Just over one year ago, ORACLE TEAM USA’s first two AC45s, Nos. 4 and 5, departed San Francisco bound for a voyage that took them to Portugal, the U.K., Italy and the east and west coasts of the United States.
A 7,572-foot-long train with 121 containers holding boats and equipment for the various America’s Cup teams and a large heavy-lift crane arrives from Newport, Rhode Island. The Port of San Francisco’s Pier 80 is the only marine terminal in Northern California able to handle containers, breakbulk and heavy lift cargoes simultaneously.
BC STAFF REPORT
Published: August, 2012
Just over one year ago, ORACLE TEAM USA’s first two AC45s, Nos. 4 and 5, departed San Francisco bound for a voyage that took them to Portugal, the U.K., Italy and the east and west coasts of the United States. Last month the boats returned home—one of them, No. 4, as champion of the America’s Cup World Series.
The America’s Cup Express, a train stretching 1.5 miles long, rolled into San Francisco on July 24 with 121 railroad cars carrying the material required to move the America’s Cup World Series and the teams into the host city of the Cup ahead of racing in August and October.
The cargo included the race boats—the powerful AC45 wingsail catamarans that have been thrilling crowds and challenging the best sailors in the world as the event has moved around the world over the past year. Now, the racing is coming to San Francisco for the first time.
"Congratulations to the America’s Cup Event Authority and Race Management on this exciting moment for San Francisco and the America’s Cup teams," said Mayor Ed Lee. "The arrival of the racing boats and other equipment is just the beginning of more than a year of thrilling world-class sailing on our Bay, attracting millions of visitors, generating thousands of jobs and having a dramatic economic impact on the Bay Area."
ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill won the inaugural season championship aboard the No. 4 boat. Spithill and crew begin defense of their title with the first event of the 2012-13 season, ACWS – San Francisco, scheduled for August 21-26. A second regatta is scheduled October 2-7, also in San Francisco. The Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, will be held in San Francisco from July 4 to September 1, 2013 and the America’s Cup Finals will be held September 7-22, 2013.
"This train represents more than just another stop on the AC World Series for us," said Stephen Barclay, CEO of the 34th America’s Cup. "In less than one month, we’ll be racing for the very first time on San Francisco Bay, with our public AC Village set up on Marina Green. The arrival of the train today is the first step in our move ‘home’ to San Francisco."
Setup of the AC Village at Marina Green is scheduled to begin in mid-August. ORACLE TEAM USA, the San Francisco-based defender of the America’s Cup, is already sailing on the Bay, while other teams are expected to begin training here as early as the first week of August.
