America’s Cup a Non-starter

Last night we resolved to get to bed early and watch the first race of the 33rd America’s Cup this morning on delay. But as bed time drew near and the anticipation built, it got harder and harder to stick to that plan. So 1 a.m. found us tuning into www.americascup.com, to see . . . the AP flag! We waited two hours before finally bagging it, which turned out to be just as well, as that’s exactly what the R/C did with the opening race when a consistent breeze failed to materialize. The boats’ outing did however give the world a chance to compare the challenger and defender side-by-side. Although it appeared to be plenty powered-up, the largely Kiwi-staffed Alinghi 5 looks a lot smaller than USA, by virtue of the beam she gives up — 10 feet, if we understand correctly. The name of BMW Oracle Racing’s USA is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to crew selection; only one member of the 10-person crew for today’s non-event is actually American — Bay Area product John Kostecki. The Bay’s Ron Young reported on BMW Oracle Racing for us in the January issue and will be providing us with reports Valencia as well as tweets at www.twitter.com/Lat38AC33.

Closer to home, the challenging Golden Gate YC‘s Manny Fagundes Seaweed Soup Series #4 was absolutely fantastic on Saturday. What was shaping up to be a wet day turned out sunny and breezy, with a 20-knot westerly that made the Blackaller-Blossom-Blackaller-Ft. Mason-finish course a true windward-leeward! It felt just like summer sailing, but warmer!