Fastest boats, greatest sailors in San Francisco for most sought after trophy in sports

It’s full speed ahead for the 2013 America’s Cup race in San Francisco. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today approved the agreement to host the America’s Cup in San Francisco September 7 to 22, 2013.

One of the most fiercely competitive and sought after trophies in all of sport, the America’s Cup, was first raced in 1851 around the Isle of Wight, 45 years before the modern Olympics. The U.S. yacht America won, giving the international sailing competition its name.

At the first race, Queen Victoria, who was watching at the finish line, asked who was second to America. The famous answer, "Your Majesty, there is no second."

The 2013 race will be the first time the competition for the "Auld Mug" will be held in San Francisco, a perfect natural sailing arena where more than one million spectators will see the 34th edition of the America’s Cup.

The San Francisco agreement calls for teams to be based at Piers 30/32 and for the America’s Cup Village – the public Race Headquarters – at Piers 27/29. The pier improvements will be funded by the Port.

“We have worked very hard to bring this historic race to San Francisco and we’re very happy to have finally reached an agreement,” said Stephen Barclay, interim CEO of the America’s Cup. “Now we are focused on making this the most spectacular race in America’s Cup history.”

“We are thrilled that, in addition to the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup racing in 2013, that the America’s Cup World Series will also take place in San Francisco in 2012,” said Mayor Edwin M. Lee. “This will add even more visitors, jobs and economic development as part of hosting one of the world’s premier sporting events.”

The inclusion of Piers 30/32 as the “pit row” for the teams in close proximity to the America’s Cup Village at Piers 27/29 will make the event’s footprint more compact and will benefit the teams as well as the general public. Racing will be visible from the shoreline – only minutes from downtown shopping and hotels, making this the most spectator-friendly event in the Cup’s 162-year history.

The dates for this year’s (2012) racing for the America’s Cup World Series, the global circuit of events leading up to the 2013 America’s Cup regatta in San Francisco, were also confirmed today:

• AC World Series Naples, Italy – April 11-15, 2012
• AC World Series Venice, Italy – May 15-20, 2012
• AC World Series Newport, USA – June 26 – July 1, 2012
• AC World Series San Francisco, USA – August 21-26, 2012
• AC World Series San Francisco, USA – October 4-7, 2012

Each event will be a combination of practice and championship racing, with additional practice sailing on-site ahead of each event.

Racing for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, will take place in July and August, 2013. The America’s Cup Match (finals), pitting the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup against defending champion ORACLE Racing – Team USA, commences Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013 and is a first to win five-race series.

America’s Cup racing in 2012 and 2013 will be televised internationally, and for the first time in more than 20 years it will be broadcast free-to-air in the U.S. by the NBC network. It will also be broadcast internationally through our family of media partners, and will be streamed to the web on www.youtube.com/americascup

This unprecedented broadcast coverage is a reflection of the exciting venue, the technologically-advanced yachts, the Emmy-nominated fan-friendly advances in the television production, and the sheer physical and tactical challenge presented to the world’s best sailors by the yachts, format and venue.

Before the end of 2013 the America’s Cup is expected to have generated more than $1 billion in economic benefits for San Francisco, and create several thousand jobs.

Major sponsors include some of the world’s top brands: Louis Vuitton, PUMA, Prada, Emirates Airline, TAG Heuer, and Oracle.

About the 34th America’s Cup, San Francisco 2013

The racing will be held in San Francisco Bay between the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, up and down the City front. The Bay – a natural sailing arena – produces spectacular racing conditions with reliably strong winds, putting shoreside spectators at the heart of the action. Teams will race technologically-advanced 72-foot catamarans with 13-story wing-sails that will propel the yachts at upwards to 50 miles per hour.

Leading up to the 2013 America's Cup, the America’s Cup World Series is a series of events, bringing America’s Cup style racing to top venues around the world. In 2012 the America’s Cup World Series will feature five events: Naples (April 11-15), Venice (May 15-20), Newport, RI (June 26 – July 1), and two in San Francisco (August 21-26 and October 4-7).

The America’s Cup World Series provides the teams and their sailors an opportunity to prepare for the America’s Cup Challenger Series for the Louis Vuitton Cup that will be held in San Francisco during July and August of 2013, and which will determine the sole challenger in the America’s Cup Match (finals) against ORACLE Racing – Team USA, the defending America’s Cup champion. The final Match will be held in San Francisco September 7-22, 2013.