12/22/24
September 29, 2002
America's Cup action begins.: The Louis Vuitton Cup brings together nine teams who will compete for the right to challenge current holders Team New Zealand in next year's America's Cup. I was turned on to the latest tournament by articles covering the USA teams in Wired ("Billionaire Boys Cup") and San Francisco magazine ("The Billionaire and the Mechanic" - in print only). Lots of tech and intrigue. (more inside)
posted by worldcup2002 to other at 01:05 PM - 2 comments
I've been getting primed for this all summer, since it's going to be on TV, live. Those of you with digital cable or dishes can whip over to Outdoor Life Network to see the coverage (link to Louis Vuitton Cup portion of their site). I was at the St. Francis years and years ago for something or other with my father (we weren't members, I think a friend of his was, though). I was a kid, but I recall it being very swank indeed.
posted by ahhgrr at 03:51 PM on September 30, 2002
The San Francisco article covers how Larry Ellison snubbed the blueblood St. Francis Yacht Club ($15,000 initiation fee) and chose the blue-collar Golden Gate Yacht Club ($1,000 initiation fee) to sponsor his team, Oracle BMW Racing. Ellison is a member of the St. Francis and was negotiating for them to continue sponsorship of the USA America's Cup team (they've sponsored the past three). However, St. Francis would not guarantee that his team would defend the America's Cup if they won it. (Teams must be sponsored by a club, not an individual, so the club has the main say on who actually gets to compete.) The Golden Gate Club gave Ellison the control he wanted and is set to overshadow its more illustrious neighbor, at least for the coming year. I'm attending an event at the St. Francis next month, so it'll be extra interesting to see the club, now that I've read about it.