certain to leave a positive legacy for San Francisco, as well as for sporting events in general.

Jill Savery, ACEA’s head of sustainability, is leading this relatively new area of sports and sustainability for AC34. Her bio’s impressive.

The 39-year old Olympic gold medalist (synchronized swimming, 1996, Atlanta), 8-time World Champion and International Hall of Fame Inductee, has a Masters Degree in Environmental Management from Yale and recently returned to the US after leading the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sustainability work program of a London-based NGO. She has served as a co-opted Expert to the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012.

Savery explains that what ACEA decided to do was to narrow the broad scope of what was feasible to work on into five themes. The Plan demonstrates how AC34 delivery organizations intend to achieve sustainability objectives via these five themes:

Energy and emissions - optimizing use of energy and minimizing associated air emissions

Resource efficiency - maximizing natural resources and land use

Natural Habitats and Wildlife - Protecting and supporting biodiversity

Inclusion: providing an inclusive and welcoming event experience plus maximizing legacy benefits for the City

Engagement: raise sustainability awareness

“This process is becoming international best practice for major events and hopefully allows people to get their hands around what it means to be sustainable with an event,” Savery says.

And she knows tangible results are key.

“It’s easy to have lofty goals and make commitments, but how do you follow through? On a basic level, we begin by working in areas that are in our direct control, for example, any vendors we contract with, we let them know what our guidelines are.”

The most tangible of these guidelines is a no brainer for a city already known for its stringent environmental policies and procedures - AC34 will be the first event in San Francisco to prohibit single-use plastic bags and plastic water bottles at its event sites throughout the City.

“We can influence and communicate to spectators that things are different in San Francisco and to bring their own bottle for water because they certainly wont be able to buy water in plastic bottles at the venues we control.”

Instead, the event will offer up a water refilling station like at the America’s Cup World Series event in San Diego. According to that vendor, he poured 1300L of water into reusable containers - for free.

“That's equivalent to saving 2600 single use 500mL plastic water bottles,” Savery says.

An example of projects being pursued on a more complex level under the Plan, her team is working with a group of City departments to foster electric vehicle infrastructure and to figure out how AC34 supports the City’s objectives there.

For cynics of accountability, Savery plans to develop a suite of KPIs - Key Performance Indicators - to measure, for example, energy use and gas emissions but also items like the number of activities used to engage the public, all which will be reported publicly. It’s a new model of reporting for events that she’ll use in tangent with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), another new tool for sustainability reporting to an event.

“There’s not a day goes by that there isn’t an event of some sort in San Francisco and we’re hoping what we learn we can leave for future events,” she says.

When it comes to the reality of sailing as a ‘green’ sport, between looking at how modern boats are produced and the amount of energy burned on the racecourse with support boats etc., sailing events are hardly green.

Savery doesn’t disagree but says it’s true of sports across the board.

“As an industry we’re starting to look at how equipment is produced, events themselves, spectators traveling, the waste, etc. It’ll take a long time before you’ll be able to say the entire industry is sustainable, but the exciting thing is that we’re making a start,” Savery concludes.

***

NB: AC34’s Sustainability Plan is the product of public input and partnerships with many agencies including the City, the Department of Environment, SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency), SFPUC (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission), the Port, ACOC (America’s Cup Organizing Committee) experts like David Lewis from Save the Bay, the OEWD (Office of Economic & Workforce Development), and the Mayor’s Office.

Jill Savery is from Concord in the Bay Area. She started her work in sports and sustainability about 10 years ago thanks to her passion for sports which will “never go away”, and passion for the environment and sustainability. After the past few years living and working in London, she’s thrilled to be working on these initiatives with the America’s Cup 34.**

Candidly Cayard

As CEO of a Swedish America's Cup team that's currently based in Valencia, Spain, because that's where its critical mass of designers live along with primary designer Juan K., Paul Cayard, CEO Artemis Racing (SWE) isn't spending too much time on his home shores of San Francisco Bay. He cites having a team scattered around the world as just one challenge of the next America's Cup, but probably less so than the ultimate challenge - racing AC72s on San Francisco Bay:

"It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that the handle-ability of this seriously over-powered boat which is under-crewed on an extremely short course in the windiest venue in the world - you multiply all that together and you have a fight on your hands."

Meanwhile, he's upbeat after the first of the America's Cup World Series events.

What was your take home after these past three events?

If you look at the skill level and the speed, Artemis Racing has it - they just need to work on the consistency a little bit. What separates Oracle and Team NZ right now is that they’re a little more consistent with their performances and we need to strive to attain that level of consistency.

To be fair to Terry and the guys, strategically as a team we decided to rotate the crew and that’s something ETNZ absolutely doesn’t do and Oracle hadn’t much but for example, in San Diego when Darren Bundock steered - he’s a very accomplished multi hull sailor - and had trouble also. It’s not that easy to move people around. That maybe something we don’t do as much of next year. We do now have a second AC45, which is a different way to get the crew the exposure so we can have 10 guys sailing without having to rotate crew and we’ll start doing that in January. But we now have eight people with experience and in some ways we'll be a little wealthier for that experience.

* Artemis has 13 sailors on the Team, including new hire Chris Brittle who came over from Team Korea. Cayard plans to steer their new AC45 for a bit in February before turning it over to alternate helmsman Santiago Lange. They’re on schedule to launch an AC72 July 1, 2012, with molds built and soon ready for lamination.

Has the investment in the World Series been worthwhile?

The events are very useful for promoting the America’s Cup. The teams need a road show - what’s the road to the America’s Cup? Where are the teams? What’s the visibility? How do they get the sponsors? So, having a circuit that’s identified that the teams and sponsors can count on and that the public can watch on the internet, on TV or in person, all that is part of building the fan base and creating a bigger value in 2013.

To walk into 2013 cold especially after the 33^rd America’s Cup which wasn’t particularly glorious in our history, I’m not sure spending any amount of money on the finals would have done as good a job as the World Series will do. It’s a difficult time. The economy is what it is but the America’s Cup was handed over in a pretty difficult state between the lawsuit and the boats racing two races - that was fairly pitiful - it was a low point in our sport and this event. To build on that and to create a product that can really win the fans back to sailing is a big challenge.

Anything you’d improve?

There’s been some money that didn’t need to be spent but things are going to be trimmed back. But the concept of a road show to help all the teams and the event build value and get fans and sponsors therefore interested again in the America’s Cup is necessary. I think they’ve been top-shelf events, from the hospitality to the event side with lots of activities at night. It’s a lot more than just the racing. The television product is very enhanced over anything we’ve ever seen before. The races are shorter and the 25-30 minute format is great. Exactly what detail and level of expenditure should be consumed is what is being fine tuned right now but to say we’d be better off without it at all is not true.

Anything on the racecourse you’d improve?

For the racers, they’re pretty happy with things. There could be a few questions from a marketing standpoint as to the blend of match racing versus fleet racing - I think the public really likes the fleet racing, it’s really exciting - it’s a little more NASCAR-ish - you have more passing so you may find a bigger blend of fleet racing than match racing but obviously the America’s Cup in the end is a match race so there’ll be an element of match racing that stays with the event. Just tweaking like that. Artemis is happy with the racing and looks forward to 2012.

Shifting gears, what’re your thoughts on the current status of the Volvo?

They’re doing a good job within the reality of what we’re living in right now, same thing with the America’s Cup. It’s having trouble with entries too. The world economy is what it is and I’m sure all sports sponsorships are getting squeezed. The Volvo’s had its teething problems on the first leg, we had the exact same thing when we did Pirates when everybody was thinking the world was going to end because on the first two legs keels broke and then everybody was basically good until Telefonica sank. They’ll have a good race, the boats are closer than they ever have been in competitiveness so hopefully they’ll have some great battles. The in-shore races are good - I watched that myself the other day on the internet and I think there’s good value there.

You were recently inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame - what’s been your most personally satisfying achievement?

Probably Pirates of the Caribbean (Volvo Ocean Race 2005-6) because the hill was the steepest. Talk about being under the gun. I met with the organizers just six months before the race started and it takes eight months to build one of those boats, not to mention that the keel almost fell off on the first night and that we had to finish building the boat in Cape Town. I know the meaning of that and the uphill battle it was, I lived it and I’ve lived the other achievements as well but outwardly it’s probably hard for other people to see that.

What would you do differently if could have your career over again?

I’m sure there are things but I haven’t really dwelled on that. Looking forward though, I’d like to win the America’s Cup. I’ve been in the finals twice, I’ve won the Louis Vuitton Cup and have pretty much knocked on the highest door without winning the Cup so that’s what I’m looking forward to now, that’s my project and my passion, that’s where I’m investing myself. I’ve still got plenty I can achieve in the sport and I’m working on it.

From Freo - Iain Murray Updates on America's Cup

America’s Cup Race Management CEO and Race Director Iain Murray can’t seem to get enough of international yacht racing, it seems. He’s racing in the Star class at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship in Perth but took time out early on Day 5 of the World Championship to fill us in on some on some of the events that have transpired in the America’s Cup since San Diego a few weeks back. He's realistic about his chances this week...and going forward.

“It’s nice to come against a lot of the old foes - get the Star out and dust it off. I’ve done absolutely no training so there’s no real expectations but nice to go for a sail here in Fremantle where I lived for three years.”

Commenting on how he perceived the third World Series event recently held in San Diego, Murray said his major concern going into San Diego was going to be the light breezes and holding the races on time given the early sunset that they wouldn’t run over time. But, fortunately that situation didn’t transpire.

“We probably had better breeze than we anticipated - for a number of days the breeze came out of the south and was actually quite strong - we had 16 knots of wind on the final day with two speed trials and set a new speed trial record for ourselves of 26.9 knots over 500 meters which is something I don’t think we would have ever expected to do.”

Numbers were disappointing especially on the final Sunday, with a count of 9-10,000, according to Murray, compared to some 17,000 the previous Sunday, probably attributable to the crappy weather for a good part of the week.

He pointed out how noticeably stronger the competition was, particularly with Energy Team (FRA), who did well in all their racing and Aleph (FRA), with different, younger guys on board were also very strong.

“It was noticeable when teams like NZ were recalled. Keep in mind the recall procedure in San Diego was tiny compared to what it had been where you did have to completely return to the start and go back, effectively putting you out of the race. In Cascais, NZ did that and still went on to win a race.

Now, by taking just a small penalty to go to the back of the fleet, by the first mark NZ struggled to sail through to 4^th or 5^th place. We saw that with a number of teams - they really struggled to get through the fleet - the way people sail their boats and the level of competition has really come up between those who’ve had time on their boats.”

Murray used Darren Bundock (Oracle Racing) sailing Russell’s boat for the first time as an example, “When he got his nose in front and could sail the boat the way that he wanted to which was to typically a bit lower and faster, he sailed away from the fleet but when he got behind he sailed backwards through the fleet - indicative of him not having to the time that others have had in the boats.”

But, what we all really want to know, with the recent resignation of America’s Cup Event Authority CEO Craig Thompson, has the Event Authority imploded, or if not, what the heck is going on?

“What’s happened is that we’ve become more efficient and understand what it is we actually need at these events, how we deliver and spend less money. There’s probably been a duplicity of resources in the logistics of what we do and it’s been decided that we probably have some spare capacity and therefore rather than have effectively two event teams, we’ll have one. There’s just been a change in direction," Murray explained.

ACRM’s role will expand to include more event logistics such as the layout of the Club 45 and any of the other hospitality pieces, while Event Authority has been rekindled “to get their head around the commercial matters of ACTV, the America’s Cup, sponsors and WS events,” Murray said.

There’s no update on who the new challengers will be but Murray said there’ll definitely be more teams/boats at the next event in Naples, with 15 AC45s now having been spoken for. Artemis have got themselves a second boat which they will be happy to use for training.

The outstanding protest by Artemis and Oracle Racing regarding the (brilliant) partnership between NZ/Luna Rossa is still unresolved although the jury has sought submissions, which have been made to the jury. Murray expects a response sometime in the next few weeks.

Dates for the ACWS events in San Francisco in 2012 are August 11-19, and August 27-Sept 2. It was disappointing to learn that the teams will be based miles away down at Pier 80, currently home to Oracle Racing, as the team bases are clearly a huge draw for spectators and a big part of the thrill of the event.

“It was hoped to have the teams at Piers 30-32 but there’s no way that work will be done. We will try to keep the boats in the water down by the Marina Green, and for the teams to have a presence in the Marina Green area.”

The racecourse will be right off St Francis Yacht Club and the Golden Gate Yacht Club. “We’ll have a cross-the-wind start that will put the first mark square in the middle of the St Francis and the GGYC. We will try to finish races close to the shore near the mouth of where you come into the marina by the GGYC.”

The CEQA documents call for the event village to be at the Marina Green and area adjoining the two clubs where there’ll be hospitality. All of those documents are detailed in the CEQA master plan expected to be approved before Xmas.

Murray did not have news on details concerning the proposed Youth America’s Cup other than it’s high on the priority list and that there’s been a lot of discussion on the subject.

“We want to hold it in 2013 and we're trying to hold it in 2012 in the 45s in SF between the other events but it’s not for sure. We need the buy in of all the teams and the use of the 45s. Logistically there’re also plenty of other associated issues,” Murray said.

The wing sail extension (not a permanent fixture but to be used in the light breezes expected in Naples and Venice) is in production and Murray’s hoping that Emirates Team NZ will be able to do some trialing with it soon.

“If the boats can power up out of tacks and jibes and fly hulls, the TV pictures are happier and the crews are certainly happier. There’ll hopefully be a simple and efficient way to bolt onto the existing rig without making any major structural changes or having to take any TV equipment off. We’re also working on a few other modifications while we’ve got things apart up there like how the wind trolleys mount on the front of the mast.”

Overall, the big part of Murray’s equation that still needs solving is reducing the cost of the World Series events. “We’re aiming for a balanced budget in Naples,” Murray said. “Commercially that hasn’t been the case to date, there’s been changes made and going forward we’ll be doing our very best to be as efficient as we can.”

While some staff have been let go between events, Murray expects core numbers wont be significantly different to what they have been come Naples in April. Other areas where efficiencies will be improved will be the number and mix of boats on the water. ACRM tried out its first new course boat in San Diego and expect to have five of those in Naples, which will change the look of the course with fewer boats.

Stay tuned.

Pic: Iain Murray, by Gilles Martin Raget, America's Cup

Chemistry On & Off the Course for America's Cup Team Korea

I have to say Team Korea has piqued my interest this past few months and it’s not just because the average crew age is 30. Chatting with skipper Chris Draper (GBR) reminded me of conversations I’ve had in the past with Grant Dalton, the drive behind Emirates Team NZ - the most successful team in the America’s Cup. Like Dalton, Draper leans into the conversation fully engaged and straight to the point. And like Dalton, Draper is massively driven by competition.

I was curious to learn how this first-ever Korean entry have put together a first class team who are doing really well holding their own - mid-fleet - in the inaugural America's Cup World Series competition.

Cliché or not, the phrase, “there’s no ‘I’ in team”, comes instantly to mind when talking to Draper. It’s clear that he’s hand-picked his guys - he wanted skilled, hard-working sailors with a winning chemistry, and he’s pretty sure he’s headed in the right direction.

Currently on board, starting at the front, is Matt Cornwell “Catflap” who has worked with Areva Challenge and GBR Challenge and more recently, Team Origin. He was Ben Ainslie’s bowman on Ben’s match racing tour winning team last year. “Matt brings a lot of Cup racing experience with him as well as a lot of match racing experience,” Draper said. “He’s very relaxed and great to spend time with.”

Next up is Mark Bulkeley, a silver medalist at the Tornado world championships and a representative in the Tornado for GBR at the Olympics. He was also Draper’s mainsheet trimmer in the Extreme 40 series when they won in 2009. Bulkeley was also Draper’s best man and is a very close friend. Bulkeley’s taken on the trimming role and doing an excellent role, Draper said. “He’s got a good physical presence at about 95kilos is very strong and fit.”

Next back is Chris Brittle who’s the float, 110 kilo aerobic machine - he can do 2000 reps on the ergo in 6 minutes flat. Draper says he’s an absolute weapon but that sadly Team Korea is about to lose Brittle as he’s moving to Artemis (Team Korea weren’t on fixed contracts so he made the decision to move to them). “With Cup experience on +39 and Team Origin, he has a huge work ethic and physical presence plus he’s a really nice guy to spend time with, Draper said.”

Team Korea’s wing trimmer is Troy Tindill who has been working with the AC 45s from day 1. It was suggested to Draper that it would be a good idea to have Tindill involved with the team. “It was quickly apparent that he knew a huge amount the boats, plus he’s also great to be around. He’s been a huge asset - without him we wouldn’t have picked up the boat as quickly as we have. He’s a young guy learning all the time, and helping us learn as well,” Draper said.

33-year old Draper knows all too well how important chemistry is to success on the water. He’s sailed Olympic classes for the past 10 years, and before that came up through the classic youth sailing program - Optis, 420s, then sailed the 49er for 10 years, going back and forth between being 1st and 2nd in the world. He took a break from that after missing selection for Beijing, and started doing Extreme 40s in ’08-09.

“I then gave the 49er another shot with a different team mate for the London Olympics which didn’t really go to plan, as we just never quite jelled as a team - the chemistry wasn’t quite perfect, although we had some good success, winning the Europeans last year, he said”

As that plan didn’t work out, Draper started looking for opportunities he knew existed in the Cup because of his background. Enter Team Korea.

Like himself, Draper says there’s a new wave of people coming into America’s Cup sailing who have been Olympic campaigning full-time for the last 10 years and who are used to working with a team-mate who they’re with everyday perhaps spending 200+ days a year with training etc. and who have come to understand the importance of good relationships.

“From the brief glimpses I have had of past America’s Cup teams, personalities can be quite abrasive and I think we’re trying very hard at Team Korea to make sure we have people who get on well and who will work hard and give it their all, and feel good that the person sitting next to you is watching your back, or if you make a mistake, they’ll back you up - that’s an ethos we’ve started for this campaign and we’ll try to maintain that all the way through.”

Draper knows that he’s got some good youth, enthusiasm and talent now but wants to make sure he backs that up with experienced Cup winners. “There’re plenty of those guys out there, a lot of them are people I’ve sailed with who are not involved just yet. We’re also very aware that the design and production of an AC 72 is a huge project and we need as much help as possible with that. We still want to maintain the youth & fitness but make sure we have the balance.”

Although this is his first Cup campaign, Draper thinks while there’s a lot less time to build and plan a strategy for AC 34, nonetheless, the boat-handling is still a massive part of it. “With these one design classes is it’s about refining and getting the most out of the boats sailing as quickly as possible but it’s also about doing the maneuvers well enough that you’ve got tactical options.

We took the approach that we wanted to have the top tactical options but that we might be a little bit on the back with the input to make those tactical decisions. We’ve had a few times where that’s fallen down. But, it’s exciting racing, quick decisions, you have to be thinking fast and I think more and more it’s those that can make those quick gut instinct decisions who are doing well.”

And, Draper likes to think he’s in that category.

“It’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years and that’s what I love about the sport - I love the physical aspect of the boat handling, steering the boat to make the boat handling easier and I love the communication to make everyone’s life easier to be able to make good decisions that can be executed quickly.”

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t know Draper but just in talking to him I guessed he was extremely competitive…

“Yes, I’d say that!” Draper laughed. “I think if you look at any of our races when we have a bad race we’re seriously upset when we’ve made a mistake and managing that passion is also hard but being young and enthusiastic sometimes doesn’t help that. We’re trying to develop maturity and be unflustered but what I see that people I’ve always thought don’t seem to be flustered can get pretty wound up at times! But yes, we are very competitive, I’m hugely competitive . I really like to win, whatever it is!”

For this regatta, the top three things on Draper’s to-do list have been to work on starts, try out some new sails, and further develop the Team’s strategy for the future.

“We’ve been trying to improve our boat speed but haven’t had a huge amount of time to get used to the new sails but they seem like an improvement - they’re a little bit different to use. We’re also working on where the Team is headed which I have to admit has made it a harder to focus on what we’re trying to achieve here on the race course. But that’s just part of the Cup and the territory.”

Draper expects that after San Diego the Team will probably go to Valencia, which is where other teams are headed. Down the road he’s hoping they’ll have some additional training boats to work with also, citing that a few more AC 45s would be nice but a cheaper alternative is most likely.

“There’ll be a good group to sail with in Valencia so we’ll all develop and move forward. I think if we step away from that and let that happen without us we could potentially lose ground,” he said.

Great Commentary Makes a Difference in the America's Cup

Peter Isler needs little introduction in sailing circles. Internationally renowned sailor, motivational speaker and author, he’s been inextricable from the America's Cup since winning it as navigator aboard Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes in Australia in 1987. He’s sailed in five Cup campaigns (most recently with the BMW Oracle Racing Team in Valencia, Spain), winning it twice.

He was an analyst for ESPN's Emmy Award winning coverage of the America's Cup in '92 & '95. For the '03 and '07 Cups Peter both sailed and announced on TV. In my books, he's one of the best commentators in the sport and it’s great to have him in the role as racing in the America’s Cup World Series gets underway on Wednesday in San Diego. SailBlast chatted to Peter about the differences working as a commentator under the new Cup format...

What’s different about the way commentating is happening now?

I just got three days in Plymouth, and I’m here in San Diego now so I’ve had just a taste of it. I’m actually not out on the water working but in a little booth - I’m really watching television watching the same video image that the viewers are watching. Sometimes we have two shots in our announcement booth but usually just the feed - so we’re watching the feed, we’re not watching the whole race. But we have a monitor that’s linked to race management and the umpires - (referred to as STOWE, name of the manufacturer) - it’s like watching an instant messaging screen - it gives us all the race data, all the mark rounding is recorded, every protest flag - every time a button is pushed for protest, every umpire decision - all on this official screen. We’re relying on our directors who have all the different camera shots to choose from to pick the right one to tell the story and that’s part of the fun, you’re really part of a team.

Does it make your job easier or more difficult?

Put it this way, I’d say it’s absolutely essential when you’re a commentator for television broadcast to talk to the picture. One of the things that is risky for an expert sailor coming in and doing the job is the tendency to talk about the important thing that’s going on in the race that may not be in the picture so having that image is great.

That said, it’s also very helpful to have a 2-dimensional overhead view of the entire racecourse which we will also ultimately have so that you can follow the racing and you know what’s going on outside of the visual range of the camera shot. But the great thing is that there are sailors in the directors’ chairs calling the shot changes etc., so normally the story that’s on the ACTV is the story a sailor would want to be following anyway.

Talk about the equipment and tech now involved in the sport of commentating?

Stan Honey, my college room-mate, is running the LiveLine technology and those guys have wired the racecourse and the boats technologically for sound so that they can do their graphical images on live video, which is their expertise That was their mandate from day one and is different to what we have previously enjoyed in America’s Cup TV coverage which is the computer animation with the information on it.

Now we have the actual real video with the technical information, like the three boat lengths, the wind direction, the protest status etc. For the commentator like me, it’s just amazing, it’s unlike anything ever been done before. While too much info can be dangerous, but information does allow you to make better decisions. I think we’re really just using how to use it to its full potential.

Is it challenging keeping up given how quickly everything happens now?

Because the races and the legs are shorter there really isn’t a lot of time to go off talking about a random subject. You really have to stay, as a commentator, on topic and basically call the race. It makes it a lot of fun. Those of us who enjoy other sports, for example tennis, there’s drama in every shot, or every play in football there’s another exciting thing to watch.

In sailing, it’s been, ‘now they’re on a 25 minute leg and they’re going to tack once or twice’ - there’s a lot of time to ramble on or listen in on board which has been fun. But here, like those other fast-paced sports, there’s a technical sports move happening - like just deciding positions - every few instances.

What do you think about the AC45s for the A-Cup in general?

I’m a big fan of the America’s Cup s - I’m a Cuphead and I take the broad picture of not only appreciating the America’s Cup for the spectacle it is here in San Diego this week and the great sailboat racing it is but also its historical place in international sport. So, for me it’s great to have been a part of it and to continue being part of telling the Cup story but I’m in awe of the America’s Cup and it keeps changing and it continues to evolve. It’s unlike any other event anywhere and that’s the thing about the Cup. It’s not just about a sailboat race, it’s not just a race about boat design and technology - it’s more than all of that. It’s bigger than all of us.

* A former Collegiate Sailor of the Year at Yale University, Peter resides in Southern California. He co-authored the best-selling book, Sailing for Dummies (Wiley) and wrote the acclaimed business book, At the Helm: Business Lessons for Navigating Rough Waters (Doubleday) with Peter Economy. His most recent title, Peter Isler’s Little Blue Book of Sailing Secrets (Wiley) was published in 2011.

He is president of Isler Sailing International, Inc. When at home in San Diego, Peter enjoys time with his two daughters and playing guitar and keyboard in a variety of bands.

Photo Credit: Bob Grieser/America's Cup

Pic 1/2: Peter at work in the booth

Pic 3: Peter & former pro basketballer Bill Walton, at the ACWS opening press conference today.

If You're Coming To San Diego...

Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt editor and publisher, has compiled the following VERY USEFUl guide to getting around next week during the World Series San Diego...

Attending sporting events is risky business. When to get there? Where to park? Where to sit? So what do you do with an event that has never been held before?

You wing it, which is what spectators will be doing in San Diego for the third stop in the inaugural America's Cup World Series (ACWS) on November 12-20, 2011.

Here are some tips to help enjoy the experience:

Schedule:
The first weekend has mandatory practice races. No races are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, but expect the teams to either be on the bay for practice or in the pit for prep. The planned competition is Wednesday through Sunday, so expect bigger crowds those days too. Click here for details.

Transportation:
For car parking, a pay lot is a block away from the Event Village and there are coin meter spaces on the adjacent street. However, get there early to avoid getting shut out. Safer options could be to use bikes, pedicabs or taxis, or drive to a San Diego Trolley station and take the train to the downtown station a couple of blocks away. Click here for details.

Viewing:
Watching the races by boat will be limited due to course boundaries and the speed of the AC45s. Watching the races from the Midway Museum, Navy and Broadway piers are closest to the course, but there may not be bleachers so prepare to stand in crowds (or buy a VIP package). The ends of the race course are adjacent to G Street Marina and Harbor Island, which both have limited parking and space to sit.

Hot tip is to have lunch at The Fish Market (nice) and Top of the Market (nicer) at the leeward marks (SE of Navy Pier), or at C Level (nice) and Island Prime (nicer) near the windward marks on Harbor Island. Click here for details. Another hot tip is to listen to race commentary from the broadcast on your phone (see below).

Entertainment:
The AC Village has closed Harbor Drive at Broadway and Navy Piers, and will be hosting live music, DJ's and local California cuisine and shops and specialty stands. The village will have a large screen for race viewing, plus host interactive entertainment such as the America's Cup Experience, a racing simulator that offers a taste of what it's like to sail on a high-speed catamaran. Prize giving and team interviews will be on the village stage. Hours are 10a-6p on Nov. 12-15 and 10a-10p on Nov. 16-20. To enter the AC Village, there is a requested $10 donation to support the AC Healthy Ocean Project. Click here for details.

Weather:
Despite the propaganda from San Diego Convention and Tourism Bureau, it does begin to get colder and wetter in November. And winter winds are hit or miss. The forecast currently calls for rain and big breeze on the first weekend, with clearing skies and calmer winds expected through the week.

Broadcast:
The America’s Cup YouTube channel will be streaming the event live online Nov. 16-20. Look for the broadcast schedule to begin 30 minutes before racing begins each day (see schedule above). And for the first time, there will be live streaming to mobile devices through the AC YouTube channel. Also, a recap of the event will be broadcast on the Versus cable channel on November 22 at 5:00 P.M. ET. Streaming live here: http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericasCup.

Preview:
Teams began training on Tuesday, and the America's Cup World Series Event Village will be open to the public on Wednesday, Nov 9th. Get an insider's look of the village after 3:30 pm and you'll also get to see the AMERICA'S CUP TROPHY. Unveiling the trophy will be Tom Ehman, Vice Commodore of Golden Gate Yacht Club, who will be joined by Ian Murray, Bruno Trouble, and Terry Hutchinson for 'Cupdates' at 4:00 pm (youth sailors) and 5:30 pm (open). No RSVP necessary.

* Scuttlebutt blogpost: http://sailingscuttlebutt.blogspot.com/2011/11/if-you-were-coming-to-san-diego.html

Photo credit: Gilles Martin Raget/America's Cup

Pic 1 - ACWS San Diego - skippers

Pic 2/3 - Training Day 1, San Diego

PRADA'S ENTRY UPS ANTE FOR 34TH AMERICA'S CUP

In a media call today, America’s Cup Regatta Director Iain Murray and CEO Craig Thompson commented on the exciting confirmation that indeed, long time Cup favorite Prada/Luna Rossa is back, this time collaborating on boats and such with Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ).

Said Murray: “For those with a keen eye who spotted Luna Rossa in and out of the ETNZ team base in Plymouth have been adding two and two to get four, the answer is obvious today and presents a very strong group of people who I think will have enhanced chances in the America’s Cup going forward. It seems like a positive, strong move for the America’s Cup.

Luna Rossa will take delivery of their AC45 in early December subject to branding and hull painting etc. The destination of it is unknown at this stage and where they’ll actually sail it the first time. They will be competing in events for 2012 and sure, they won’t be scored for the AC World Series round 1 which concludes in Newport, RI, next June but I don’t think that’s their highest priority. I think they’re keen to get their boat and get out there and start to learn about sailing wing-sailed catamarans."

Murray also confirmed that there’s no limits on where Prada can take its AC45 to train, however the team'll be seriously considering where it’ll get the best bang for buck, “Probably the biggest thing with taking an AC45 for any AC team anywhere is generally in most countries you will incur taxes. NZ presents an opportunity for them but there’s taxes to pay when you go to train for certain periods of time which is a discussion Luna Rossa will have to have with the various authorities of that country. Other than the taxes, they can go wherever they like until the first event.”

Thompson added that today’s news from Italy may not be the last with regards to more teams joining.

“Today we have another major competitor coming into the competition and this has got to be good. I hope it’s going to put a lot of pressure on Oracle and that they’re going to have to make some response to this. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens when Luna Rossa gets on the water. From a story telling and competitive aspect, it’s great for the Cup. And, we are still in discussion with some very serious parties who are still trying to come in.”

While on the subject of new teams entering and timing, there’s still a big void in events between San Diego (November 12-20, 2011) and Napoli (April 7-15, 2012), which AC has yet to resolve.

Said Thompson, “We are in discussions for still having an event in late Jan early Feb but honestly it looks doubtful right now before Napoli in April. We are disappointed about this because we will take a hit to frequency/regularity. The good news is that we’re going through the winter months where it’s a downtime for sailing but nevertheless we would have liked to have an event during that time. We’re still hoping something may materialize. We do need to figure out what the teams will be doing during this time.

Hmmm - I think the winter months are a great time in the Southern Hemisphere for sailing, and discussions have in fact been going on in Australia and New Zealand as possible World Series venues, according to Murray.

“The discussions with Australia have broken off with both sides agreeing that what we were trying to achieve wasn’t attainable. New Zealand has been in discussion for some time and there are further discussions going on. Whether today’s news adds some enthusiasm to those discussions, we’ll wait and see."

Either way, teams will have access to their boats for training, Murray confirmed. “We will designate a place that we will deliver the boats to. It’s our responsibility to take them out of America and if we are going directly to Naples we will probably make arrangements to take the boats directly there. If the teams wish to make alternative arrangements they will be allowed to do so as long as they’re brought back to Naples,” he said.

BTW, the protocol lays out different times for the event schedule relative to where the AC is at now because it was envisaged a series in 2011 and a series in 2012 and it was considered that the boats would be going to the 72s in the second season. But the protocol did say there would be a minimum of three regattas in the first series and five in the second.

There is no written deadline by which teams may be denied entry to AC34, just obviously a practical deadline with the requirement to have a 72 and a valid challenge, said Murray. Teams must have an AC72 by July 4, beginning of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

Murray reviewed the estimated build time for an AC72 which involves multi-element construction. He figures that with a breakdown of all of those components, the boats could be built quite quickly, probably not in less than six months but eight months would be about right. In the case of Prada, Murray said that he read today that they planned to build their center sections and structural pieces in New Zealand and other components in Italy.

“It’s obviously probably more efficient. Oracle is doing a similar thing I would suggest.”

* Prada announcement: http://media.americascup.com/pressreleases/?id=393