‘HAMMERTIME’ at ORACLE TEAM USA
16 June. One of the world’s most recognizable rap artists, MC Hammer, visited ORACLE TEAM USA today as guest racer with Russell Coutts and proved he can touch the helm.
MC Hammer rode as a Guest Racer, but ended up helming the boat. “I’ve never steered a boat,” said the music and entertainment icon. “But Russell said, ‘Here, hold this!’ and gave me the helm.” Hammer, born and raised in Oakland, became the first No. 1-selling rap artist to helm an AC45. He later proclaimed on his Twitter page, “Love it!”
Team Korea pays entry fee, hits important milestone
Team Korea has paid its entry fee for next year’s Louis Vuitton Cup (America’s Cup Challenger Series) hitting another important milestone on the road to San Francisco in 2013. This marks the first time a team from Korea has challenged for the America’s Cup.
« I’m very happy to see Team Korea take this next step, » said Iain Murray, the Regatta Director for the 34th America’s Cup. « The challenges faced by any America’s Cup team are immense; it’s just a massive project, so to see the Korean team tick another box and move to the next stage is very encouraging. »
Inaugural AC World Series title to be decided in Newport
12 June. The inaugural champion of the AC World Series will be decided in Newport, Rhode Island on July 1, the final day of racing in the series. Under the spotlight of a nationwide audience on NBC, the grand finale will see one of eight teams win the title.
ORACLE TEAM USA’s Jimmy Spithill holds pole position for the Championship by four points from Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand. Artemis Racing is in third place and looking to improve but skipper Terry Hutchinson will be mindful of Frenchman Loïck Peyron’s Energy Team, who are making a late push for the podium, just six points back in fourth, but coming off a win in Venice.
Building up Newport
The climax of the 2011-12 AC World Series is approaching quickly with the final race day on Sunday July 1st set to determine the overall winner of both the Newport event and the Season Championship.
ORACLE TEAM USA’s Jimmy Spithill is in pole position heading into the final event, with a narrow four-point lead over Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand. Terry Hutchinson, the American skipper of Sweden’s Artemis Racing is in third place but there are enough points available in Newport for him to claim the big prize.
The AC Village is nearing completion and will open on Saturday June 23 and teams are expected to begin sailing as early as Wednesday this week.
While Newport marks a homecoming of sorts for the America’s Cup (the competition was raced in Newport from 1930 to 1983) it’s also an opportunity to reflect on how much the AC has evolved. Instead of racing offshore and out of sight, the AC World Series race course is just off Fort Adams, allowing shoreside spectators front row seats to the action. And the AC45 catamarans are a much different animal than the 12-Meter class seen in Newport for that historic match in 1983 when Australia II became the first challenger to win the America’s Cup. TV and internet coverage means fans can watch the action, with the groundbreaking LiveLine graphics, from anywhere on the planet. It’s a brave new world.
But one thing remains the same. The races are still won and lost on the water by the sailors. The AC45s put demands on the athletes like no other Cup boat. The result is some spectacular racing, fierce competition and new, growing rivalries.
And in Newport a new champion.
ORACLE TEAM USA wing & cross beams arrive at Pier 80
13 June. The 12-story tall wingsail and hull crossbeams for the first of ORACLE TEAM USA’s first of two AC72 yachts aimed at the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco were delivered to the team today.
The components arrived in Oakland from New Zealand on the Cap Vilano by shipping partner Hamburg Sud before being delivered to the team’s base at Pier 80 on the west side of San Francisco Bay.
Ray Davies works out the kinks for the Kiwis
15 June. Emirates Team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet on the professional sailing circuit. A veteran Cup campaigner who won the Volvo Ocean Race 10 years ago, he’s hungry to claim his first America’s Cup for his home team in San Francisco in 2013.
His role on the team as tactician is a good fit for his skill set and puts him shoulder to shoulder with skipper Dean Barker, in a relationship that goes back over 25 years.
Fidelity Investments® to Sponsor AC World Series Newport
‘Exploration Zone’ and Volunteer Program are centerpieces of partnership
4 June. Fidelity Investments®, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services, will partner with the global America’s Cup World Series, when it concludes its first season in Newport, Rhode Island at the end of June.
The Newport event village is open from June 23-July 1, with the AC World Series racing from June 28-July 1 providing the climax to nine days of nautical-themed activities.
AC sailors dominate Olympic preview
10 June. Sailors from the AC World Series teams have been prominent on the podium at the Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth, England this week, the site of this summer’s Olympic Games.