Public Invited to View ORACLE RC44 Sailing Competition on San Diego Bay

Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Contact: Dale Frost (619) 686-6461

San Diego gets an up-close view of some of the world's best sailing crews, starting today. The ORACLE RC44 Cup San Diego, an action-packed international sailing competition, kicks off Wednesday, March 2 and runs through Sunday, March 6, on San Diego Bay.

Daily race times are from about 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The boats and their crews are headquartered at the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, located at 1000 North Harbor Drive. The races will be held near the Broadway Pier.

Sailing Competition

• Wednesday, March 2 through Sunday, March 6
• Daily Race Times: About 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Paid Parking Information
• Public Transportation Information
• Live Tracking of Races

There are many great places along north San Diego Bay to watch the fast-paced sailing competition, but parking may be scarce. Spectators are being urged to ride the bus or the trolley to the downtown San Diego stop nearest the North Embarcadero, where the races are scheduled to start and finish.

Metered parking is available along the North Embarcadero, with paid parking available at Lane Field, at the intersection of West Broadway and North Harbor Drive. There is a limited amount of free parking on Harbor Island.

Spectators are invited to watch the races from the end of the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, the Port of San Diego's new cruise terminal and event center on the North Embarcadero.

The international event features some of the world's best sailing crews racing aboard 44-foot, high performance, carbon fiber boats. Stationed at the end of the Broadway Pier, Olympic silver medalist and world class sailor Annie Nelson will provide race commentary while the races are underway.

The Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier is home to the Event Village, where sailing fans can purchase food, drinks and regatta souvenirs.

The 11 teams racing represent New Zealand, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Russia and the U.S.

Local boaters on San Diego Bay will also be able to view the RC44 races close-up, but there are restrictions. Course marshals will be stationed in the racing area to assist boaters in finding the best area for viewing the races.

There will be no restrictions placed on navigation in the Bay. However, boaters are asked to stay clear of the race course, race boats and support vessels.

Boaters can listen to course marshals on VHF channel 72 and race management information on VHF channel 68 during racing hours.

The Oracle RC 44 Cup San Diego

Wind permitting, the start and finish line for the races will align in the Bay in front of the Port Pavilion. The boats will depart from the Broadway Pier each morning, allowing spectators a chance to watch the teams prepare for a day of racing.

The opening day features match racing, a one-on-one competition similar to America's Cup racing. Fleet racing, Olympic-style racing with all the boats on one race course, continues from Thursday through Sunday.

From the east end of Harbor Island, spectators will be able to watch the boats jockey to gain the best position to maneuver around a mark.

The fleet of boats will be scant feet, sometimes inches, from each other as they maneuver around the marks. During the short-course, fast-action races, the boat crews will lean out over the water on the rails of the boat to increase speed—a move called "hiking out."

Spinnakers will be hoisted to capture the most speed possible while sailing downwind.

The San Diego races are the first event in the 2011 RC44 Championship Tour that continues on to Europe and concludes in November in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

The RC44 Championship Tour leads to the 2013 America's Cup races, the pinnacle of worldwide sailing competition.

Many America's Cup competitors race in the RC44 series, including current America's Cup winner Russell Coutts.

The ORACLE RC44 Cup San Diego marks a poignant return to the city for Coutts, who won the first of his four America's Cup titles here in 1995, taking the coveted America's Cup away from San Diego and on to New Zealand.

The America's Cup competition dates back to 1851, making the silver America's Cup the oldest active trophy in international sport.

Last year, Coutts led BMW ORACLE Racing to victory in the America's Cup races against Switzerland, returning the America's Cup to the United States.

Coutts and ORACLE Racing will defend the America's Cup in San Francisco at the 2013 America's Cup competition.

Coutts called San Diego Bay "a natural amphitheatre" for watching the RC44 races from onshore.

The RC in RC44 stands for Russell Coutts, who co-designed the high performance boats.

The crews for the RC44 Championship Tour have an equal number of amateur and professional sailors, attracting top global businessmen—such as Oracle's Larry Ellison—as the owners and amateur drivers for the fleet racing.

Ellison, billionaire co-founder and CEO of software giant Oracle, and Coutts, led the Oracle Racing team to victory in the 2010 RC44 Championship Tour that concluded in December in Miami, Florida.

Professional sailors man the helm during match racing.

The ORACLE RC44 Cup San Diego is run by Sailing Events Association of San Diego (SEA SD), a new organization that promotes major sailboat racing events in San Diego for the benefit of the local economy.

"The ORACLE RC44 Cup San Diego event is especially beneficial for the boatyards, hotels and restaurants along the San Diego Bay waterfront," said Sharon Cloward, Executive Director of the San Diego Port Tenants Association and SEA SD board member. "We welcome the RC44 skippers, crew and spectators from around the globe."